So, in my trials of the past week involving family and kids, and battles of custody, I've been challenged to think of 5 things to be thankful for each day. This can be easy, it can also be hard. Coming up with something different every day is obviously going to wear thin after a while.
There's some things that stand out above the rest. The ones that the girls and I thank God for every night at bedtime. Thank you God, for a roof over our heads, for food on the table, for the boys and my partner, for nice dreams, and more recently - for warmth.
This last one has come about due to the lack of heating in the place we currently rent. Tasmania is definitely one of the colder spots in Australia. At this time of year, it only takes an hour and a half's drive to go sit in the snow, so it's no wonder our house is cold, and we wear a lot of clothes both inside and out. At some point soon, I will have to tidy up the girls room and put locks on the cupboards so that the panel heater that I'm putting in there will be safe from the potential random clothes that my youngest throws out of the cupboards and all around the room.
The roof over our head began last year with a real estate encounter with miscommunication from their part, and probably ignorance from mine. We left our 1 bedroom unit, to move into a 2 bedroom closer to school, only to have it taken away from me the DAY that I was moving out. We spent 8-9 weeks staying with other people, and eventually even with my boyfriend, even though this is definitely not an ideal situation. We all learned that we need to be thankful that we have a roof over our heads, just in case it was so easily taken away again.
The food on the table is pretty much mandatory in most Christian homes. Nearly everyone says "grace" at meal times. You learn to appreciate food, when all that's left to feed 1 adult and 2 kids for 3 days is a packet of pasta, baked beans, tuna and a can of diced tomatoes. Believe me, you learn. You can learn other skills from this too. Like how to cook, starting with absolute basics.
In the way that we live and the people that we share our lives with when the girls are in my care, we see a lot of my boyfriend and his boys. I don't have a lot of family, especially seeing as when I was 14 we moved from Victoria to Launceston, Tasmania. So my external family is interstate. We've learned to make family out of what we have left. And well, there isn't a lot. But we love what we have. We support, care, nurture and encourage what we have. This, as most people would know, can be difficult, even in positive circumstances.
Lastly, the nice dreams is purely from the boys. They're known for having nightmares. They've had their share of horrible. After all, my boyfriend has an "Ex" for a reason. The kids always get used as a pawn for her benefit. This is an act that we never intend to utilise. We value our kids emotional health above everything. We provide stability and love, and the things above - the encouragement, caring and nurturing along with support. Our aim is the kids health and stability. Not purely our own. This can leave us quite angry with the other party. But from all of the mismanagement that has occurred with the boys, there is the opportunity for negative thoughts to intrude, and the bad dreams to enter. Therefore, the prayer for positive dreams is helpful for their minds, to release them of the worry of bad dreams. All the kids benefit from this nightly prayer.
Being thankful can be easy when you've had hard circumstances. It can be hard when it hurts those that you love. But hardest of all will be finding five new things each day that we are thankful for.
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