Thanksgiving 2009: A Celebration of Burdens

Each Thanksgiving families everywhere sit around a big table and talk about how they are thankful for family, their homes, food and a myriad of other typical blessings. Then, they go on about their business, not usually grateful again until the following November. Unfortunately, gratitude seems to be a thing of the past in our society. I'm content, however, to participate in a season of gratitude that extends well past the turkey leftovers. Why? Well, because I've much to be grateful for.

Yes, I have my health, my family, my friends and good food to eat. Those things most assuredly are blessings that I am thankful for. I am also thankful for the things that, on the surface, appear to be burdens. I'm thankful that while my husband has been under-employed, we have been provided for - even though the budget on paper didn't add up. The recession has hit us hard, but it's taught us how to live even more frugally. It's taught us to "need" less. It's opened our eyes to the struggles others have gone through before us.

I'm thankful for my children who often throw the biggest fits and who fight with each other almost incessantly, or so it seems some days. All that fighting and whining and typical behavior indicates to me that they are healthy and strong. In a day and time when more children than ever are facing illnesses like cancer, autism and other life-changing illnesses, I'll take the fights and tantrums.

I'm thankful even for the two difficult pregnancies I've had in recent years. Bedrest was horrible. Having to leave my son in the NICU was almost more than I could bear. But, those difficult pregnancies helped me realize what a blessing my children are and how much of a miracle life is. So, I am thankful.

Those are the things I am choosing to focus on this Thanksgiving; the burdens. The very things that often feel overwhelming and that sometimes threaten my very existence are the very same things that propel me forward and that keep me from losing sight of what is truly important. So, I am thankful for the burdens. Are you?