Today on my facebook memories I saw that I did Thirty Days of Gratefulness posts in November 2017. I think that is a fantastic idea and I’m going to attempt it again. Here’s the image I am using this year, from Hella Mama Things:

Today is Something in the Room.

I am thankful for our TV. I know that sounds a little odd and materialistic, but hear me out. When Ben and I graduated college and got real jobs, we bought a brand new giant TV. It was a big box TV, 36 glorious inches, and it weighed a TON. We bought a big fancy wooden cabinet for it, with plenty of room to hold our VCR and all our VHS cassettes, plus room for a equalizer, our CD player, and cassette player. We had a few more spaces for electronics, so we picked up a record player and a super cool laserdisc player and added those to the cabinet. Oh, and we got the TV at Best Buy or something like that and made payments on it. This was an extremely expensive TV. Probably the most expensive one they had. I know it was the biggest. I remember that they also had 35 inch TVs, but we went for the 36. Just cause.

So, after a few years, plasma TVs became a thing. We did not buy one. Ben said as the technology improved, they would get much cheaper. Then the other TVs came out…was it LED? We didn’t get that either. We didn’t get a smart TV. We just kept waiting. Lenora, Bennett, and Belinda came along and we didn’t get a new TV. We just kept using the big old TV. When over-the-air TV went digital, we had to get converter boxes for the big TV, and also for the one in our bedroom, which I had bought at a garage sale when I was in high school.

The massive TV wasn’t always convenient, and it was also scary when I would catch a child climbing on the cabinet to get something off the top. They would be severely reprimanded and informed that they could DIE if that TV fell on something. I couldn’t even lift it. The sucker was that big.

But flat screens TVs seemed too expensive and too extravagant.

But then the old TV died.

So we bought the flat screen TV that Krislyn had, and didn’t want. And then a remote got thrown and then that TV broke. Like after a week. The flat screen turned out to be not as hardy as the big box tv, which could take flying remotes and also crayon drawings on the screen. So when I saw a listing on craigslist for another massive box TV, for basically nothing, we got that.

I don’t remember the year we finally upgraded, but I do know that we had a box tv for a very long time. A very, very long time. So long that when people would come to our house for the first time, they would comment on it. Like…wow, you still have a box tv? And…I haven’t seen one of those in a while. Stuff like that. But one Christmas we all received Visa gift cards. And we were thinking about what to buy and the suggestion came up to pool all the money and get a flat screen tv. I thought I suggested it but Bennett said recently that it was him, and I’m sure that he’s right. Anyway, we went to Walmart with all our shiny gift cards and had enough to get a fancy smart TV and an adjustable bracket to put it on the wall. And what a TV it was! Biggest screen we’d had yet, and so clear and easy to use. Quick access to Netflix and whatever other apps we had at that time. The kids could finally play their video games for four people instead of trying and failing to play together on a square screen. And no more letterboxed screens. Everything we watched was either letterboxed or cut off on the sides until the new TV. Not a huge deal, but pretty nice to have them gone. We all enjoyed the new TV, and we did that together.

That’s why I’m thankful for it. It has allowed my family to gather together and laugh together, and to cry together. We’ve watched old home movies, old cartoons, and crazy animes. While we watch, we laugh, and talk, and pause the show to look something up, and enjoy each other’s comapny. We don’t always spend a lot of time together, but the TV has been a way that we can connect as a family. I suppose that’s not something to be proud of, is it? Time spent in front of a screen? But we’re not sitting like zombies staring at it. We’re connecting, and sharing snacks and laughter, and just filling the same space…for a little while. With children already grown or almost there, I am thankful for any time we spend together as a family. This TV gives me more of those times. And I am thankful for it.

What song are you most grateful for?

I don’t know. It varies a lot. Christian songs. I really like listening to Christian radio. The songs really seem to relate to me and what I am dealing with. There’s one called “Thy Will Be Done” that’s on the radio quite a bit right now that helped me through some difficult times. And I also like the song “God Help Me.” It really speaks to me. Sometimes I sing along and I feel almost like I am expressing my own thoughts to God as a prayer of my own. I like that.

Anyway…

Twenty things! That’s a lot to be grateful for. Even if these are freaking weird.

So…what’s on the agenda for this post?

Who in your life are you grateful for?

Whoa. That’s a big one. And it’s a good one. A real one.

And a hard one. Because it’s basically endless. I’m thankful for so many people in my life, and I don’t want to just select one because how can I choose? And I don’t want to do a big list because I will definitely forget someone.

Dang. My family. My friends. People who love my kids. People who Ben works with. People we homeschool with, and go to church with, and do theatre and dance and martial arts with. My writing friends. My online friends. My school friends.

It’s impossible.

My mom. I’ll go with that. I am thankful for my mom.

And everyone else.

Seriously, you all, I am really, really blessed. All joking aside, it’s pretty mind-blowing. <3

Thanksgiving is over, and the month of thankfulness is nearly complete. Even though I’ve been weird about when I actually have done these posts, I’m glad that I’m getting them done. I don’t consider myself too behind because I made the conscious decision not to take the computer on our trips to see family over the holidays. We had a nice time.

Anyway. Back to the grind.

What touch are you thankful for today?

I find this one weird. I find a lot of these weird, actually. Maybe next year I should go back to my own ideas instead of using something like this. But I want to finish what I’ve started.

Does this mean like the feel of something? Like fabric? Didn’t I already do one like that? Or like touched in the head? Ha ha.

Well, honestly, I’m thankful for the times that I am very still and quiet and I meditate on God and I can feel His spirit infusing my body with peace, joy, and love. And I don’t know if that’s what this question was asking and I don’t care.

Ta-da

What book are you most grateful for?

I should probably say the Bible, and I suppose that it is true, because I believe it is truly the Word of God and that we should pay attention and follow it’s teachings. And when I read it, I do feel close to God. I read it every day, but I should read more. I don’t read much. I’ve read the entire thing twice, and the New Testament more than that, but I learn something new every time I open it, it seems like.

The book I am the second most grateful for is a book by Gene Neill called “I’m Gonna Bury You.” It was given to me when I was teenager, and I kept it for years. It’s not my regular type of book but it is very important to me. It has also taught me many things about life and I feel very connected to the author when I read it. It makes me want to be a better person, and to be closer to God in every way.

I could also mention that I’m thankful for the first book I wrote, Pairs, even though it’s not published or anything. It was the book that made me realize that I could actually write and finish a novel, and I will always be grateful for that. I hope I can get it to a point where it can be published one day. I would love to share it with the world.

What memory are you grateful for?

The memory I am most grateful for is someone who was in my life, and isn’t in my life now. But unlike most of my memories and thoughts, I actually want to keep this one private, so that’s all I’m going to write on that.