Thankfulness

Today I write in tribute to my Mom who died right after Thanksgiving 4 years ago.  I can't believe its been that many years but it has.  In these last few years, I have come to know her and understand her much better. Now that she is gone, and not exasperating me, I can see all the ways that I am like her and I am more thankful than I ever was for all the good things she sowed into my life.

This year we will have Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings at my house. Nine people coming and my girls and I are cooking it, all of it, home made, from scratch(except the turkey, which my husband has masterfully prepared for years. Thanks babe!).Why do we do this?  In part, because my Mom did and that's how you do it. She cooked  allot, without complaining.  I think she must have enjoyed it, because I do and so do most of my kids. And I see this as a gift from my mother.

Another thing that my Mother gave me was the seeds of thankfulness. I say seeds, because she planted something deep and profound, that keeps growing inside of me and changing me. When we were little, my parents taught us to pray before bed. They didn't teach us a prayer to pray, they taught us to pray, by giving thanks.  Ever night we said Thank You God prayers, things from the day and our life that we  were thankful for. We came up with them, we said them out loud together.

A number of years ago I realized that every time I went to pray I began with some kind of thanksgiving. It was completely ingrained in me that prayer and thanksgiving were connected. Giving thanks was rooted deep into my being. I am certain that this habit comes from being taught to give thanks ever night.

So I began to speak about being thankful with my own children, who were mostly teenagers at the time.  I called it cultivating thankfulness. I told them that one of my life's rules or goals was to cultivate thankfulness. 

I don't begin to think that I have accomplished this. I have been challenged recently by  ways that many others are developing thankful hearts.  But I am deeply grateful to my Mom for the seeds she planted and the fruit its borne in my life.