Thanksgiving

The season of Thankfulness is good for the soul.  So I will try to blog thanks this week.  Today I am thankful for my kids.  I’m thankful that Luke, who was once a preterm little baby refusing to eat or sleep . . . Is now nearly six feet tall, able to write long essays in subjects ranging from physics to poetry, and is right now independently flying to meet his grandmother.  I’m thankful for Caleb, who has spent the entire morning in the front room with two class mates, two batteries, scraps of wire, paper clips, and switches, doing experiments and studying for his upcoming end-of-the-year exams; who cheerfully runs four or five miles in second-to-last place as a member of the cross country team; who steps up to the absence of his dad and big brother by organizing his siblings or by sweeping up after dinner.  I’m thankful for Julia who went down to play soccer with the Christ School girls she calls friends yesterday even though the coach was sick, who decided to surprise her brother Caleb by totally organizing his room while he was studying, who wrote her Dad a birthday poem, who delights in partnering with me for the care of the family.  I’m thankful for Jack who wants to be a chef and helped me create a spectacularly successful semi-Italian chicken and pasta dish with fresh basil last night, exclaiming over the flavors and cheerfully picking, washing, stirring, sautéing, then eating with gusto; who reads voraciously; who solves problems speedily; who wants to be and do everything his brothers are.  Children are living testaments to grace, there is no way to deserve loyalty or even the company of the people they are growing to be, but here they are, mine.