There is always something to be thankful for… and the secret is that you have to go a layer deeper than what you see.

Look for the good memories in the things you see, and smell, and taste, and touch.

Sit with them for a moment.

Afterward you may never look at high heels, dishes, or a salt shaker… the same way again.

Today I am thankful for… instructions

Step 1. Read the instructions. Step 2. Follow the instructions. Interestingly, something needs to happen before Step 1. Someone other than you actually has to create the instructions.And we have to actually read them… in context.

Today I am thankful for… fat birds

There is a fat little bird on the railing of my deck, singing at the top of her lungs. As I watch her sitting there content, and safe and using all of the power from the little lungs she’s been gifted, a thought drifts back into my mind. A thought from a post of a…

Today I am thankful for … photographs

Actual physical printed photographs. One snuck up on me today as I was cleaning and it stopped me in my path. It was an original without filters or retakes or retouches. It was just a moment in a chair. But I recognize everything in the background. The white and gold lamp that was ceramic on…

Today I am thankful for… high heels

There are few things in life more dangerous than wearing high heels on an escalator. And yet in that moment, as my toes towered over the precipice, I was overwhelmed with a sense of thankfulness for high heels. For the day a pair of white ones helped me down the aisle to say I do. For…

Today I am thankful for… the gap

In the London subway system there are signs posted as you enter and exit the cars that tell you to watch your step so you don’t slip and fall (or drop your cell phone) into that cavernous hole. However in London they don’t say “watch your step”, they say “Mind the Gap”. And of course…

Today I am thankful for… journals

I have more than the library of congress. Different sizes and shapes. Stashed away at work, in file cabinets, random shelves, plastic bins in the garage, stacks in my overly messy home office… I am thankful for my journals because they remind me… Life is filled with millions of moments. Spots in time that don’t…

Today I am thankful for… light

When you wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and you flip the switch… you hate the light. You squint. You stumble. You think to yourself, “I know my bathroom. Next time I’m going to figure this out in the dark.” But I challenge you tomorrow morning when you’re supposed to…

Today I am thankful for… the middle seat

No one likes the middle seat. In the car there is rarely a place for your feet or your stuff. In the plane you can’t see out the window or exit the aisle. In a meeting you can’t leave without disrupting everyone. At a ball game you’re farthest from the concession guy. And yet the…

Today I am thankful for… throwbackthursday

it reminds me that i’ve grown, i’ve progressed. it reminds me of… people i knew who brought me joy. answered and unanswered prayers. hard lessons and easy victories. clothing mistakes i shouldn’t repeat. being teased. braces. body issues. change. so today God i am thankful for #throwbackthursday because it reminds me… few things in life…

Today I am thankful for… dishes

Sure sometimes you have to soak them. Scrub them. Rinse. Load. Stack. Unload. Sometimes they break into a thousand pieces. Or miraculously get lost and result in a no longer matching set. They can represent hours lost cleaning instead of socializing with family. They can result in dry cracked hands. But my dishes are more…

Today I am thankful for… nametags

Nametags are awesome. My first nametag was wrapped around one of my teeny tiny newborn limbs so the nurses at the hospital knew to gave me to my parents. My second was likely affixed by a Sunday school teacher so they could easily wrangle me and the other spastic children running around. At some point…

Today I am thankful for… my birthday

Truthfully I have mixed emotions about my birthday. I don’t want to be the number that I am. At breakfast this morning my husband tried to convince me age is relative. If there were only 183 days in a year I would be 66 by now. If there were 730 days in a year. I’d…

Today I am thankful for… my kitchen table

Some inherit them. Others sit pretty in rooms that children are not allowed to touch. Some are counters. Or foldable. Or expandable. Some are high tops. Or glass tops. Or low to the floor tops. Some sit two. Or four. Or eighteen. Some are empty. Or cluttered. Or properly set. Some are props. Or decoration.…

Today I am thankful for… sprinkles

Some people love the cake, or the ice cream, or the frosting. Some prefer syrup, or whipped cream, while a select few gravitate toward nuts. But me… I’m the girl that can’t bypass the bowl of colored mini-twigs of sugar at the end of a build-your-own-sundae line. I keep extra in my freezer just in…

