I'm So Thankful!

I'm So Thankful!
by Marilyn Mackenzie
January 14, 2001
(Updated periodically. Latest revision 11/24/04)


Back in December of 2000, Michelle Jones, a Themestream writer, issued a challenge to list 102 things for which we were thankful. This was a challenge that I embraced. I've been accused of being Ms. Merry Sunshine, the "nice one" in my family, and Pollyanna. I awake each day and rush to the window to greet the sun and the Son, to listen to the birds and watch the squirrels romp, and to thank God for another new day.

I have only one son, and I know I've driven him crazy with my morning cheerfulness. He's not a morning person, but as he changed from toddler to young child to teen, I have seen changes in him caused by my morning cheer and thankfulness. He, too, now awakes to the new day with an attitude of joy.

I'm sorry if this is long! I am so thankful!

Accordions
I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and accordion lessons were offered at the county fair. Accordions were the instrument of choice at wedding receptions. Accordions remind me of my childhood and of the Pennsylvania Polka.

Airplanes
Although I don't love flying, I do appreciate being able to fly from place to place to visit loved ones.

Arby's Sandwiches
Strange thing to list? Perhaps, but I do love them so. And since there are no Arby's restaurants within 60 miles of me, sometimes I fantasize about moving just so I can have an Arby's Sandwich.

Autumn
A wonderful season of wonderful colors!

Babies
Everyone's! Babies have the ability to bring smiles to the faces of even the meanest and saddest people. They laugh at the simplest things and are so studious while learning about their own fingers and toes. If only we could figure out how to look at the world through their eyes!

Bible
What a gift the Bible is to us all. It's God's instruction manual to us, if we'd only remember to read it!

Bill
My brother. Everyone in my family remembers that my brother Billy painted dad's 1957 two-toned blue Ford with red roofing paint when he was just a toddler. That's when my mom learned that it really is "so easy when you use Lestoil." Bill made some poor life choices and at 45 if he's not in the hospital or the resident of a nursing home, then he's living on the street, waiting to die from cirrhosis of the liver. But, in his last days, he has learned to brighten the world around him as he acts as unofficial "greeter" at the nursing home. I'll always be thankful for my brother!

Bill
A new Internet friend. Bill is a happily married man in Rochester, NY. He has a dog named Buddy. Bill is one of those special people who finds wonderful inspirational writings to pass on to Internet friends like me. Thanks Bill!

Blue
The color of my eyes and the color of the sky. Walk into a hardware store and look at the paint chips of the many shades of blue available to us. Then, wander outside and look at the sky and see how many of those shades of blue are actually in the sky at any one time. How I thank God for the color blue! How I marvel at His creation!

Books
How I treasure each and every book I've ever read or owned.

Candles
Especially the ones that smell so good.

Carol
My sister. Small but so efficient. Able to stop anyone in their tracks with her "black look". But with a heart of gold. I'm so thankful for Carol!

Cats
When I was growing up my family only owned dogs. But having a cat gives one a whole new perspective about one's self. Cats don't worship people like dogs do. They believe they have worth on their own. They believe they have value not associated with people. They like themselves. Perhaps we can learn something from them.

Children
See babies. How I love the sound of children playing and laughing in the courtyard of my apartment complex. I love seeing them at the front of our church as the pastor gives a children's sermon, and I love hearing them whisper during the service. Children bring joy to all of our lives, if we let them!

Chocolate
I'm a woman. What more can I say? Chocolate makes the world a better place.

Crab Rangoon
My absolutely favorite food, sometimes found in a Chinese restaurant. Every time I visit a new Chinese restaurant, I check the menu to see if they serve crab rangoon. I don't leave if it's not on the menu. But if it is, I make a point of going back again and again. Perhaps one day I'll learn how to make my favorite food. Probably not, though. I so enjoy having someone else prepare dinner once in a while!

Cranberry Sauce
A necessary part of every Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration!

Christmas
My favorite time of the year. I love celebrating the birth of our Lord!

Cornbread stuffing?
Hmmm. No, this Yankee hasn't learned to love cornbread stuffing, but she can be thankful for it as something her friends in the South serve and love.

Dad
A rather quiet man is his old age. One has to wonder at his ability to put up with his outgoing wife, my mom, and with the four very different kids he fathered. You're a jewel, Dad!

Derek
My 17 year old son. Some days and years with him have been better than others, but most of them have been a real blessing.

Dogs
Dogs are loyal and love the people around them. They make us feel special, adored, valued.

Easter
Lately, many pastors have been reminding us that as Christians, we are Easter people. We are! At Easter time, we don't celebrate because a bunny delivers candy to children. We celebrate because Jesus rose again!

