Micha Boyett
Molly Strader Hunt is one of my very favorite people in the whole world. I spent an entire year of my twenties singing the three karaoke songs we owned (in our post-college apartment) to her every night. (We didn’t have many friends that year.) She is charming, passionate and one of the funniest women I’ve ever known. Who better to write our guest Thankful Tuesday post this week?
Thank you, Molly!
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Here is the truth, I have never enjoyed Thankful Tuesday. Micha introduced me to this notion in college and it just never clicked with me. I am a cynic at heart. I like to refer to myself as a “realist,” one that has a unique gift to see situations for what and how they truly are. Yet, if I am honest, I know that I inherited my Memaw’s glass half-empty outlook and often walk a fine line between being a realist and Debbie Downer. When asked to be a guest for the Thankful Tuesday post on Mama:Monk I was sitting on the couch drowning in self-pity and snot because my mother just stopped by and my house was really dirty (really dirty) and my husband was leaving for another seven day mission trip for his job as the campus minister to the small, Baptist university we graduated from, but never left. My children, four and two years old, were fighting again and I could hear objects crashing to the floor in the back room. The baby in my belly, 34 weeks along, was kicking me so hard that I almost yelled, “Stop it!” Which, of course, only brought on guilt and more tears. How could I possibly be thankful today? So I began typing, trying to choose the “bright side,” if you will.
My mother lives two miles away and can be on my doorstep before I finish dialing her number. Something I cherish more than I could or would ever admit. Even if she stops in unannounced, I am thankful.
My husband is the campus minister at a University that commences on May 14th. My due date is May 5th and this means I will have my husband’s undivided attention until summer plans pick up on June 13th. He will have freedom to arrive late to the office and leave early and I promise to soak in every minute of his help and be thankful.
My children, Miles and Lucy, are only 20 months apart and this has created a close bond that is often overwhelming to me. They are best friends, worst enemies, and wonderful playmates. They are now happily sharing a room so that I can give the new baby her own space. I am thankful for their gracious hearts.
I am having a third child in less than 7 weeks and feel great. In fact, I jumped rope today. Thirty-four weeks pregnant and I still got it! (I also peed my pants.)
Although my son’s September birthday misses the cut off to start Kindergarten next year, I am thankful for one year with all of my children at home. This will consist of a very intelligent and easily bored four-year-old in need of stimulation, a three-year-old who is sassy and headstrong, and an infant who will need to nurse and cry throughout the day. BUT, my children will get to bond at home for one year all together. I realize this will probably not happen again in their lifetime and I am thankful for this experience, even if I cry every day.
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It’s Thankful Tuesday. What are you thankful for?
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