What’s on your list?

This time of year everyone is making lists … and checking them twice. Grocery lists, guests lists, to-do lists, Christmas gift lists and of course the “what I am thankful for” lists. My little one brings home a turkey with feathers and wonders if he can just copy the one he made last year. Cause really mom I’m always thankful for the same things; so it’s not cheating. And all these lists give me hives. There is something about a list and its lack of words that leaves me anxious in the space I know the doing will require. And being thankful seems like it should take up more than just a few feathers on a smiling turkey’s back.

But the days rush by with their demands and when was the last time I slowed the speed of it all? The boy with the turkey and the crayons asks the question, “What about you Mom? What are you thankful for this year?” And as he bends to color the turkey’s beak, the year up and spins around in my head.

“Thanksgiving is necessary to live the well, whole, fullest life,” Ann Voskamp writes that in her book One Thousand Gifts. And the Apostle Paul writes it like this in his letter to the people of Thessalonica. “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

And those are good words; true words. But when was the last time I lived them? Giving thanks for my place, for my people, and for the day that unfolds around me is not something I often pause to do.  Can I name the things for which I am grateful? It seems like there is more important work that needs to be done.

What about you? What are you thankful for right now, right where you are standing? Can you name the things, or are you, like me, moving at a speed that doesn’t allow time to even see the things; let alone name them?

My boy rushes ahead with his work quickly filling out the empty feathers. Food. Mom. Dad. Brothers. Friends. Football. How many feathers does the turkey have to have? No time for making much of this Thanksgiving thing.
And I see myself in his reflection. Of course, I am thankful for it all — same as last year. This life I lead is blessed beyond measure and full to the brim with wonderful gifts.

God knows I am thankful, right? Do I need to take the time and be specific? Can’t I just recopy the stuff from last year’s turkey feathers and be done with it? God knows how much I have to get done.  Making a list of all the shiny happy things seems silly and wasteful.

The boy asks me the question again, “Seriously mom, what are you thankful for?” He’s done with his lovely list, and he wants to hear mine. But the words stick in the back of my throat because if I am being honest, the reason I don’t want to make the list is that this year has had its share of hard things. And I’m not sure how to flatten those things out and make them fit on the neatly colored turkey feathers?

“I’m thankful …”  I begin, but he interrupts me. “I know, Mom, you have some smart answer about how you are thankful for life and God and Jesus. But what about the things? What are the real things you just need to say thank you for? Can you quit being so smart and just make a list?”

This kid. He knows how to split open my heart. I want to make it serious and complicated; to figure out how to make this Thanksgiving thing work. Just say thank you, Mom, he reminds me. Just say thank you for the real things that fill up your days.

What was it Jesus said? “Truly I tell you unless you turn and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Yeah. I’d do well to listen and just make the list.

So. Here it is.

This year I am thankful for:

1. 1. Airplanes and frequent flier miles
   2. Long drives filled with good conversation
   3. Tall boys who tell silly jokes and little boys who still snuggle with me
   4. Music and the gift of friends to make it with
   5. Cold wind in my face
   6. Coffee sipped over shared stories
   7. Building projects with friends
   8.  A husband who loves me enough to do the dishes
   9. Long text message
   10. People who make me think
   11. Firepits and cold nights

And I find that once I start, I can’t seem to stop. Thankfulness breeds thankfulness. And yes there are still those hard parts that sit all awkward on the edges of my heart. There’s still this world that’s broken and aching for relief and these days that pull the darkness tight around my eyes. But. That list? As I write it somehow it helps me start to see the places where the light is getting in. It changes the landscape of it all.

Just say thank you for the real things that fill up your days.

“See Mom, I told you it wasn’t that hard. Why’d you use so many words, though? You should keep your list then you can use it again next year.” He grins and runs out the door.

Or tomorrow. I could use it again tomorrow when I forget that sometimes the best way to slow the craziness of this world is to just turn around and say thank you.

Now. Go make your own list. Seriously, I know you don’t have time. Do it anyway. It might change your whole day.“Know that the Lord is God, it is he who made us and we are his …Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).