Enter His gates with thanksgiving

I've been mulling over the idea of a Thanksgiving post for the past few days now, but to be honest I'm having a hard time putting all the things for which I'm thankful into words. This past year has been such an amazing journey through so many different feelings and emotions and to try to organize those in a way that makes sense to others seems impossible right now.

As the generations of parents before me understood - the love from a parent to a child and the resulting love that invades the surrounding family of that child is impossible to describe... which is probably alright because I don't know that it can be understood until you've been there. At least, I know I certainly didn't understand.

That love and the things that have come from that love encompass so many of the things for which I'm thankful. Such simple description with such complex meaning. It just seems that there should be more profound language to describe things so important and precious.

In light of the fact that I'm all caught up in my emotions this week, I'm going to let one of Addy's books do the heavy hitting. This is one of my favorites and I rarely get through it with two dry eyes.

On the Day You Were Born
By Debra Frasier

On the eve of your birth
word of your coming
passed from animal to animal.

The reindeer told the Artic terns,
who told the humpback whales,
who told the Pacific salmon,
who told the monarch butterflies,
who told the green turtles,
who told the European eel,
who told the busy garden warblers,
and the marvelous news migrated worldwide.

While you waited in darkness,
tiny knees curled to chin,
the Earth and her creatures
with the Sun and the Moon
all moved in their places,
each ready to greet you
the very first moment
of the very first day you arrived.

On the day you were born
the round planet Earth
turned toward your morning sky,
whirling past darkness,
spinning the night into light.

On the day you were born
gravity's strong pull
held you to the Earth
with a promise that you
would never float away…

…while deep in space
the burning Sun
sent up
towering flames,
lighting your sky,
from dawn until dusk.

On the day you were born
the quiet Moon glowed
and offered to bring
a full, bright face,
each month,
to your windowsill…

...while high above the North Pole,
Polaris, the glittering North Star,
stood still, shining silver light
into your night sky.

On the day you were born
the Moon pulled
on the ocean below, and,
wave by wave,
a rising tide washed the
beaches clean for
your footprints…

…while far out at sea
clouds swelled with water drops,
sailed to shore on a wind,
and rained you a welcome
across the Earth’s
green lands.

On the day you were born
a forest of tall tress
collected the Sun’s light
in their leaves,
where, in silent mystery,
they made oxygen
for you to breathe…

…while close to your skin
and as high as the sky,
air rushed in and blew about,
invisibly protecting you
and all living things on Earth.

On the day you were born
the Earth turned, the Moon pulled,
the Sun flared, and, then, with a push,
you slipped out of the dark quiet
where suddenly you could hear…

…a circle of people singing
with voices familiar and clear.

“Welcome to the spinning world,” the people sang,
as they washed your new, tiny hands.

“Welcome to the green Earth,” the people sang,
as they wrapped your wet, slippery body.

And as they held you close
they whispered into your open, curving ear,
“We are so glad you’ve come!”


I’m thankful for our little family and the love that holds it close. Adam and Addy – I’m so thankful for the two of you.