Thanks Giving

Thanks for alarm clocks that go off when it's still dark outside.

Thanks for a comfy bed, fuzzy slippers, fresh sheets, soft pillows.

Thanks for the child in the next room that makes me crawl out of bed and get going in the morning so she can get to school on time.

Thanks that she has a school to attend. Thanks for dedicated teachers and for the education she's receiving. Thanks for the information she has access to. Thanks for the students in her class. Thanks for her friends who are teaching her about whispering and passing notes and sharing private jokes. And thanks for those who are not her friends, teaching her valuable skills for dealing with difficult people.

Thanks that every morning she must make a decision on which clothes to wear. Thanks that she must decide if she's going to wear her boots or her shoes and must choose which coat is the right one for the day. Many children are not so fortunate to have multiple warm coats to choose from. I am thankful she is not one of them.

Thanks for the snow, blanketing everything in white. Because of it, in six months, I'll be more thankful for the warmth of summer than I would be if I had that warmth all the time.

Thanks for the dogs. And the cats. The chickens. And the ducks. Thanks for the horses. Thanks that I have to do chores, even early in the morning. Thanks-thanks-thanks for electricity and running water, both in the barn and in the house.

Thanks for the smell of coffee. Fresh eggs. Homemade bread. Real butter.

Thanks for good friends who, when they're sick, call and ask me to take their kids to school, knowing that when the situation is reversed -- and it will be, one day -- they will repay the favor. Thanks for kindred spirits.

Thanks for my family. And special thanks for my husband, the love of my life.

Thanks for the wind blasting up from the bluff. Without it, I wouldn't be nearly as grateful for the heat inside.

Did I mention the coffee? Thanks.

Thanks for drive throughs. Thanks for the girl at the cafe who takes longer than usual to get my order. If I hadn't been waiting for her, I wouldn't have fiddled with the radio and stumbled across a new station playing an old favorite song -- that now runs through my head on infinite repeat, an anthem of praise providing a soundtrack of thanks for the rest of my day.

Thanks that I have enough cash to pay for my morning coffee. Thanks that I don't have enough to buy both coffee and a scone; this ensures that I will savor every drop.

Thanks for gravity keeping me grounded. Thanks that I dropped my change on the ground when paying for my order. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have discovered that someone else dropped their change and neglected to pick it up. Thanks for unexpected windfalls; blessings in disguise.

Thanks for the scone. It was delicious.

Thanks for medical scans. Thanks for modern technology that alerts us when there may be a problem with the health of those we love.

Thanks for the awareness that modern technology is not God; it cannot fix all of our problems.

Thanks for the chance to lift my eyes, looking beyond myself, higher than the clouds, higher than the sky higher than my hopes, higher than my dreams, higher than anyone can possibly imagine. Higher than I am. Higher than I can become...

Thanks for the thought that there is something higher than all of us, looking at me, accepting my thanks, hearing me when I cry out and ask "Why?" and "When?" and "How long?" and "How soon?" ... Something that hears me when I say--

Thanks.