Simple Blessings of Life

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought
by Mary May Larmoyeux

“If the stars came out only once a year, everyone would stay up all night just to watch,” said poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

René Haub referred to Emerson's quote in her article A Hundred-Dollar Word. "We tend to ignore the things that are always present or available to us (health, financial comfort, easy access to life’s 'necessities')," she said, "and take those things for granted, even if they are wonderful things."

I think René is right. What if we only felt the soft touch of a child's face ... or smelled chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven ... or saw a bird soar into the trees, once a year? What if we could only hear ... or see ... or taste, once a year?

Just thinking about this makes me very thankful!

How can we encourage thankfulness in our grandkids? We could play "what if" with them. Perhaps we could read them Emerson's quote about the stars and then recite or list together the simple, everyday blessings of life—ones we often take for granted. We could do this in person, on the phone, or even by e-mail.

If grandkids will be at our homes in the evening during Thanksgiving week, we could bundle up, go outside, and peer together into a star-filled night. We could recite not only Emerson's quote about stars, but also verses such as Psalm 147:4: "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name."

May we be grandparents whose lives overflow with thankfulness ... every day.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Mary

co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart

www.marymaywrites.com/

© 2009 by Mary May Larmoyeux.
Photo © US National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration