The little blue house in the quiet town is the place where I learned to find the beauty in everything.

It’s the place where I learned we could be thankful for freezing snow, for the beauty and hush it brings.

It’s the place where I learned to be thankful we only had one car, because it meant more time together.

It’s the place where I started to thank God for the library… the park… a friend who came over for a cup of coffee.  The little things I might’ve taken for granted before.

It’s the place where a group of women, all huddled in coats and armed with glue guns, gathered around a long table laden with ribbons, burlap, and chalk paint, and created Thankfulness Jars.

It’s the place where, when we drove across the state line, we pulled over by the big green sign which said: “Nebraska: the Good Life.”  Did we believe it?  We were too cold to think it over long.

But now, looking back, I see that it was true.  And the Good Life was a Thankful Life.

It was a thankful life when a new friend came over and I griped about all the things I missed about California.  She quietly asked me, “What do you like about this town?”

It was a thankful life when we learned what a thing it is “just” to have a home… “just” to have a job… “just” to have food in the fridge.  All those “justs” become pretty important when the town’s one major employer threatens layoffs.  I learned to lean in, and pray, and be thankful for each day, from my new friends.

It was a thankful life when we drove to the bigger town, the one with a zoo, that was fifty miles away, and on the freeway we passed a billboard with a picture of an old woman holding a baby.  Her wrinkled hand gently caressed the baby’s face.  The billboard read, “Every Life Matters.”  It’s a good life when we’re thankful for every life; young and old and in between.

So I’ll carry on that tradition we started on a snowy, quiet, November Nebraska night: I’ll tear off slips of paper, one for each family member, every night this month.  We’ll write down one thing we’re thankful for and we’ll surprise each other with the gift of reading them together on Thanksgiving Day.  I’ll save those slips of paper in a Ziploc and treasure them for years to come.

We can’t keep our children from every trial; guarantee their every happiness; or provide for every thing they think they need.  But we can teach them the habit of thankfulness.  We can teach them that a good life is a thankful life.

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” ~A.A. Milne

How do you and yours prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving?  I would love to hear from you and learn from you.  Leave a comment below, if you like.

May our Thankfulness rise up for Christ’s glory, and open up our hearts to receive His love,

Laura