It’s been a tough couple of months so I thought I’d go this for my Quick Takes today as a way of getting perspective.

— 1 —

I am thankful for God in my life. Can we just say that without the grace of God working in me and without His mighty hand slapping me upside the head occasionally I’d be in BIG trouble? (Yes, I know my image of God at this very moment is that of Gibbs on NCIS.)

— 2 —

I’m thankful for Daniel. My job as a mom is to help him to heaven but I think it works both ways. Kiddo has seriously purged almost every ounce of selfishness out of me and has made me a far better person that I would be ordinarily. He’s also a very good cuddlebug and full of sunshine 95% of the time.

— 3 —

I’m thankful for my mommy. My mom is amazing. She is incredibly diplomatic, she instinctively knows how to work with Daniel, she backs me up 100% in my parenting, and she babysits so I can go be a human being a couple times a week. On Tuesday night, I came home to Daniel asleep on the heating vent in my room (it doesn’t get too hot so it was fine) and some Kraft mac n’ cheese on the stove for me because she didn’t know if I had been able to get dinner before my 3 hours of church stuff. She is freaking awesome.

— 4 —

I’m thankful to get along with my family so well. We’ve got 7 people in the house right now and nobody is fighting or grumping or being miserable. This is pretty awesome. I’m also glad to be able to spend the time with Jon, my evil twin brother Sean, and his wife.

— 5 —

I’m thankful that I live within walking distance of almost everything I need. We have to drive to get to Daniel’s school but I live within walking distance of the park, the library, a grocery store, and $tarbux. It makes it easier to go have “adventures” with my munchkin.

— 6 —

I’m grateful for the two churches I have been part of this year. St. John’s Episcopal Church helped to heal me from bad pastor’s wife experiences and welcomed me with open arms into their choir, the Wednesday morning Bible study (whom I miss greatly), and their community. When I had to move back up to northern California, the Episcopal Church in Almaden (who loved me into faith as a high schooler) welcomed back with open arms into their choir (there are benefits to having known the choir director for more than half of one’s life) and into the parish community.

— 7 —

I’m thankful to Al Gore for creating the Internet. The internet allows me to keep in touch with people and be less isolated than I would be if I had to go interact with people face-to-face. I also have a great community on Facebook who pray for me and keep me going.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.