The Giving of Thanks

The past month, week, and day in particular we have been reflecting on the many blessings we have and giving thanks for them.  Like I said last year, these take on a new meaning when you live through real crisis. Those feelings still linger with us now.  We remain deeply grateful for Clara's life and health and it continues to color the way that we see all the blessings in our life.  Rarely does a day go by that Robert and I don't just stare at each other and say, "This.  This life we've got.... it's... amazing."  I hope that I will always be able to live so presently.  I hope that despite the cynicism and pain and hurt that is inevitable as a part of living, I will be able to remove myself enough to look at all I've been given and realize how truly deeply blessed we are.  Our cups runneth over.

The list is long and full of both "big" blessings and many "small" ones that really are just as sweet and sacred when you think about it.  But I want to write about the top five things that I have really been thinking about the most during this season of reflection.  So, here they are.

*  I'm thankful for my faith.  I'm thankful that I had opportunities growing up at church and camp and in school groups and at home to be taught about God and to develop a personal faith that is all my own.  I'm thankful that God and I are buds; that we can chat like folks who know each other and that I can sometimes just say to Him things like, "Dude!!  What are you thinking?!?!" I'm thankful for a church and community who continues to foster that and for families who still value it. I'm thankful that my faith has withstood the past couple years of my life and the trials it has brought.  I am thankful that I do not feel like I have to have all the answers, but that I believe the questions and doubts and fears are worth having too.  I'm thankful for the ways that I am trying, oh so carefully, to pass this faith on to Clara as well.  I hope and pray that the time we spend reading the Bible together, singing songs about our God, and praying together will teach her about our Maker and Redeemer.  I am thankful that I am forgiven, for the grace of Christ, for a chance each day to try to live a little more like Him.

* I am thankful for my family.  I'm thankful for our parents (all four of them) and the ways they loved and parented us so well.  As I try to navigate the waters of learning how to parent Clara, I am thankful for the example that they set for me.  They were selfless in their love for us and sacrificed a lot for our happiness.  They had high standards, but lots of love.  I hope I do as good of a job as they did.  I'm thankful for Robert and this new little family we are building.  I'm thankful for the love that we share, the memories we are making, the closeness that we feel.  I'm thankful that this family shares our values.  That we laugh together and cry together and pray together and stick close - through thick and thin.  I am thankful for the legacy of our grandparents, mine who I didn't get an opportunity to know well, but who I know loved me, and Robert's who have given me a second chance at having grandparents.  This family, like any family, is not perfect.  But they are mine and I love them.  All of them.

* I am thankful for our friends.  Good friends are as good as family and I have been given more than my fair share of some really amazing deep friendships.  I am thankful for women in my life who can look me in the eye when I'm hiding some sadness or fear and see right through to my heart.  I'm thankful for friends who will stop what they are doing and pray for me right then, right now, because it's what I need.  I'm thankful for friends who will sit and chat with me, even when they have other things they need to be doing because they know the value of connection and being present.  I'm thankful for friends who genuinely care about the details of my life - how long Clara napped, what I'm making for dinner, who I ran into at the grocery store, or my latest idea for some project.  I'm so very thankful for friends who hold me accountable and keep me honest.  I'm thankful for friends who are deeply present in my life, who make me laugh, and who make me want to be a better friend.  These folks know who they are.

* I am thankful for good health.  There is not a day that goes by that I am not acutely aware of what a blessing it is and how much we tend to take it for granted.  I continue to marvel at how healthy Clara is and will never cease praising God for it.  Health is sacred.

* I am thankful for the opportunity to be at home with Clara.  Ever since I was a small small child, I dreamed of being a mother.  I dreamed of staying at home and filling my days with little ones.  For many years, I worried that it was almost an idol, a dream that I should let go of, for fear of being disappointed.  Most days,  I still cannot believe that I am getting to do this.  I have never been happier.  I am so thankful for the circumstances that have brought our family to a place where we are able to afford my staying home for now. I am thankful that I love it and that I am getting to be present in almost every one of Clara's moments.  Watching her grow and learn and develop and being able to teach my own child in this way is one of the greatest joys I have ever known.  It's every bit as good as I imagined it would be when I spent hours playing with my dolls.  I delight in watching her, in listening to her, in playing with her, and in soaking up these fleeting moments.  Right now, I really truly am living my dream.

I am thankful for our home.  I am thankful that we have more than enough food.  I am thankful that we have reliable, comfortable transportation.  I am thankful for internet.  I am thankful for the toys and books that clutter our house.  I am thankful for a big beautiful yard, even if it is full of weeds.  I'm thankful for the people in our lives that we don't see or talk to or even think about every day, but who have touched our lives and changed us.  I am thankful for Robert's job: how good he is at it and how happy it makes him.  I am thankful that I'm able to still teach a little and maintain my identity as an educator during a season of being mostly mom.  I am thankful for coffee and wine and sweet tea.  I'm thankful for music that fills our home during the day and the still, quiet company of Robert in my living room in the evenings. I'm thankful for dishwashers and washing machines.  I am thankful for my soft and comfortable bed and the electric blanket on it.    I'm thankful for God's new mercies, every single day.

And here, my friends, are some Thanksgiving photos (I know that's why you really came, not to hear  me list stuff I'm grateful for).


This is the cutest little turkey you ever did see.

Unfortunately, she is getting over some sort of virus or something and has not been herself at all.  This is the face that we saw most of the day.

Who could be so unhappy in a pretty pasture like this?

Her daddy can always put a smile on her face though...