Elephants
My grandmother collected elephant figurines, and I inherited some of her collection. So, now I collect elephant figurines too.

Egrets
Can you tell I once lived in Florida? Egrets are part of the heron family. Sometimes, after you've lived in your house for many months, an egret will just show up waiting to be fed. They are beautiful birds. And just as you are getting used to having them as daily visitors, they disappear as quickly as they came. They wander off to brighten the world of someone a few blocks away for a while.

Family
Close family and extended family. Aunts, uncles and cousins, with whom I’ve grown closer because of regular email contact, I'm thankful for all of them!

Flowers
Of all kinds, but especially the simple daisy. I'd much prefer receiving daisies as a gift than roses. Daisies remind me of joy and being thankful. They remind me of the sun and waking to a brand new and wonderful day.

Friends
New and old, friends I've met and friends I've only corresponded with by e-mail, neighborhood friends and long distance friends. I'm thankful for them all! As I’ve periodically updated this list of things and people for which I’m thankful, I’ve added the names of new friends. Then I realized that I hadn’t listed all of my old and dear friends. With this revision, I’ve listed some old and dear friends. I’m also thankful for some of my newest friends: Bobbie, Carla, Debbie, Sherry, Don, Glenn, Jim, Kevin, Reese, Robert and Scott.

Fruits
Edible fruits are like God's candy. I also thank God for the Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23.

Frugal Moms
A wonderful e-group I discovered some months ago. I love sharing frugal ideas. Sometimes I'm a lurker, and sometimes I contribute. Always, though, I learn from my frugal friends.

God
Our Creator, our Father. What more is there to say?

Grass
Grass is such a wonderful gift to us from God. Don't you just love running barefoot through long, silky blades of grass?

Green
Another of my favorite colors, green reminds me of grass and trees and God's wonderful outdoor world.

Harmony
Not only the musical kind, which I do dearly love, but also the kind that represents unity and love. God's people living in harmony is a goal for which we should all strive!

Hearts
For the kind that beats within us, the red, pretty kind found on Valentines, and the kind we attribute to being able to love, I'm thankful for hearts!

Holy Spirit
Thank you, for helping me pray when I know not what to say. Thank you for being my Comforter.

Home School
I'm thankful for the whole concept of home schooling, for being able to home school my son from 4th through 12th grade, for the home schools of others. I'm also thankful for all of the home school families and friends I've met and corresponded with for eight years.

Ice Cream
Strange flavors of ice cream are my favorites. My dad loves the combination of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. That's much too tame for me. I much prefer going into a Baskin Robbins and ordering the flavor of the month. So what if it's labeled a kid's flavor and turns your mouth bright blue!

Jesus
Thank you, Jesus, for dying for my sins.

Jokes
I've never been a joke teller, but I surely enjoy laughing at jokes told by someone else. (Clean jokes only, please.)

Joy
Something I'm full of, and something I love seeing in others. There is so much to be thankful in this world of ours. Even in our pain, there are joyful moments. Thank God for those moments!

Karen
My sister, the baby of the family. What a joy Karen has been to us all from the very beginning. I remember how she dipped her pacifier in whatever we were drinking when she was just a baby. Now she's a middle-aged woman with four children of her own. But, she's still my baby sister whom I love!

Ketch-up
How could we live without ketch-up? Growing up in Pittsburgh, I was blessed with touring the Heinz factory many times.

Kennywood
I'm thankful for Kennywood, an amusement park in Pittsburgh. What fond memories I have of our school picnics there! Even after traveling some of the U.S. and visiting other amusement parks more well known, Kennywood is still my favorite! (Second place is Cedar Point in Ohio. Sandusky maybe?)

Knees
Knees are great! We can kneel on them as we pray to our God. And we can rest a child on them as we play "giddy-up". Thank you God, for knees.

Knowledge
Each and every day should be one in which we learn something from someone. Our knowledge ever increases.

Laughter
Laughing helps make our troubles disappear. I'm told it also keeps us young. When was the last time you laughed so hard that you sides hurt? Wasn't that fun?

Linda
A friend from my old church in Florida. Although we didn’t often connect when I lived close by, I cherish our regular email exchanges.

Liver
Yes, I like liver and onions. I can't help it.

Lobster
Yummy, if rather expensive.

Love
1 Corinthians 13 The Love Chapter The most wonderful explanation of love. John 3:16 How God loves us! Love of God, love of family, love of friends. I love it all!

Mom
Although my mother was not as joyful as I tend to be early in the morning, she was full of joy starting at about 9 a.m. each day. How I thank her for teaching me the importance of loving and giving!

