Giving Thanks in the New Year

Posted by Molly

This time of year everyone is always starting new. Looking to make changes. Hoping things will be different. I totally understand that. Like everyone else I am tempted to make new year's resolutions - most of them involving me having less weight and more patience - but when I look at my life, change is the last thing I want.

It wasn't always this way for me. I had many years when change was exactly what I wanted.
But that was before I found the peace of my own family. I still have bad days or weeks or even months but those bad days are more hopeful because of the 3 people I live with and the incredible warmth they provide. If I could stop time and live in this moment with Bobby and Mac and Charlie forever I would. This moment is nearly perfect.


But I can't stop time. It marches on and with it march my children as they get bigger and bigger before my eyes. On the days that they drive me crazy, I try to remind myself that this time when they love me so openly will disappear in maybe ten years and they'll be embarrassed to be seen in public with me so I need to savor it now. Some days it's easier to savor than others.

So instead of hoping for change this year, I'm hoping that things stay just as good as they are now. And I'm thankful that I have a life where things staying the same is more than okay.

I'm thankful that I have a husband who coaches our son's basketball team and drives our friends' daughter to school and plays with all the neighborhood kids. He's the kind of dad every kid wants. The kind you see in the movies....and, might I add, just as handsome.

I'm thankful that my children love their friends so much and want to play with other children. Childhood is wasted if you don't enjoy it and mine really do.

I'm thankful for Mac's empathy. I had him saying prayers over Christmas for a friend's husband and when he heard me telling my husband that he had passed, Mac burst into tears because his prayers hadn't worked and he felt so bad for my friend. His sweet spirit makes me believe he'll do great things and I'm thankful for that, too.

I'm thankful for Charlie's angel face. He may sometimes have the temper of the Hulk but he literally looks like an angel and when I look at him I cannot help but be grateful for that.

I'm thankful for the time I had with my mother (although it was not nearly long enough) and the way sharing her stories with my children keeps her alive.

I'm thankful for an amazing network of friends. One of my favorite authors, Jay McInerney, once wrote "the capacity for friendship is God's way of apologizing for our families". Growing up my family was difficult but I was lucky enough to make really fantastic friends at a very young age who are still with me and I thank God for that. My whole life when I've been alone or needed someone He has put the exact person I needed in my path and I cannot begin to tell you what a gift that has been.

I'm thankful that at 3 and 6 my sons already have friends in their lives that I can see being there long after I'm gone.

I'm thankful for my health and my home and my church all of which keep me strong and sane and warm.

I'm thankful for the outlet this blog gives me because since I stopped writing for a living I've needed a place to get some things off my chest and so I'm really thankful to Adrienne for giving me one.

Being thankful is a really good way to start the new year. Trust me, it will make you feel better than any diet and it's calorie-free so win-win!

May 2012 give you all many, many reasons to give thanks.