Monday, November 23, 2009

Giving Thanks

Even if the Pilgrims hadn’t started things, harvest time is naturally a thanks giving time. Spade and I are in the autumn of our lives and that’s a harvest time too. We have a few different kinds of harvest going on right now.

One is the fruit on our citrus trees. It’s not a bounty you can put aside to keep yourself alive all winter, but we love our orange juice - or tangerine or tangelo or grapefruit - whatever happens to be ripe from now on for the next few months.

Spade’s like the Little Red Hen who made bread after she grew the wheat and ground it into flour. He planted the trees, keeps them alive and healthy with fertilizer, water, pruning and cold protection. Then he picks the fruit and brings it in the house, where he usually squeezes the juice out. (And even cleans the mess up too!!) That juice is so sweet, and how it comes to us makes it all the better. I’m grateful for it, and for Spade and his work.

I get a miniature thanksgiving feeling when I bring groceries home from the store. I have nothing to do with producing the food, but I’m so thankful while I unpack the bags and fill the refrigerator and pantry. If I happen to have stopped for gas in the car on my way home from the grocery store, then I have double the gratitude. We can eat. We can go somewhere. That’s security and freedom. And I love that feeling.

I’ve been straightening up the house today and I feel so thankful when I look around at it. I like our house, and I’m thankful for it, and I also have a sense of satisfaction when I see the order and cleanliness that my work has created. I like the results of my work. That’s a kind of harvest. It’s nice to step back and admire what I’ve accomplished.

Another harvest is the one from the work we've done in our family.  The hardest and most satisfying work we've ever done was raising our children. And the best part is that they aren’t messed up. :) Well, that's a bit of an understatement. And we’re thankful for that every single day.

We'll be counting our blessings on Thursday and enjoying a feast with family and friends. But we can find harvests and blessings in the normal events of every normal day. There are enough to bring a thankful feeling every day of the year. I hope we remember to do that.

3 comments:

  1. I love your post - reminding me to be grateful every day for the bounties that are surely there.

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  2. Great post. Happy Thanksgiving Susy. Miss you!

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  3. glad you think we're not messed up. :)

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