Thankful in all things

For a long time now, I've been trying to practice the discipline of giving thanks in all things, even when circumstances don't make sense or are unpleasant. In things big and small and in between.

Well, I'm tired today and have lots of Thanksgiving tasks in front of me, plus a wiggly, whiny, 20-month who isn't as happy to just watch me cook and putter around the house as she was last year.

This morning I was holding her in the kitchen, along with a container of oats and probably a few other things and boom, there went the oats, all over the kitchen floor. My first reaction was "Ughh, what a pain! I do not feel like cleaning those up."

So I didn't, and I kept getting ready for the day ... while lo and behold Emery fell strangely silent and self-sufficient as she busied herself in the pile of oats for just enough time for me to finish getting ready and get us out the door.

So today I am reminded, again, of why we are to be thankful in all things - in part because much of the time, the things we don't feel grateful for right away, actually wind up being unexpected blessings.