An Exercise in Thankfulness

Some people greet each new morning by bounding out of bed eager to take on whatever challenge the day holds. I am not one of them. Sometimes the morning itself seems like a huge challenge and I'd just rather not take it on. But, being a mom whose kids need to get on the school bus, I get up and get everyone going.

My morning today provided some interesting opportunities to excercise joy and thankfulness. I'm learning that thankfulness is often a deliberate choice of mindset and it takes work. Exercise is defined as "any activity designed to hone a skill or ablity" and I got to EXERCISE thankfulness today.

Reaching for the butter to prepare Micah's waffles, I accidentally knocked over a half-empty glass of milk one of my urchins had placed in the fridge yesterday. Milk flowed over the top shelf, trickled down to the second shelf, dripped into the bins and splatted on the floor and surrounding cupboards. I think the amount of milk multiplied as it spilled because I'm quite sure I mopped up a lot more than was in the little cup to begin with. As the waffles sat cooling and the lunches weren't quite finished, I resisted the urge to focus on the negative. Instead I chose to thank God that my family has milk to spare and for the many conveniences I've been blessed with. What if I had no washing machine or no refrigerator in the first place? The spill happened on a Tuesday morning when I did not have to be out the door by a certain time.

The next opportunity to exercise thankfulness came as I started up the load of towels. Sweet Abby came to tell me that she hadn't quite made it to the toilet, but that she had put a towel on the puddle on the bathroom floor. I chose to be thankful that lunches were at least done, older kids almost on their way out the door and Micah was enjoying his slightly cool waffles. I chose to be thankful that Abby told me about the problem and that I hadn't discovered it as a result of someone slipping in it and getting hurt. I chose to be thankful she hadn't made the mess because she was sick and I wouldn't have to clean it up all day long. I couldn't quite smile as I cleaned the bathroom floor at 7:30 a.m. but I was working to be thankful for little things.

This giving thanks in all things is hard work though. It requires great effort and does not come naturally. It seemed like a mental tug-of-war this morning to mentally shift gears from the temptation to complain and turn to an opportunity to give thanks. It is tiring to do mental battle for joy. But I do believe that as we conciously choose to be thankful and look for things to rejoice over, it does become easier. It also makes me more eager for that glorious day in the future when thankfulness will come naturally. In heaven there will be no alarms waking us before we're ready, no spilled milk and no bathroom accidents. There will be unending, unspeakable joy with our Savior, the One who teaches us true thankfulness.