By Mac Bledsoe

(Sometimes the things that annoy us are really things for which we should give thanks!)

For the husband/wife who snores all night, because he/she is at home asleep with me and not with someone else and it means that I have a family.

For the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes, because that means he/she is at home & not on the streets, and doing dishes usually means that we have eaten.

For the taxes that I pay, because it means that I have an income and that my kids will have a school.

For the mess to clean after a party, because it means that friends have surrounded me.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it means my family has a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government, because it means that we have freedom of speech and it means that my children will grow in a land which they can change for the better.

For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means I am capable of walking and that I have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge heating bill, because it means my family is warm.

For the person behind me in synagogue/church/mosque that sings off key, because it means that I can we have the freedom to worship as we choose and it means that I can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing, because it means my family has clothes to wear, clean water to wash them in, and a home to keep them in.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day, because it means I have been capable of working hard and that I have a job.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means that I am alive and able to arise and share the day with my family.

Remember that the ideas in our heads as parents rule our world every bit as much as the ideas in the heads of our kids rule their world! As parents we must be very careful to not let unwanted ideas into our head because they will very certainly rule our world in some very unwanted ways if we let them occupy our thoughts. This list is a very small beginning for you to use in training the focus of your thoughts about your family. Please feel free to add to this with some ideas you have written for yourself.