Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day One

Today I'm starting something new here at the Cafe - Thirty days of being thankful. If you’re anything like me, you’re thankful every day for God’s gifts and His blessings. Mine tend to be generic more often than not, so as I’ve seen others do, I’m devoting November – the month of Thanksgiving – to being intentionally thankful every day. For small things and those that are unspeakably grand.

To keep things straight – and because it’s the sort of thing I would do – I’ll be going through the alphabet for the first twenty-six days. Then who knows? The last four days may be a surprise even to me as I keep my heart open to abundant gratitude. Join me, okay?

Day One. The letter A. 

Andy and Amy with the boys

Appropriately on the first day, I’m thankful for my firstborn child – Andrew – always Andy to us. Imaginative, creative, and the one who would test my mettle in more ways than I can count (teen-age years anyone?). But thirty-seven years ago, when the gravity of having a little person who was totally dependent on his inept parents dawned on me, I thought all the answers could be found in a book. I found out soon enough the parenting experts hadn’t met Andy.

Enter: the delight of raising a child who asked why of everything, had an imaginary friend named Larry (whose mother let him do all the things I wouldn’t), could spell encyclopedia in the first grade, invented his own utopia and called it Andy-Land, and gave us two amazing grandsons as a reward for our feeble efforts at raising him. His tears when he held his first-born brought full-circle the joy and thankfulness that I’ve had in being Andy’s mom – both then and now.

More adventures in parenting waited in the wings. Journey with me along the road of gratitude this month.
Have you had any surprises as a parent? What are you thankful for today?