God's gifts 35-50
Today naturally set me in a thankful mode. You see, it's Abel's second birthday, but only our first one with him home. This time last year, we celebrated Abel's birthday without him... and that is not nearly as delightful as celebrating with him.
The slightly dampening effect of the day appeared when coming home from our morning activities to Ruthie running out of the garage. That, in itself, has been fairly common. She knows how to push the door open between the house and the garage, if we forget to close it all the way. The downer hit when I went to take her back into the house, and found the entire trash bag of stinky diapers and dirty cat litter spread across the garage floor, all chewed up. The odor made my head spin. Even writing of it now returns the burning sensation to my nose.
My hands could not bring themselves to clean the mess. While both children were still safely playing in the car, I quickly grabbed a grocery bag and used it to pick up all of the offenses from the floor. I grabbed the nearest cleaning spray and paper towels and doused the floor as effectively as I could.
For all I did, I don't doubt there there remains more lurching on the floor, because the garage has not recovered a normal smell since (even with the garage door left open for hours to air it out).
As with yesterday's dilemma, reality hit me again. Can I choose to be thankful, even when the situation does not lend itself to giving thanks?
It sure is easier to thank God for Abel's life and his birthday than for coming home to a garage full of stench and filth. So here is my thankful list for today, beginning with the stinky situation...
35. Ruthie not running away, even when she came outside to meet our car.
36. Ruthie being a kind and affectionate addition to our family.
37. The kids staying safely away from the mess, and allowing me to clean it up without interruption.
38. By God's grace, not losing my temper with the dog or the kids about the mess.
And now on to the sweetness of celebrating Abel's day.
39. Laughing all the way to our Bible study, while listening with Adrianna to Hank the Cowdog relating his adventures of meeting a poodle name Pootsy (?), who pretended to be a Rottweiler named Bear.
40. Celebrating Abel's birthday with him!
41. Hearing Abel finish one of the sentences from his favorite book with his longest word yet: "But-er-fwhy!"
42. Adrianna checking to see if Abel was okay when he bumped his head on his crib.
43. Adrianna making a birthday puzzle card for Abel with African animal stencils.
44. Making gluten-free, dairy-free, rice-free brownies with Adrianna.
45. Adrianna understanding that she could sample her brownie batter, but not the batter for Abel's cake, and having no sadness over it.
46. Abel saying, "Beep. Beep. Beep," when the kitchen timer went off for his cake.
47. Playing soccer with Adrianna and Abel for my ten-minute intermission between making cakes and cleaning bathrooms. Adrianna's team was the Tractors and my team was the Mommies. She won by one point. :) (Abel ran around screaming and stealing the ball when he could.)
48. Abel learning to answer, "How old are you?" with "TWO!" by the end of the day of practicing.
49. Abel keeping me company while I was cleaning the bathrooms, first by playing in the dry bathtub and second by opening and shutting the bathroom door, while saying, "Bye bye."
50. Scott arriving home in time to help me finish vacuuming (and being willing to do so!).
51. Abel "reading" through his new book from his grandparents, rather than going on to open more presents.
The slightly dampening effect of the day appeared when coming home from our morning activities to Ruthie running out of the garage. That, in itself, has been fairly common. She knows how to push the door open between the house and the garage, if we forget to close it all the way. The downer hit when I went to take her back into the house, and found the entire trash bag of stinky diapers and dirty cat litter spread across the garage floor, all chewed up. The odor made my head spin. Even writing of it now returns the burning sensation to my nose.
My hands could not bring themselves to clean the mess. While both children were still safely playing in the car, I quickly grabbed a grocery bag and used it to pick up all of the offenses from the floor. I grabbed the nearest cleaning spray and paper towels and doused the floor as effectively as I could.
For all I did, I don't doubt there there remains more lurching on the floor, because the garage has not recovered a normal smell since (even with the garage door left open for hours to air it out).
As with yesterday's dilemma, reality hit me again. Can I choose to be thankful, even when the situation does not lend itself to giving thanks?
It sure is easier to thank God for Abel's life and his birthday than for coming home to a garage full of stench and filth. So here is my thankful list for today, beginning with the stinky situation...
35. Ruthie not running away, even when she came outside to meet our car.
36. Ruthie being a kind and affectionate addition to our family.
37. The kids staying safely away from the mess, and allowing me to clean it up without interruption.
38. By God's grace, not losing my temper with the dog or the kids about the mess.
And now on to the sweetness of celebrating Abel's day.
39. Laughing all the way to our Bible study, while listening with Adrianna to Hank the Cowdog relating his adventures of meeting a poodle name Pootsy (?), who pretended to be a Rottweiler named Bear.
40. Celebrating Abel's birthday with him!
41. Hearing Abel finish one of the sentences from his favorite book with his longest word yet: "But-er-fwhy!"
42. Adrianna checking to see if Abel was okay when he bumped his head on his crib.
43. Adrianna making a birthday puzzle card for Abel with African animal stencils.
44. Making gluten-free, dairy-free, rice-free brownies with Adrianna.
45. Adrianna understanding that she could sample her brownie batter, but not the batter for Abel's cake, and having no sadness over it.
46. Abel saying, "Beep. Beep. Beep," when the kitchen timer went off for his cake.
47. Playing soccer with Adrianna and Abel for my ten-minute intermission between making cakes and cleaning bathrooms. Adrianna's team was the Tractors and my team was the Mommies. She won by one point. :) (Abel ran around screaming and stealing the ball when he could.)48. Abel learning to answer, "How old are you?" with "TWO!" by the end of the day of practicing.
49. Abel keeping me company while I was cleaning the bathrooms, first by playing in the dry bathtub and second by opening and shutting the bathroom door, while saying, "Bye bye."
50. Scott arriving home in time to help me finish vacuuming (and being willing to do so!).
51. Abel "reading" through his new book from his grandparents, rather than going on to open more presents.
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