I’m doing this thing. You give me one word, and I write about it. Pretty simple, right? You can give me your one word via this form.
The first word I have been given is Thanksgiving. I recently shared some thoughts and information I gathered on the holiday as well as activities for kids over at Modern Alternative Mama. I wanted to share some things about what was historically accurate and how to convey that to our kids. But I think I’m going to take this word in a different direction than the holiday.
So just as I let this word swirl around in my brain a song came to mind.
The song is called “To Say Thanks”. The song shares the emotionally charged message of thankfulness being seemingly impossible in dark circumstances. Life can choke us to the point of feeling like there isn’t one thing to be thankful for. Of course, there’s always something to be thankful for, but how do you take a horrible situation and turn it around?
Do you find yourself in a November of sorts? I’ve been there. I’ve felt so hopeless that I thought maybe it would be better to be dead than alive.
One of those times in my life was my miscarriage. During this time in my life, I had some women in my life who picked up the broken pieces and gently held them for me. They didn’t try to forcefully push them back together causing more hurt and anguish. They just held them. One at a time they would slowly offer them back. I had to choose to pick them up myself.
One of these ways of offering back a piece was through thanksgiving. I was given a glass jar and a handful of marbles. Each marble would represent something I was thankful for through the miscarriage. You know what? I was able to fill that jar of marbles. It wasn’t even that hard. Once I got started, thankfulness starting to creep in and warm me up some. Soon the warmth spread and more things I was thankful for in my storm revealed themselves. And then I had a full jar, a tangible reminder of God’s goodness in what seemed a circumstance where nothing good could be found. I guess sometimes we just have to look for it. And, if we’re lucky, we have some kind souls willing to hold our broken pieces until we’re ready to look.