Full of Thanks

I am thankful:

~ for all the people throwing away their pumpkins as they switch to their Christmas porch decorations for the season. Those pumpkins are now on MY porch awaiting the Pumpkin Olympics!

~ for Sawyer’s 1st Grade Thanksgiving Feast. Proudly adorned in his Native American garb, he sang his little turkey songs with his class and feasted on chicken strips and mashed potatoes. The same standard Thanksgiving pageantry taking place in schools all across the nation. But I know my fellow cancer moms and other moms of medically complex children will be able to relate: this falls into the category of “I never let myself dream of him getting to do this…” All my kids have done the same programs and sung the same songs. But we never knew if Sawyer would. BUT GOD. And when my little feather-clad kiddo proclaimed Psalm 100, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations…” I didn’t even try to hold back the tears. Thank You Jesus, for the life of this boy!

~ for the perfect bite of homemade pimento cheese on a wheat thin.

~ for Kora’s 5th Grade Wax Museum. Her class portrayed a living history museum beginning with Adam and Eve, spanning through Bible times and as current as Princess Diana. Kora chose Mother Theresa, and did a beautiful job. A tablecloth and blue painters tape never looked so holy!

~ for a perfect fall day of raking and bagging leaves. And what do you HAVE to do before you can bag them? You MUST jump in them of course!!! But what do you do if you DON’T HAVE ENOUGH leaves at your house???? Why, you BRING YOUR NEIGHBORS’ LEAF PILES TO YOUR HOUSE, of course!!! Problem solved!

~ for a good week for Giddyup & Whoa at the “Christmas in the Country” Barn Sale. The weather was perfect and I think people were excited to get out and support local small businesses. We’ve had so many wonderful local orders, and we are so grateful. Keep us in mind if we could create a special gift for you.

~ for way-too-loud family dinners full of the world’s worst knock knock jokes, and for a long-overdue evening of food and friends and fellowship.

~ for the most awesome friends who bring you dinner when you have a super-sized litter of puppies!

~ for surviving Week One of Puppy Life. This stuff is no joke! We’ve never done anything like this before, and I see why not many people go into the puppy business! I thought I was tired after staying up with Birdie all night as she labored last Saturday/Sunday. Watching Birdie become a mom has been an incredible thing. The instincts that God built in to her, from the delivery process, cleaning her pups, gathering them together, nursing and grooming them all…it’s just amazing! She is an awesome mother to her babies! But there are just SO MANY OF THEM!

She’s physically incapable of nursing them all at once, so I have to keep track of who has and hasn’t eaten, and rotate them. And then supplement with puppy formula. Every. Two. Hours. And then just the logistics of making sure none of them get stepped on, rolled on, or crushed. I have slept every night on the floor of the puppy pen since last Saturday. When Josh and I say goodnight, we laugh that I am spending yet another night “in the doghouse.”

And of course there is the concern of whether or not Birdie can make enough milk to nourish them all, so today I brewed up a batch of my Mother’s Milk herbal tea and mixed it with chicken broth to help support her milk supply. I never knew how taxing the job of a canine midwife/nanny would be! It’s truly a round-the-clock job. BUT, the puppies are all thriving and growing and are just the cutest things you’ve ever seen. It was super helpful to get them each their own color-coded collars to identify them. We are noticing their little individual behavior patterns and are better able to track feedings. We have a color-coded name chart: the girls are Disney Princesses and the boys are the crew from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. OF COURSE. All the kids are smitten, and they love watching them grow.

So yeah.

13 dogs.

9 kids.

3 turtles.

1 cat.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

What a ride. Thank You Jesus for this crazy, messy family to do life with. It’s rarely easy, and sometimes the hard seems WAY TOO HARD. Even though I try to be really transparent and honest on this blog, I’m sure you understand that there are many other layers that I don’t talk about. Lots of other things going on that are less picturesque. But Lord, help me keep my eyes on You. Help me give thanks IN all things, if not necessarily FOR all things. Because You are good, and You are faithful. And You are always working.

Wherever this week may find you, may your Thanksgiving be a time of Giving Thanks. Because there is always, always, ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

Thanks for giving thanks with me.

“Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalms 100)