Thankful blessings

When Iddo prays she generally starts by saying “We thank thee for this day and blessings.” But to me it often sounds like she’s saying “We thank thee for thankful blessings.”

So I started wondering what would constitute a thankful blessing. Are thankful blessings the obvious kind of blessing where you know immediately it is a blessing and express gratitude right away for it? Or are thankful blessings the kind where it’s only days, weeks, months, years, or even not until the next life that you look back and can say it was a blessing and express gratitude for it then?

Spending my 20s single and childless didn’t seem like a blessing. Spending the first half of my 30s married, wanting kids, and childless certainly didn’t seem like a blessing. But those years tempered me, molded and shaped me, and changed the type of mom I would be when our kids did finally arrive.

Today a medical person complimented me on how calm I am as I watch our kids learn through trial and error, which in the case of eating often involves gagging. Both our pediatrician’s nurse and the phlebotomist at the office have told me more than once how much they appreciate how calm I am when our kids get shots or need blood drawn. I don’t like seeing our kids hurt. It tears me up inside to see them in pain or uncomfortable. But I know sometimes it is necessary and I can’t make it go away. So instead I’ll be the calm soft place where they can get comfort and find peace. It is a blessing of those tempering years that helps me find that calm place so I can share it with them.

Whether thankful blessings are the obvious ones or the ones we recognize only in hindsight, I hope I can be better at expressing gratitude for them all.