I'm not thankful, but I am thankful

Today is Thanksgiving, and people traditionally talk about the things they are thankful for on this day each year. This year I've noticed on the interwebs that saying one thing you are thankful for each day on Facebook and Twitter is trending. I have withheld from this practice, not because I am not thankful, but because to do so would mean for me to have an attention span that lasted 26 days. 26 minutes would be pushing it. Instead, I write this post all at once.

To be quite honest, I'm not thankful for everything I experience in life, but not being thankful for one thing should cause me to be thankful for it's counterpart. Here's an abridged list of things I'm not thankful for, followed by the thing I am thankful for on the flip side.

• I am not thankful for people who drive slowly in the left lane on the highway (if you didn't know, going 5 mph over in the left lane is considered slow)
• I am thankful for the average speed in the left lane being 10-15 over in Michigan.

• I am not thankful for times when my wife is sad, depressed, angry, or any combination of the three.
• I am thankful that I have her, that she is there for me when I feel any of those ways, and that I get to be there for her when she is. I'm also thankful that I no longer tend to make her feel that way. Maybe I'm growing up or learning to be less selfish!
  

• I am not thankful for pain and struggles.
• I am thankful for what God does with that in my life.

• I am not thankful for poopy diapers or the cost of clean diapers.
• I am thankful for that beautiful son of mine that causes us to buy diapers and then fills them up.
  

• I am not thankful for having to go back to the store, because the item I bought was incomplete or broken.
• I am thankful that I have the money to buy faulty products and the gas to go back and forth.
  

• I am not thankful for shirts and pants that don't fit anymore.
• I am thankful that I've apparently always had more than enough food to eat.
  

• I'm not thankful for living far away from members of my family.
• I am thankful that despite the times I've been away, as well as now with Steve and Dan being away, my family has maintained about the best relationships of any family I know.
  

• I am not thankful for that guy on E Main that always walks out in front of my car (and others), yelling and pointing like he wants to fist fight my car.
• I am thankful that I've been able to avoid accidentally hitting him with my car. I'm also thankful that my parents taught me not to play in the street.

• I am not thankful for pan handling.
• I am thankful that I have a job and no need to pan handle.
  

• I am not thankful for Pharisees.
• I am thankful that Jesus taught us to ignore people who add requirements to His love, which happens to be free.
  

• I am not thankful for green gummy bears (they bring down the whole bag).
• I am thankful for gummy bears in general.
  

• I am not thankful for country music.
• Seriously, I'm not thankful for country music.
  

• I am not thankful for anti-Semites.
• I am thankful that Jesus is a Jew. That makes the score Jews: 1; anti-Semites: 0.
  

There are probably other things but seriously, I didn't want this post to be 8 pages long. Those are just some highlights.