Gratitude Breeds Contentment
The movie Ohms was filmed on my grandparents’ beautiful dairy farm in Tuscarawas County, Ohio in the 1980’s. It is the kind of farm that you might see in a magazine…rolling green hills, corn fields, a beautiful white bank barn, a large blue pond, and long farm lanes (and the best grandparents on it that a person could ever ask for). There is a scene in that movie that we all love, because we think it really sums up the beauty of the farm. Ralph Waite and Dixie Carter are standing at the old farm house with their lawyer, looking out over the farm, and one of them says “If this isn’t God’s country, then God has no taste.” I often think of that line when I’m looking out over that farm, and also when looking out over our current (and equally as beautiful!) farm, and I think how much we have to be thankful for. For me, there is nothing more beautiful than farmland, flowers, trees, animals…all of the things God has given us to enjoy. But I also believe there is so much beauty in every day occurrences and moments. And I believe it is so important to count our blessings every day and to give thanks for them. After all, gratitude breeds contentment, right? If we hope to make a difference and have the energy to make a difference, we need to be content. That starts with naming what we are grateful for. Here are a few of my gratefuls this week….I would love for you to share what you are grateful for!
My oldest son had a nasty fall from a new horse two weeks ago, complete with the horse jumping on him. Words can’t explain how grateful I am that he escaped with minor injuries. I am so grateful that he took it in stride (better than I did 😔), and that he came to me that night and asked if I thought God was looking out for him. There is no doubt in my mind that God was looking out for our sweet boy ❤️
My 3 year old has started the cutest thing..he randomly says “I love you Mommy” approximately every 20 minutes all day long. And…I think I can now say he is potty trained without jinxing myself.
After the attack on our sheep we had a group of lambs that were injured but not badly enough to be euthanized right away. Our vet warned us that with their injuries along with puncture wounds from dogs (infection waiting to happen) we shouldn’t be too optimistic. We gave each of them a round of meds every day for 7 days, and we did a lot of praying. And guess how many we lost?? Zero. Doesn’t get any better than that!
This week we were able to see my parents and my sisters’ family again after 15 months! We are a really close family, our kids are best friends, and until last March we always saw each other every day. Because of my parents’ ages, and some health issues in our families, we did what we had to to keep everyone safe this year. It was hard and awful, and it would have been a lot easier to just ignore the doctors’ recommendations. But it was really worth the effort and hardships to have every single one of us here together and in good health to celebrate this week!
And along the same lines..I am SO THANKFUL that I can have my babysitter back. On the first real day of Covid lockdown for us, when our doctor said that Brandon was high risk, the first thing I asked was if I could still have my babysitter here, ha! I really wasn’t sure it was possible to work from home and homeschool without help. I am pleased to say that it IS possible, but I am even more pleased to say that we can go back to having Michaela here this summer 😁. The kids love her as much as she loves them…and it doesn’t get any better than that.
My youngest daughter has a fear of the eye doctor and has an appt coming up. I taught her how to change the color of her glasses on Photoshop since we are getting ready to pick out a new pair for her. She changes the color all day long and regularly comes to show me how beautiful she would look with teal blue, or hot pink, or magenta glasses. Even saying she can’t wait for the appointment! I love how confident she is becoming and how much fun this has been for her.
Putting the guard dogs on pasture went well. If I had to name the top 5 worries I’ve had this year, this would have been in there. I could go on for pages about this, but basically we needed to make sure that they weren’t going to run off, ignore the electric fence, scale the perimeter fences, chase the sheep or cows, fight the ram, or refuse to use their new feed house. But, it could not have gone any better. I think everything we did to prepare them was just right.
Our farm help. We could not do everything we do without the kids we employ to help us. Sara, Morgan, Mason, and Leah are the absolute best! They all have the best attitudes about work, they are prompt, they are careful, they are knowledgeable, and they care. It would take about 1 minute on social media to see that there are a lot of posts about people having a hard time finding quality help. Somehow we have managed to get the best help, and I don’t take any of them for granted. I also credit their families for raising such great kids.
Humor. I am so grateful that Brandon and I laugh regularly and often. Brandon is hilarious, and my kids seem to have inherited his good sense of humor. Lately I think there is always someone saying something funny and someone laughing in our house. I looked around our family room the other night and realized how much we all use and enjoy humor. I hadn’t given it much thought before since it has always been a part of my life with Brandon. But I really believe it is an essential part of our family, and it keeps everyone happy, connected, and excited to interact with each other.
We finished up a year of homeschooling, and every single one of us agreed that it was a great year. Back in the fall I was beyond worried about making it all work. My goals were to make sure my kids hit and learned every state standard, and they were happy and able to say they enjoyed the year. I am beyond thankful that we hit those goals, and I am so ready for them to head back to school next year to spend some much deserved time with their friends.
