It is an amazing thing to have have been sheltered every night of my life. There was a time a year or two ago when I was in awe of this fact. My thankfulness was stripped down to the necessities--that my family was healthy, warm, and had never known hunger. Night after night in the dark I counted these blessings.

Time passed and other cares and worries surfaced. Work things, relationship things, stress things. The simplicity of it all escaped me. I say these little prayers of thankfulness now, but I'm not overwhelmed as I once was. This, then, is my quest these days--simple gratitude. Tonight I'll lay me down and go over the day in awe of heat that never runs out, food stored in the cupboard, hands that are capable of caring for my children. And as I lay there being thankful for this day, someone half a world away will be praying that her family will still be alive and intact two weeks from now.