The What IF game

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.

- G. K. Chesterton

 A secret to thanksgiving is really quite simple.  Think of something you hate to do.  Then think about not being able to do it.

For example:

Standing at the sink doing (yet another) round of dirty dishes in hot soapy water-when you really just wish to be rinsing off your sweat in a cool shower.  

But then you think, as you stand there, hands in suds... What if I didn't have hands TO wash?  What if I didn't have RUNNING WATER?  What if I didn't have food to put on the plates that I am presently washing?  What if I had to make my own soap in order to wash these dishes?

Or this one:

Changing a nasty stinky diaper for the hundredth time and realizing that you have been changing diapers for the last ten years straight. 

But then you think:  what if I had no children to put these diapers on?  What if my children were so ill that each dirty diaper was a triumph?  What if I had no money for diapers?  What if I had to handwash cloth diapers?

Or what about this:

Spending hours over a hot canner in the summertime.


But then you realize it is because of ABUNDANCE that you are doing this.  What if there was no food to can?  What would we eat this winter?

Of course, not everyone cans, not everyone gardens, not everyone has children.  But it works no matter what your circumstances in life.  Go on---try it.  Pick a bad circumstance in your life and think about what would happen if you didn't have it (or the tools to deal with it.)  It works like a charm.

:::: Counting the many blessings in my life, one by one :::

A "tough guy" baby... #883... a one year old with muscle definition
#884... a boy who will become a strong man
#885...  a leader

  Dozens of eggs to use up...and fast.  #887...egg shucking "helpers"
#887... funny little chickens out back
#888... an abundance of farm fresh eggs
#889....a new batch of pickled beet eggs
#890...fingers to shuck with
#891... a stove to boil on

 

Loads of wood (literally) to split before winter....

# 892...a boy who is old enough to help (how can this be?)

#893...lessons on how to work hard

#894...a fine example for a boy

#895...a woodsplitter that makes the job easier

#896....woods of our own to get trees of our own to get logs of our own to get wood of our own.

a VERY hot day of huckleberry picking....

#897... children who work alongside Mama without (too many) complaint(s).

#899... hours of kerplunking

#900.... access to free wild huckleberries for the taking

#901... a well earned swim in the lake

#902...lake mermaids and lily crowns

sweaty, dirty afternoons...

#903... days of unadulterated PLAY

#904.... children outside DOING instead of inside WATCHING

#905... after dinner hose-showers

a poor boy who gets stung daily...

# 906... the last few baby cuddles I will get from him.

#907... that he comes to me for comfort.

#908... a boy that is not allergic

toys, hats, shoes thrown everywhere, every day. 

# 909...clothes, when some people have none

# 910... clothes, that I didn't have to sew, or sheer, or weave or grow.

# 911...a woolen hat on a summer day that looks *almost* like hair

#  912...toys for my children to play with and shoes.  Luxuries to many.

a living room destroyed.

#913... a living room tent town

#914... imaginations being exercised

#915....four children playing together without bickering

#916...an hour where I knew right where every child was

# 917...lots of pretty blankets

Still diaper-changing...

#918... that darling belly button