A Month of Thanksgiving: Day 25 {For Catching Up}

Mother supposed she could be thankful that day for the chance to catch up on the days she'd missed, instead of feeling bad about missing them in the first place. She had run out of time to write, after all, because her days were full of doing--visits to family, visits from friends; time out with Pigeon and Father; time in, cooking, making a home for them all. Best not to regret being busy with these; better to be thankful for the spent-up hours, the real opportunities, the memories made and not just imagined.

Pigeon at Play

Sitting down for a few free minutes that day, it was easy to think of eight thanks-worthy things, one for each day she'd missed along the way:

• Day 16 - For hands held high in worship.

• Day 17 - For Pigeon's chance to run on a real lawn, to play with dogs and men and a football, like any boy should in November.

• Day 18 - For cooler weather, and smaller utility bills.

• Day 20 - For the guests that do show up.

• Day 21 - For once-a-year peppermint mochas and homemade gingersnaps. {All things in moderation...}

• Day 22 - For the quiet, ordered therapy of baking, and recent excuses to do it often.

• Day 23 - For a good, late dinner with old friends, and the dry, warm home (albeit small and rented) in which to eat it.

• Day 24 - For long Sunday naps, followed by tea and snuggles in bed with her boys.

There was more she could list, always more. One didn't need a month or a day to be thankful, but it was good to have one anyway, to take the time to more than glance around, to notice: we are blessed, we are free, we are fed, we are loved. And sometimes, we have a few minutes to write a bit of it down.