Thankful 15 -- Laughter

I sit here at the (still messy) computer desk and pause. I am able to reflect on my day... on my life... on my family. I'm so thankful.  How could I not be?  I have a randomly yummy mixture of smells filling the kitchen currently of spaghetti sauce and freshly baked cupcakes. I can hear snoring out of the baby monitor. I'm blessed to know my child is breathing. And thankful he's asleep. I have two boys on the couch watching a funny movie and their laughter is contagious. When Matthew laughs, I can't help but to smile. His laughter is music to my ears. I'm thankful that I can feed my children tonight and that my house is filled with laughter.  I wrote a post about yelling a while back.  You can read it here if you'd like. I've been have more and more days like that day. I am trying hard to raise these boys in a non-hostile environment.  I'm trying to raise these boys surrounded with love and tenderness. As I tell them daily to be kind to one another (Eph 4:32) and gentle and tender, I am also striving to follow my own advice. It's easy to be stressed all the time. It's easy to be angry. It takes work to be patient. To do patience. To show love and mercy and compassion. It takes effort to be kind and gentle and humble... And I'm so blessed and thankful for days like today, when there is happiness. The kitchen is cleaned, the laundry isn't towering over me, the house isn't spotless but it's not stressful either. The children are happy. The mommy is pleased.  I'm thankful today for laughter.