trying to think thankfully

i am wondering if I get thanksgiving very well. i have critiqued my ideas and actions surrounding Christmas, but often let Thanksgiving slide through uncontested. basically my rhythm consists of eating too much turkey and watching football. so i worry about whether i'm thankful. and i worry that if i am, that no one knows it. ... i am thankful for the painter's brush and really honest lyrics. i am thankful for films that tell beautiful stories and books that make me live differently in the world. i am thankful for the way morning/evening coffee, deep-dish pizza, and peanut-butter milkshakes feel on my tastebuds and in my middle. i am thankful for friends who are patient with me, and friends who won't stand by and let me be dishonest with myself. i am thankful for playtime with capes and storylines, ...for wonder, and awe, and surprise. i am thankful for a good rest, and a good laugh. i am thankful for the comfort, encouragement, and refuge of my bride. i am thankful for the world of adolescence and the beautifully raw teenagers who let me journey with them there. i am thankful for those whose adolescence is in the rearview mirror, who choose to journey alongside teenagers as well. i am thankful for redemption, and hope, and peace. i am thankful for the invitation to come home again and stop eating with the pigs. i am thankful for life, for shalom. i am thankful...i don't think I have a choice. it is a compulsion that comes from finding life filled with truth and beauty...it is less intent and more reflex. i don't know another way to respond to the things in which i find myself immersed. may i be awake to it even more so...