Ten Things of Thankful

Have you experienced anything this past week that reminded you of how grateful you are for the kindness and goodness of people? Maybe you have thought about how much easier it is for you to do certain things compared to how difficult doing those things might have been for your grandparents. Perhaps you considered how thankful you were for a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. Take a few minutes and write some of these thoughts down, and if you have a blog, write a post and link up. The more we share, the more others are reminded of the goodness that abounds and we help overrule the negativity being written and spoken by some.

Each week the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop link is open from Friday beginning at 1:00 a.m. Mountain Time and it stays open for those wanting to link their post until Tuesday 11:55 p.m. Our host is Kristi of Thankful Me. Click here to see what others are sharing this week.

1. Seeing a male bluebird sitting on a fence post early one morning this past week. One of the songs I remember hearing in my early childhood was There's a Bluebird on your Window Sill, but I didn't know the story behind it then. Although I don't recall seeing a bluebirds in my childhood, except in Bambi, I loved the music mentioned. Bluebirds abound here and we are fortunate to be able to see them each summer when they build nests.

2. A cooler day when the crew came to do a major pruning and weeding of some shrub beds. The beginning of the week proved to be uncomfortably hot. I hated to think about a yard crew facing the work ahead at our place in such grueling heat. On Thursday it started cooling down and by Friday when the crew came, it was down in the mid-seventies in the morning and didn't go above 80 degrees by the time they left in the mid-afternoon.

3. Good reviews of yard maintenance companies. It is great to be able to find places online where you can trust the reviews.

4. Seeing a great movie. We went to see a movie that had been recommended to us by two of our children. It was very poignant and left me feeling that there surely must be something that should be done and must be done about the reasons that many are homeless. The movie was based on a book, and a real experience was the motivation for the book.

5. Being able to go to a wedding shower and a wedding. It is good to gather with friends to celebrate happy occasions. Click here to listen to one of the most beautiful songs written about weddings.

6. Being able to recognize when a prayer has been answered and to give thanks.

7. Being able to determine the cause of what might be the reasons for feeling pain. This often takes some close observation of one's activities and eating patterns, but it pays to give due diligence.

8. Modern day good Samaritan. After being gone last weekend, I visited my mom at the nursing home and visited with some of the staff as I left. I'd noticed that mom was wearing a pair of shoes that I didn't recognize as being hers, so I inquired about that. 

Because mom has gotten shorter as she has aged, her feet were not reaching the floor when she sat in her wheelchair. In the past she has kind of pulled her wheelchair along by reaching forward with her shoes and pulling her feet back toward the chair to propel herself forward.  (Because of arthritic shoulders, she hasn't ever been able to navigate by pushing the wheels with her hands.) 

The staff and the Director of the Nursing Staff were discussing this situation. They knew a shorter wheelchair wasn't an option due to the fact that the chair would also be narrower. The DNS was wearing a pair of shoes that had a deeper sole than the soles on mom's shoes, so she put her own shoes on mom's feet. Apparently her shoes were about the same size. Mom started moving forward and the DNS said, "She can just have my shoes," and she went and found a pair of spare slippers from the supply closet to put on her own feet. (People often donate extra clothing to the nursing home.)

I was so touched by this director's sensitivity to my mom's needs that she would give up her own shoes. My husband and I both thought of the story of the Good Samaritan upon hearing this.

10. My husband who lets me sleep in, but wakes me up in time for me to do the things that he knows I need and want to get done. Even with my desire to get up earlier than I do on some mornings, my body rebels when my night's sleep hasn't been as restful as I would have liked. He recognizes this, especially when I get back in bed after the alarm has gone off. I appreciate him for allowing me that extra time of rest. To show him that I appreciate the fact there there may be a time when he desires to sleep longer than my early alarm clock ring, I'm going to be better about setting the alarm for the very latest that I need to get up...just in case.