Lessons in Single Mom Gratitude This Thanksgiving

Lessons.

If I had to sum up all I was thankful for in one word, this would undoubtably be the word I’d choose: Lessons.

I was thinking about this post while running around doing different Mom-type things and wondering how to express all I was most grateful for. What would I write about? Like every other person on the planet, my life has highs and lows, but I was most grateful for the ability to see the Good through it all – most of the time anyway! 😉

I am grateful for my Faith in God the Father who Loves me,

in Jesus Christ who shows me what Sacrifice & Forgiveness truly means,

and to the Holy Spirit who is an almost tangible presence in my life every time I get up again.

I am grateful for my children who make me laugh until I cry,

who make me so mad that I cry,

who frustrate me until I cry,

who fill my life with such Joy they sometimes I can’t help but cry.

I am grateful for the sense of humor that keeps me from being a mushy puddle of teardrops.

I am grateful for my Mom who gives and gives and gives and asks so little in return.

I am grateful for my Grandfather and Aunt who support me and come to rescue me with dinners out and laughter and corny jokes.

I am grateful for my friends and family who brought me help in the form of food and firewood and Christmas gifts when times were tough.

I was grateful for my online community who had reached out, who pushed me to learn more about my faith when I thought I knew it all, who trusted me enough to share painful secrets I’ll treasure and never disclose.

I am grateful for the Second Amendment and our ability to protect ourselves because an order of protection is paper thin.

I am grateful to the guys, all law enforcement or Military, who have taught my boys to handle a weapon.

I am grateful that my boys may be able to protect and provide for their families in ways I could not have before.

I am grateful for our law enforcement and Military and the fact that for too long I foolishly took for granted our safety and freedom and provisions and protection.

I am grateful for the words above the judge’s head – “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

I am grateful for going for government assistance because I saw firsthand the emptiness of the souls on those lines.

I am grateful for being denied government assistance because it taught me that you can thrive only outside of the welfare system.

I am grateful for being turned down for easier jobs because it challenged me to go for 7-12 math certification and showed me I’m smarter than I’ve been told I was.

I am grateful for the abuse I’ve suffered because it has softened my Heart and strengthened my Spirit and has allowed me to reach out to others in a way many cannot.

I’m grateful for that ability to reach out because it led me to begin my women’s life coaching business (TRP Life Coaching) and allowed me to bring others out of their stuck and muddy places to dream and achieve again.

I am grateful my husband left because before I was an extension of him and now I’ve asked God to make me an extension of Him.

Heck, I could even be grateful for the other woman because now my husband was her concern. 😉

I am grateful for having to hand over my children because other wise I’d think I was owed my time with them and now I  realize they are not my children but God’s and I can treasure our time together as a gift from Him to us both.

I am grateful for the chaos and loudness and mess five boys brings because without it I wouldn’t treasure the time alone.

I am grateful for crawling on my hands and my knees in the dark

because without this I wouldn’t have found the Cross.

The more I thought about it, the more I found to be grateful for and the longer my list became. It’s hard to pick just a few things, and I realized my post could go on and on (and if you’ve read some of my other posts, you know I have a tendency to do that! 😉 )

But the thing that tied it all together, the thing that I was most grateful for as I looked over my list was the lessons I’ve learned. I realized that I was far more grateful for overcoming things that were hard than I was for things that were handed to me.  For without hardship, we learn nothing.

Without adversity we never learn what we are capable of. Without learning what we are capable of, we never learn who we are Created to be. Without learning who we are Created to be, we never learn to help another become who he or she was Created to be. Without helping others, without living our calling, without serving God in this way, we can never learn true Joy.

And Joy only comes from hardship, from perseverance, from lessons learned when you decide not to stay stuck.

They say every cloud has a silver lining. I say every darkness has a lesson, but it’s up to you to open your heart and mind and be ready to accept it. It’s up to you to turn over the false control you think you have and open yourself to learning your way through what you don’t have in order to be grateful for what you do have – and for what is to come!

Without the hardships, I’d have been taught nothing, and so, while I continue to compile my list of the countless Blessings that are there when I rest enough to notice them, I will always be most grateful for the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

I am grateful for learning that, in darkness, even a small flame shines most brightly and becomes a beacon to others, and that each of us can be that flame if we choose.

I am most grateful for the lessons that have given me the appreciation I couldn’t have learned any other way.

I am Praying for You and Hoping you continue with your lessons and enjoy a Peace-filled Thanksgiving.

What you are most thankful for? What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned?
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And, as always, thanks for commenting, liking, following, and sharing!

God Bless…

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