Gratitude Note no. 1

This past Sunday Ben challenged us to keep a gratitude list for the next 3 weeks as a way to combat pride in our lives. He talked about how Jesus offered thanks on his last night even though suffering lay ahead and how God offered us kindness first before we made any moves toward Him...something to be greatly thankful for. So I am going to start a gratitude list here on the blog for the next 3 weeks.

I'M GRATEFUL FOR MY FAMILY
I was in Europe for a bit earlier this month and it was the longest I have been away from my family. There was an odd sense of void which overtook me about 5 days in. I sat there wishing I could simply find my wife next to me in bed or my kids laughter filling the hotel hallways. It was a bittersweet reminder of the gratitude that overwhelms my heart from the life they bring me.

My wife makes the team complete...smoothing out my rough edges and I smoothing hers. Making each other laugh, get angry, laugh some more, talk, simply enjoy an evening of wine and Italian food and reading at a coffee house where our silence speaks more of the great comfort we have with each other than the air filled constantly with conversation. Her beauty often makes me wonder how I ever landed such a hottie and how my boys will be much better looking (thank God) than their daddy.

My kids bring life and love to the surface each day. Wrestling, singing make believe songs, cuddling on the couch to watch "Cars" for the 60th time, going through the car wash like it was an amusement park ride, going to the grocery to enjoy a free cookie and roam the aisles, laughing at Nolan's new words (i.e. "Daddy, I am certainly cold...") and at the small observations they make of things I had once forgotten.

Simply put...my family makes life colorful and a place with plenty to be grateful for.