That For Which I'm Thankful - Part 2 (Fruit)

Today I'm thankful for grapes and bananas. Grapes and bananas are wonderful fruits, but they, in and of themselves do not create the feelings of thankfulness and gratefulness that well up in my soul. It's not because they are luscious and succulent. It's not because they are naturally sweet and good for you at the same time. It's for other reasons.

Grapes and bananas remind me of my kids. My kids love fruit, especially grapes and bananas. This morning, Zeke ate about 500 grapes and his diaper will show it in a few hours. His hair shows it now - a beautiful canvas of cheese mixed with fruit layered in his thick blond mop. Later, the canvas will end up in his diaper with a slightly darker shade. I'm not exactly thankful for dirty diapers, but I guess that's better than them never pooping at all and getting some kind of GI tract infection. That would not be good, but then again if it did happen, I'm thankful to live in a country where they could receive adequate health care attention for such disorders. But I digress.

Fruit reminds me of my children, which conjures up thoughts of thankfulness and gratitude to God for having such incredible kids - kids that keep me on my toes every second of the day because I never know what kind of new word or new game they will come up with. Right now Zeke is pushing around a baby stroller made for Rainy's dolls. I'll have to fix that later, but for now I'm just thankful. I'm grateful for parents that raised my wife and me both in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and that we get to do the same through their influence and example. Not that we've got it all figured out, by any means. But each day is a new journey of learning and growing, mistake-making and mistake-fixing. Back and forth.

I'm thankful for fruit because it reminds me of my kids. I'm thankful for my kids because they remind me of my Heavenly Father - a Father who knows every hair on my head - a Father who knows how many hairs on my kids' heads are currently caked and coated with processed cheese and grapes. I'm thankful to be a dad.