8 Things I’m Thankful for When I Come Home
If you follow this blog very long at all, you know that I love my family. We aren’t perfect, but we truly love one another, and we believe in spending time together as a family.
It would be very easy for today’s list to just say (1) Leah, (2) Mary Carol, and (3) Turner, because I’m so thankful to have these three in my life. But I have been doing some thinking lately about specific reasons why I’m thankful when I come home. Here are just a few:
1. I’m thankful that Leah is glad to see me. A lot of wives dread (or, at best, feel indifferent) about their husband coming home. Leah always has a hug for me, letting me know that she’s glad I’m there. That helps the bonds of our marriage stay strong.
2. I’m thankful for times when the kids are still asleep. Our children still nap, although the naps are getting shorter. It is a treat when they are still asleep and Leah and I can have those few minutes to talk, review the day, or just laugh together. Yes, sometimes, we spend a little time kissing, too!
3. I’m thankful when I hear the kids laughing and playing. There is no sweeter sound than the kids laughing and enjoying a great day at the house. While they aren’t always laughing (sometimes, they are doing the opposite!), it is a special sound to hear that sweet laughter when I open the door.
4. I’m thankful when Leah is home. It is not wrong for a woman to work outside the home. It is also great when Leah takes some time away to visit family or do other things. But there truly is something special about pulling up in the driveway and knowing the woman you love is inside. She is the most beautiful person I ever see, and it’s a joy to know that she’s there.
5. I’m thankful for chores to do. Okay, maybe I’m not all that thankful, but when I see that the grass is a little too tall, or that there are a few bills to pay, it causes me to remember that God has blessed us with the ability to have a house and to enjoy some nice things in this life. I still have the health and mental ability to take care of those chores, and that is a blessing far too many do not enjoy.
6. I’m thankful that I don’t have to worry about what my kids have learned that day. I know my children have been taught Biblical principles from the time I have left until the time I return. I never worry about the movies Leah may choose to let them watch as a reward, or about the books that sit on their shelves for them to read. We don’t have to “unteach” what someone else has taught them throughout the day.
7. I’m thankful for hugs and kisses–even if they include dirt or peanut butter (or both). I honestly can’t imagine coming home to an empty house every day and never getting the hugs of my children. The word “Daddy,” usually yelled by Mary Carol and then repeated by Turner, followed by a barrage of kisses and hugs will make any man want to get home from work.
8. I’m thankful that God has protected my family for one more day. While we live lives that are quite simple, I’m thankful that God’s hands are on my family and that He protects them. Even when we do have a struggle, we know He is there. Each day I arrive home and my three favorite people are there, it is a wonderful blessing.
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Many of you work jobs where you can’t “clock out” early. However, far too many work until quitting time and then take their time getting home. Get home! Be thankful for what you have there!
If God has blessed you with a spouse who loves the Lord and loves you, there is no reason to be slow in your trip home. Whoever is home first, whether it be the husband or the wife, try to make the other’s “arrival” a big deal. Home should be the place you long to go throughout the day, and it should cause us to remember these small blessings we have from a loving Lord.
Get home today and be thankful for what–and WHO–is there!
6 Comments
brian
amen
Adam Faughn
I received the following comment on Facebook from Mike Raine. He gave me permission to reproduce it here:
Adam, maybe the list should start with you are thankful for a “home – House” to come home to. Enjoyed the article, God Bless; Kiwi Mike
it is unbelievable the amount of people, families that have no house… living in tents and in the woods. The church should be looking for the Samaritans and letting them know God loves them and has not forgotten them. We have become too comfortable in our church temples and shut the world out. Living in Florida without A/C, what a thought!
God, trouble our souls.
Mike (Kiwi) Raine
These dear folks that are living in the woods, in tents and in our shelters, with tear in their eyes will tell you, “I wasn’t always like this. I was special to someone once.”
A cast out adult child, a discarded spouse, unemployed individual, a War Vet, they will tell you, “I once was special.”
We need to let them know they are still special to God and to us.
Jesus actively sought these social castaways.
Mat 11:19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
Luk 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Jesus using the same laws the Pharisee’s used, saved the woman caught in Adultery (Jno. 9)
Jesus talked with, (not down to or about) the Samaritan Woman in (Jno. 4).
Jesus sought and saved the very people we are not welcoming into our fellowship today, (you know, those ones that make us feel uncomfortable.)
Jesus went to Samaria and told his apostles, “Follow me.” Are we in these times, “following Jesus.”
Noooo, these people don’t have our fancy suits and ties, don’t have three cars, maybe don’t even have a meal tonight or a bar of soap and comfortable pillow topped bed to lay in. They do however have a soul. It shouldn’t be alright for us to know they are going to hell. kiwi Mike
To the self-righteous, remember the Judgment scene is not made up of those saying, “I went o church three times a week, read my Bible every day.. it is made up of those who simply acted like Jesus acted, loved like Jesus loved, and cared like He cared for people. Simple acts of kindness from simple people to simple people. What are the demographics of our congregations?
Take this challenge this week, take $10 and tell someone Jesus hasn’t forgotten them and He loves them and do an act of kindness in the name of Jesus. see what happens, and share your story at church. “Let you light so shine..” for one purpose, “glorify our Father in heaven.”
Mike (Kiwi) Raine
How truly blessed we are. It is not my purpose to make us feel guilty, as we shouldn’t be. Most of what we have, we have as the result of good stewardship. We should seeks opportunities every day to share what we have with those who the world has discarded.
god Bless, and He truly is a generous God who blesses us over and over again.
Kiwi Mike
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mary
I totally agree…I think sometimes we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that we let the important things slide. We need to focus more on the things we are thankful for.