Today I am thankful for… chopsticks

I don’t use them properly. Yes I’ve seen the instructions. I have had people try and teach me. Hold it like a pencil. Nope Try your left hand. Nope. Well whatever I’m doing, this cannot-be-replicated-scissor-like-motion works for me. And each time I miraculously defy the laws of physics, gravity and simple dexterity I am thankful.…

Today I am thankful for… my nose

i used to hate my nose. i blamed it on matthew. he hit me in the face with a basketball in fifth grade. on purpose. since then i have a bump and a divot. and i swear with each passing that year that is just. keeps. getting. BIGGER. but… I am thankful for it because… it…

Today I am thankful for… helmet head

“Hat head” can’t hold a candle to this. Bangs squished in all directions, sweaty scalp, flat hair too far gone to get any assistance from teasing and hairspray… Even an 80s perm could not withstand it’s mysterious oppressive powers. Yet today I am thankful for helmet head… Experiencing helmet head means: I spent the day…

salt

Today I am thankful for a little salt shaker. A little reminder that not only should I not be salty, and not pour salt in a wound, but that we are called to something more. We are a key ingredient in every interaction in this life. We can bring out the best in each other.

Today I am thankful for… my job.

I didn’t eat lunch today. Yea, yea before you give me the speech about the importance of eating, getting away from my desk yadda yadda let me tell you. I am so thankful for my job because I am hungry. I got so wrapped up in getting things done, fulfilling commitments to coworkers and being…

Today I am thankful for… thumbtacks

push pins. thumbtacks. tiny weapons that prick fingers. or something more? in the gray walls of my cubicle they are the holders of memories. the reminders of promises. the keepers of laughter. they are the one object I am thankful for today. at a conference in Austin I saw some of the most amazing presentations…

Today I am thankful for… thermometers

the difference between being sick and… holy goodness we better go to the hospital because his brain is on fire! the spread between sushi, salmonella, mouth-watering medium rare and… what the heck you burned it! the cause of disagreements in households everywhere over the proper sleep temperature… yes i am thankful for thermometers. while i…

Today I am thankful for… zombies

you heard me. zombies. i stood still waiting for her next move. she looked me up and down. i feared that she might use more hairspray. it was the early 90’s and i was a proud girl scout. it wasn’t popular to be a girl scout. it wasn’t cool, and our uniforms were anything but…

Today I am thankful for… bullets

No, not those kinds of bullets. I mean the bullets you use to organize lists in documents on your computer. The ones where you can pick if you want to be a circle or a square or a checkbox or one of those sassy Wingding options.These little symbols helped me organize my otherwise scatterbrained thoughts…

Today I am thankful for… the goose pond

have you seen the glory of the goose pond? the way its inhabitants chase anyone who dares to approach it? the way it supports no marine life? the way it taunts you to ice skate upon it? (don’t) it is 15 degrees outside and feels like -4 and i am glad that i am not…

Today I am thankful for… blankets

i live in the midwest where no two parts of the house are ever the same temperature. so presently i sit comfortably under the warmth of one, in the midst of Snopocablizzortex ’14 (trademark pending) and as such, today I am thankful for… blankets. the quilt Linda made me for my wedding, and still the only…

windows

Today I am thankful for… windows. When it’s cold and I don’t want to miss it. For the world outside of me, that God allows me to see.

my feet

Today I am thankful for… my feet. And the grass I was able to walk on. And the memories of jumping, of grandparents, of all that has been gifted to me.

clutter

Today I am thankful for… clutter My home office had devolved into a life size junk drawer. It became the destination for random pieces of paper, bills, boxes, cards, decorations, pictures, notes, “ooh I should save this” type items I couldn’t be bothered to better assess in the moment. And so the piles grew and…

blank slate

Today I am thankful for… a blank slate. I love a brand new journal. A new stack of post-it notes. A new legal pad at work. An empty word doc on my computer. I love the blank slate. There are no existing patterns I have to follow. No scribbles or scratches or mistakes yet. I can…

french toast sticks

I don’t want to forget that the little things are actually the big things. That sometimes love can be wrapped in a yellow box that sits in the freezer.