A Sense of Gratitude

Happy New Year 2017! Here we are on New Year's Day, looking back at yet another blessed year up here in our cozy cabin in the woods.

Several years ago, we started a tradition. We keep a jelly jar in the kitchen labeled "I'm Grateful For..."

Throughout the year, we write what we're grateful for on small strips of paper, fold them, and stuff them into the jar.

As with all resolutions, at first the jar starts filling fast, and then as life gets in the way, it slows down. Months go by without my adding one thought into the jar. But then when autumn rolls around, I pick up the pace again, wanting to fill the jar as much as I can. Sometimes I think I'm the only one adding to the jar, but then I glimpse Bruce's handwriting on one of the strips. That fills my heart with joy.

On New Year's Day, we open the jar and read each paper aloud.

It's fun to relive some of the moments we've shared during the year, or stop for a moment to realize we both added the same thought into the jar.

And then you find yourself reading something that you wrote months ago and forgot. This one said "I'm grateful for...crunchy toast!" Why, yes I am!

Even Teddy braved the scary, slippery wooden floor to come over and join in the fun when he heard us read "I'm grateful for...Teddy"

Once we read all of 2016's papers, I put them in an envelope marked "I'm Grateful For...2016" and sealed it. On New Year's Day 2023 we'll open a decade's worth of gratitude and read them all!

We are grateful for our family and friends, our fur kids, and this beautiful part of the world in which we find ourselves. May 2017 bring many blessings to you and yours!