This week, in an attempt to turn some negative thoughts around, I am finding ways and reasons to be thankful for some of the difficult things in our life right now.
1. I am thankful that we don't have a working car right now because it forces us to get out and stay active even during these colder months when we're most likely to remain sedentary. Today I have walked over 17,000 steps and it's just past 5pm.
2. I am also thankful for not having a working car right now because it gives me the opportunity to have slightly longer conversations with my friends when they give me rides to church or Bible study or Moms' group. I feel that these one on one conversations have allowed me to get to know some of the women from church even better than I get to through seeing them in group settings.
3. A third reason I am thankful for not having a car is that when I'm walking to do errands, I have the time to listen to the podcasts that I love to listen to but don't always get the chance to when I'm at home.
4. I am thankful that Matt doesn't have a job outside the home right now because it means that we get the opportunity to spend more quality time together as a family and as a couple. Often times when he was working, we were all so tired by the time he got home that we wouldn't really interact as much and now we have more in depth conversations, play board games and even go for walks and to activities together.
5. I am also grateful for this because it gave Matt the opportunity to help at our church this week repainting some of the kids classrooms. Not only did it give him the chance to volunteer and give back to the church community that has given so much to us, it gave him the opportunity to spend some time with a few of the men from church and get to know them a little better.
6. I am thankful that Matt has this opportunity to take the time to find a job where his abilities and talents will be appreciated and put to good use. At his previous job, his work ethic and all around skills were taken for granted and I'm glad that he has this time to reassess his skills and take on some tasks which are better suited to his abilities.
7. I am thankful that we don't have cable because it gives us more time to play board games, have conversations and read good books.
8. I am thankful that I have run out of negatives to find ways to be thankful for. I mean I'm sure if I looked I could easily find more negatives in our life but I can't come up with any right now either with or without the positive spin to them.
9. I am thankful for the warm winter we've had up until now because looking at the forecast and seeing windchills in the negatives makes me cold just thinking about it.
10. And as a follow up to the last one, I am thankful for our amazing church community and their willingness to give us rides because without them, we would be missing church tomorrow morning for sure.
Instead of just writing up my own list, I'm adding a thankful list written by Davis today after he read a few of my thankfuls.
1. Books
2. The Library
3. My brother
4. My mom and dad
5. Friends
6. Vacation
7. Valentine's Day ( and here he also listed off every other holiday he could think of.)
8. Winter and snow
9. Star Wars
10. Video games
11. TV
Labels: Gratitude, Ten Things of Thankful, Thankfulness
