I am thankful

2007-03-29 Posted at 02:51:45 PM

I don’t know where this came from, but I thought I would share it.

 I am thankful:

For the taxes that I pay, because it means that I am employed.

For the mess to clean after a party, because it means that I have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work, because it means I am out in the sunshine.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it means I have a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government, because it means that we have freedom of speech.

For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means I am capable of walking and that I have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge heating bill, because it means I am warm.

For the lady behind me in church that sings off key, because it means that I can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing, because it means I have clothes to wear.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day, because it means I have been capable of working hard.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means that I am alive.

And finally....... For too much e-mail, because it means I have friends who are thinking of me. :-)

To add to this… today I am thankful that my children are alive and well.  Today I attended the funerals of two of my youngest son’s friends who were killed in an automobile accident on their way to work.  The tragedy is that it was a car ahead of them that caused the accident by wandering into the other lane and hitting a truck which spun out of control in front of them.  Their parents are devastated; their friends are too.  Young people think they are invincible and now they have had to come face-to-face with their own mortality.  “If it can happen to them, it could happen to us.”  Just 23, they had their whole lives ahead of them, they were employed, they had girlfriends and marriage plans and now they are gone.  I can only begin to imagine the pain their parents are feeling.  I want to gather all my children together as a hen gathers her chicks, wrap my arms around them and keep them close.  But I can’t.  They have their lives to lead.  They don’t want to be overprotected, and even if I did try, I could not protect them from everything.  So I entrust them to God and I pray for them as I pray for the families of those two young men. 

Fran Watson

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