Noses
With which to smell flowers, roasted coffee, cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. What would we do without noses?

Opportunities
To laugh, to love, to share.

Peace
A feeling I have when I've started my day with prayer and thanksgiving, allowed God to walk at my side throughout the day, and ended my day with more prayer and thanksgiving. God gives me such peace when I don't try to tackle life's challenges alone.

Peanut Butter
With anything!

Phyllis
Another friend from my old Florida church. What an inspiration she is to me!

Poetry
Rhyming or not, poetry touches me in ways that I love.

Praise
Let's all praise God for the gifts He has given us!

Pumpkin Pie
See cranberry sauce.

Quiet
Sometimes we need to feel the stillness of being alone with ourselves and with God, so that we can enjoy the noise that bombards our lives.

Quilts
So comfy for snuggling under in the cold!

Rain
A gift from God to water His creation.

Rainbows
Another of God's wonderful gifts to us!

Red
A color that makes me come alive!

Spring
My favorite time of year, as the grass begins to grow and buds appear on trees and flowers. Spring is a time of new life and new beginnings.

Stars
How beautiful the night sky is!

Writing.Com
A wonderful place to publish my writings. And I’m thankful for the other Writing.Com writers who stop by and offer constructive criticisms and encouragement.

Summer
Another favorite time of year. I love the summer sun and the heat that goes with it. I love living in the south, where the summer seems so long!

Sun
The day sky is also wonderful. The sun just brightens my day and makes me so happy!

Tears
Tears help cleanse us and help show our disappointments to others so they can comfort us. If we didn't sometimes have sadness, we wouldn't appreciate joy as much.

Texas
A state I've been blessed to live in for 8 years the first time and for 4 years this time. They tell me, though, that I can't be a Texan, even an adopted one, until I've lived here for 15 years straight. I look forward to whatever time I have left living here and learning more about my adopted home. (But if God decides it’s time to move on, I’m ready and willing to serve where He leads.)

Thanksgiving
The ability to give thanks and the actual holiday of Thanksgiving are two things for which I am grateful.

Themestream
I wrote for Themestream from early November 2000 until mid-April 200l, when it ceased to exist. Although that avenue of publishing my writing is now gone, I thank God that it did exist. Writing became a daily adventure and a daily joy because of Themestream. I'm also thankful for the Themestream writers who encouraged me to write.

Turkey
See cranberry sauce. Actually, if I had my way, I'd eat turkey many, many times of the year, and not just during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Unity
One with God, united in love, God's people can change the world.

Vegetables
Of all kinds!

Volunteers
Imagine a world without volunteers in our churches, hospitals and non-profit organizations. Thank you, God, for volunteers.

Water
God's life sustaining gift.

Weeds
Without ugly weeds, how would we know the beauty of flowers?

Worship
A way for us to express our adoration to God.

X-rays
Yes, I can be thankful for x-rays. X-rays, doctors and technicians help us to discover illnesses.

Yellow
Another of my favorite colors, yellow makes me feel cheerful.

Yams
See cranberry sauce. I love yams, especially candied ones.

Zoos
A place to see some of the more exotic of God's creatures.


My list only totals 77, but it isn't complete. I'm also thankful for the aches and pains that tell us we are sick, and prayers we pray to ease them. I'm thankful for teenagers and the elderly, for without each of these generations to love and learn from, our world wouldn't be complete. I'm thankful for our churches, and our pastors and choirs that sing praises to God. I'm thankful for schools and teachers and school administrators, for not all persons have been called to home educate their young. I'm thankful for our government and politicians (at least the Godly ones!).

I love the mountains and the beaches, sand and seashells. I'm thankful for umbrellas and sunscreen that protect us from too much sun as we lounge at the beach, and for hot dogs and snow cones we eat when we're there.

And, although I wouldn't ever like living in the north again, I am thankful for snow. New fallen snow with the moon shining on it is one of the most beautiful scenes one can see. Oh, yes, I'm thankful for that bright moon!

And, most of all, I am thankful for God, our Creator. Yes, I've mentioned Him before, but he deserves double mention, for He is my all and my everything.


***************
About that snow... It's a lot easier to be thankful for snow when you're not living where winters stretch from October through April. Last year, I moved to mid-Michigan to be near family. It was the worst winter they'd had in years, naturally. Our first snow came right about Halloween last year. This year, the weather has been more kind. Here it is the day before Thanksgiving, and we're having our first snow. Only problem is that we've already received about five inches in as many hours. If this keeps up overnight, we may not be driving to have Thanksgiving dinner with my sisters and their families. Unless someone wants to pick us up on snowmobiles. (Now there's an experience I've never had. And never wanted to have!)