My Crazy Gratitude

My first daughter Ava, smiling despite herself. A good lesson!

I am writing to you from a place of gratitude today. A pure and true thankful place. But it didn't have to be this way- and in fact, might not have. Except for grace. Grace really delivered me today.

So, it's the Winter Solstice. Happy Solstice! Did anyone else do something special to commemorate the return of the sun to our darkness? I had so many wonderful things planned, but you know... life intervened.

I intended to wake the children at 6:12 a.m., the exact moment of the earth's farthest tip from the sun.
I tried that, but two of the three slumped back to bed with hardly an acknowledgement. 

I intended to take them to the beach this morning to watch the sun rise over the ocean as a special tribute to the blessing of the sun in our lives.
It was snowing hard enough at quarter to seven, when we had to leave, to obscure our hands in front of our faces, much less a sunrise. So I let that go. 

I intended to bake gluten free hot cross buns as a special treat to mark the occasion, but before I got my baking ingredients out I made the mistake of checking my email and discovered- to my horror- that I'd missed an article deadline. I went to work immediately, serving the kids cold pizza for breakfast. 

I intended to make Waldorf window stars with the children to add a bit of color to the otherwise bleak landscape of winter.
The company I ordered the paper from made a mistake and sent the rest of my order without the paper, which I only noticed late last night as I was trying to set up today's affairs. 

I intended to run to the bank, drop off my super late Christmas cards at the post office, and to pick up my new glasses at the eye doctor this afternoon.
All of these tasks were thwarted thanks to a freak wind storm which took out power to all three (all three!) towns I needed to travel to. Of course, I didn't find this information out at once; instead I had to drive for three hours to find each item out individually, sitting in traffic thanks to a downed tree at one point for almost forty-five minutes. 

I intended to cook a warm, traditional dinner for my family tonight.
Instead, I walked through the door with three children at dinner time, having stopped at my favorite local grocer for snacks on the way. I served Applegate farms gluten free frozen chicken, Alexia french fries**, and some cut up apples. 

I intended to savor some awesome books about the solstice together as a family tonight.
Instead, as I came through the door my chocolate lab bounded by me and ran off into the night. She only does this when she does something wrong, and further investigation revealed she had, in fact, ripped up our couch. Ripped up our couch!!

Deep breath.

But...

I choose to live in gratitude. Sometimes more successfully than others, but that's perhaps just the reality and truth of life. Today, I managed to be grateful down to my bones for a variety of things. 

 For...

*The security of my home, despite a big storm
*The welcoming arms of family, no matter how difficult the day
*That I have enough money in my bank account to stop and get the children a snack when we're out for an unexpectedly long time
*That I have the knowledge base to buy all natural foods so that even when they're not homemade I'm not too worried
*That I had time and resources this morning to pull together an article, even if it was a bit late
*That my husband chose today- of all days- to bring home some locally made chocolate truffles just because he loves me
*That after several years of homeschooling I have learned to put off a day's school events with placid acceptance if necessary
*That I'm not too blind just yet to wait to get my new glasses until next Thursday.
*the divine providence which reminds me that tommorrow is another day
*The fact that we have some friends who will be getting rid of their old couch before too long (and the hope that we might be able to acquire it!)
*that even when my problems seem large- they aren't.
*the delicious, universal appeal of pistachios to bring a family together at the end of a hard day, no matter what has transpired.

What about you? Are there blessings in your life which don't stand out as such at first glance?

**For my readers with celiac disease: Alexia fries used to be completely gluten free, but since undergoing a manufactoring expansion in 2012, some fries are now produced on dedicated lines, but in a shared facility. Essentially, consume at your own risk.