We always go to Covington, GA for Thanksgiving Day.  There are often upwards of a hundred Hardys gathered there to eat and fellowship together.  We couldn't have been more fortunate with a beautiful outside day.  Last year, Clara stayed home since we didn't want her to catch any germs.  But this year, we suspended a quarantine to take her along.  Most of these folks had not met her yet, and since we knew we'd be able to stay outside, we decided to coat up in hand sanitizer and go for it.

Circling up for the count off (89 this year) and blessing...

Lining up for the feast of food...

And catching up with loved ones...

It was fun to watch Clara playing with some of her extended family and fitting right in with all the other kids.  It was one of those many many moments where we stand back and take it in, remembering that we have dreamed and prayed for this moment and weren't sure we'd ever really see it.  But here it is.  It happened.

And of course, the traditional Thanksgiving oreo.

We were extra thankful to get to introduce Clara to her great great Aunt Mae.  Aunt Mae is Clara's namesake.  When I was at Thanksgiving two years ago, pregnant, we weren't sure if Clara would ever get to meet her.  So blessed for these moments:

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen and Amen.

Thankful Tree

 
Today, we made a Thankful Tree.  This was, I thought, an idea straight out of my kindergarten-teacher brain.  Alas, upon doing a Pinterest search, I am not at all alone.  Which makes me happy, really.  Because this is cute!  So you should make one for your family too, and do it fast!  Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

Clara was excited to put on her coat and go outside to collect "sicks"!

However, all of her sticks were given to Rufus.  How can you resist a face like this?

Once we had enough sticks, I arranged them in a glass vase, gathered some scrap cardstock in fall colors and cut out leaf shapes using fancy scrapbook scissors from back when I used to scrapbook instead of blog.  I knew they'd come in handy again!

And, ta da!  It's a Thankful Tree!

During dinner, we each took a few leaves and wrote on them things we're thankful for, then hung them on the tree.  Clara got so excited after she saw us do a few and was asking, "please please please!"  The things she said tonight when I asked what she was thankful for: music, Jesus, Big Daddy.  So those were her leaves tonight.

She has just a few leaves on her now, but hopefully by Thanksgiving she will be all full.

I think she's beautiful and I'm excited to celebrate our blessings together as a family.  But she's not as beautiful as this, for whom I am beyond thankful:

Thankful

We had such a wonderful weekend at Wake Forest Homecoming. On Friday night we hosted the Hardy Hootenanny and had such a good time it might just become an annual event. It was fun to show people our home who had never seen it before and have friends from lots of different phases of life all together at once. On Saturday we went tailgating and to the football game and just enjoyed the general festivities of the reunion weekend and the absolutely stunning fall weather. Mostly, it was great to see old friends again. I'm convinced that what I have in the friendships from college is rare and beautiful and truly an incredible blessing. There's something about that time when everything is so intense and emotional and there's so much searching and healing and growing happening. The friendships that come out of it have really been through the fires and have a level of depth and intensity that mirrors the roller-coaster of that time of life. I feel especially blessed to have met some really remarkable women during my time at Wake. And even though many of them are now scattered all across the country and some I don't even get to talk to that much, it's great to know that when we're together again we can pick right back up where we left off and it's like nothing has ever changed. I'm posting a few photos of some of those ladies here. I'm proud to have known them and grateful to know that these friendships still have a lifetime ahead of them. I am so thankful.

Blessings

It's been two weeks since I've written, but in that time life has been very full and happy. I'll try to catch you up on some of the great things that have been happening.

First of all, some of our dear friends gave birth to their second child last week, Wiley Jacob Davis. Part of why I haven't posted is that we've been busy helping them welcome this bundle of joy into the world. His big brother, Owen (22 months) has stayed with us some and we've loved every minute of time we've gotten to spend with him. And Wiley is absolutely perfect. He's got a head full of pretty dark hair and the fullest little lips and long skinny fingers. I swear, I could just watch him for hours. When he's awake his face is full of expression and personality and he's a real delight. I'll post a picture of both boys from the day that Wiley was born and when we took Owen to the hospital to meet his baby brother for the first time. Wiley and Owen's parents, Adam and Katie, have also been in the process of moving to a new house this week. How in the world they have managed to give birth to a new baby, care for a (sick) two year old, and pack and move boxes all in the same week is beyond me. But they are awesome people full of hope and grace and they have really been an inspiration to us this week. We've just felt so blessed to get to be a part of this really special time in their lives and share in some of the excitement of newness with them.

It's been a great week at school. I love this group of kids and I'm so excited about the year ahead. The student I wrote about last week, Tyson* has won every last bit of my heart. He hasn't cried for weeks now. Instead, there's a twinkle in his eye that doesn't fade all day long. He's so excited to be at school and filled with great happiness all the time. Earlier this week, he wrote his name for the first time (remember, I've changed names -- his REAL name is only two letters long) and was filled with such immense pride that I could hardly stand it. I felt that same pride too. How special to see a child figure out a piece of his own unique identity and to be able to participate in that moment! Having learned the letter T and being so excited that he can now recognize it, he runs around the room pointing to Ts and saying, "That starts with my name! That starts with my name!" Today we played Chicka Chicka Boom Boom BINGO and he had a card with the letter T in the bottom right hand square. After a couple of rounds I said, "You can trade cards with a friend at your table if you'd like." Tyson's reply when a student sitting near him wanted to trade was, "I'm gonna keep this one 'cause it's got my name on it." (Pointing to the T in the corner). And the final blessing for today is that he said my name for the first time in three weeks of school. I almost cried.

May each of you be surrounded with as many moments of blessing as I am now.