Seven Days of Thanks: Day 7 - A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers! I hope that today will inspire you to an attitude of gratitude for the many blessings in your lives, and to keep in thought and prayer those who are not so fortunate. Today, I would like to share a prayer that I received at my MOMS group several years ago. It is something that we like to pray every year at Thanksgiving.

Psalm 100: A psalm for giving grateful praise

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.  -NIV

Seven Days of Thanks: Day 6 - The Mess

I am not a messy person. Not at all. Then I got married, and my stuff joined another person's stuff and we were double-stuffed. Then we had a child. Then we had another child. Now we're preparing for a third child. And I have been forced to let go of some of my notions of clean and organized. There are only so many ways to store toys. There are only so many places to set up exersaucers and cradle swings. There are only so many hours in a day to do laundry and vacuum and wash dishes.

God has shown me that I am blessed by my mess. My house isn't as clean as I would like, but my days are spent helping Abigail with her homework and playing cars with Zachary and sometimes even getting to sit on the couch with Carey for a half hour after the kids go to bed. My house is messy because my children are blessed (even spoiled!) by so many people who love them. My sink is full of dishes because we have food to eat. My hamper is full of dirty clothes because we have an abundance of clothes to wear. All of the things that make my house a mess are blessings in my life, including the aforementioned husband and two darling children. ;-)

So instead of being frustrated and overwhelmed by my mess, sometimes, I just look at it and smile. Why wish for a clean house when my home is filled with laughter and playing and living?

Cleaning your house while your children are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.  -Phyllis Diller

Seven Days of Thanks: Day 5 - Our Home

As I write this, the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy has come and gone. As I watched the special news coverage, I was shocked to see that there are still people who are not yet back into their homes. Our home escaped major damage, and the homes in our neighborhood that sustained tree damage were quickly fixed. Life has returned to normal for us, and it was saddening to realize that this isn't the case everywhere...

Over this past year, the gratitude that I feel for our home has increased. Of course, we still have a home improvement wish list - things we'd like to upgrade/update when time and money permit. But I have come to appreciate our home as it is, warts and all, because it is ours. Do I want to replace the white tiles of our kitchen floor? Absolutely. But right now, those white tiles make it very easy to find and clean up the assorted messes made by the kiddos. Do I want to replace the pink toilet and the pink and peach bathtub in our upstairs bathroom? Of course. But right now, I can close our beautiful shower curtain to mask my not-so-favorite bathtub and, well, the pink toilet is Abby's favorite color. Do I want to do some major landscaping work on our front and back lawns? Sure. But right now, "that darn chipmunk," as we call him, is teaching me which plants he likes to eat and which plants he doesn't, and pushing me to be creative with the flowers that we have that are thriving.

I could sit around and bemoan all the things that are wrong with my house, or all the aspects of it that I don't like. Or, I can strive to make my home a welcoming, peaceful refuge for my family and our visitors. I can make my home as clean as possible (which, with two small kids and a seven-months pregnant belly, isn't always as clean as I'd like...). I can organize it to make it "user-friendly" and a little less stressful. I can create a pleasant atmosphere by lighting candles and decorating for the holidays and hanging up photos of and artwork by those messy, wonderful kiddos. But most importantly, I can make my house a pleasant place to be simply by my attitude. And over the past year, I've done my best to adopt an "attitude of gratitude." My house may not be perfect, but it is mine. It has seen our family grow over the past 5+ years. It has been there as we experienced joy-filled moments and heartbreaking moments. It has hosted visits from family and friends, near and far. It has been the backdrop for some of the greatest memories I hold with my husband and my children. And that is far more important than the color of the floor tiles or some dug-up flower bulbs.

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.  -Johann von Goethe

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.  -Jane Austen

Seven Days of Thanks: Day 4 - Being a SAHM (Stay-at-Home Mom)

After Abigail was born, I was so sad to return to work. So as we prepared for Zachary's arrival, I was beyond excited that Carey had worked out our finances so I could stay home with our children. Little did I know how challenging it would be...

I believe that we are exactly where God wants us to be. At first, it was a little hard for me to swallow that God wanted my days to be filled with diaper changes, endless piles of laundry, and the Sisyphean task of cleaning our home. But once I got my footing, I no longer stared at the clock, counting down the minutes until Carey got home and could take one of the kids off my hands. I found myself enjoying trips to the public library, where we are such frequent visitors that all the librarians know us by name. I found myself looking forward to music classes, playgroup, swim lessons - all those fun activities where my kids could socialize and play with other children their age. I even found mundane errands, like grocery shopping, a fun learning adventure.

So yes, my days are still filled with diapers, laundry, and messiness (and will be for some time!). But they are also filled with good morning cuddles, silly games of Simon Says at the bus stop, and crazy Hot Dog Dances at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. God did know exactly where I should be, and I am grateful for the opportunity to spend each of my days with these amazing little ones.

Your children need your presence more than your presents.  -Jesse Jackson

Seven Days of Thanks: Day 3 - My Family

Growing up, every Sunday, our large family would descend on my Grandma and Grandpa Kowalczyk's house for lunch and a day of play. During the summer, Sunday afternoon family time also included trips to our house and fun in our swimming pool. I grew up surrounded by the love of my parents, big sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Now, with the "kids" grown up, our family has expanded through weddings and births, and happy moments like engagements and job promotions are often shared over long distances by email and Facebook. But what hasn't changed are the fun times we have when we are together, and the love and support that are offered over the miles. I pray that Abby and Zach will grow up with a strong appreciation of and love for this wonderful family into which they've been born.

Family life is the source of the greatest human happiness.  -Robert J. Havighurst

Seven Days of Thanks: Day 2 - My Children

When I think about the happiest days of my life, so many of them involve my children. Seeing their precious profiles on the ultrasound screen for the first time. Holding them in my arms after their births. Watching milestones like first smiles, first teeth, first words, and first steps. Just being present for the ordinary, everyday moments that allow them to grow and learn and develop.

There is no way I could ever thank God enough for the challenge and responsibility and blessing of motherhood. Being a mommy is truly the greatest thing I will ever do in my life, and I am so grateful for these two (soon to be 3!) precious babies who bless me each day by calling me "mommy."

The real question isn't whether or not you love your kids, but how well you are able to demonstrate your love and caring so that your children really feel loved.  -Stephanie Marston

Seven Days of Thanks: Day 1 - My Husband

We met in 2001. He asked me to "hang out." And the rest is history. I could never have imagined, 12 years later, that the man who charmed me with a shy smile and warm brown eyes would still be charming me to this day.

We've traded a small apartment in the city for a house in the suburbs. We've traded nights out at restaurants and bars for nights in with a DVD and a blanket on the couch. We've traded weekends of sleeping in for weekends filled with family fun (usually starting around 7 am). Throughout these changes, the one thing that hasn't changed is the fact that there is no one else I would rather be on this journey with.

I have been blessed with a man who works so hard to take care of our family, and yet always has the energy to read a book, go to a tea party, or build a tower out of blocks. He is an amazing husband and father, and we are blessed that he is ours.

"Married couples who love each other tell each other a thousand things without talking." 

- Chinese Proverb