I REALIZE A GOOD NUMBER OF US count our daily blessings. At least the people I hang out with do. Being thankful for the gifts in our life is a darn good position to embrace. It takes some mental horsepower to bring this into your mental field. I work at these necessary positive thoughts in a world bombarded in negative energy.
Bottom line, I feel so lucky to be living in a small village in northern Michigan whose population is counted in the hundreds, at least in the winter. It is the perfect setting for me. I am thankful for my community and those people who have come in, and out of my life.
My mom for years had a wooden plaque resting on her kitchen counter that translated to, “Give us this day our daily bread.” I just now learned that it was Swedish, not German. Mom was all about happiness and often expressed her blessings. This biblical saying (Matthew 6:11-13) is a bit of a riddle to me as she was not much of a church goer, nor Swedish. I’m guessing she liked the colors and design, and probably the price. She avoided church for the same reason she avoided most the lady’s golf luncheons – gossip is draining.
She was so in charge of her happiness. She smiled a lot, and had a gentle sense of being. I still laugh at her tongue and cheek expression when reflecting on her five children - confessing, "I have the only average children in Birmingham." I trust you will understand this subtle humor.
How cool she was and such a lady. She got it.
I am thankful that she will always be my mom.