It was lunchtime on "Daddy Day" at our house.  Every Tuesday is "Daddy Day" for our four year old twins.  They go to the local daycare four days each week.  But Tuesday is their day to stay home with me.  It used to be Tuesdays and Thursdays when they were younger, but I found I needed more time to get work accomplished.  So, we added Thursdays to the daycare mix and Tuesdays became my day with the young girls.  Sometimes we go on bike rides.  Sometimes we go on trips.  Sometimes we watch movies.  Yesterday, the Daddy Day I'm referring to, we went on a long walk to a coffee shop (it was their decision...really!).

When we got back home, around 1:30 PM, I made them grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

I want to say a special word about these grilled cheese sandwiches.  I understand that it's not too difficult to put some slices of cheese between two slices of buttered bread and grill them.  I'm not making myself out to be Julia Childs here.  But, these were WONDERFUL grilled cheese sandwiches.  I mixed small pieces cojack and provolone for the insides to load them up with goodness.  And I grilled these to perfection.  They weren't burnt or uneven and the cheese was wonderfully melted inside.  These were GREAT grilled cheese sandwiches.

So, I served them up alongside some apple slices and cherry tomatoes.  Voila!  Lunch is served.

But, neither of them had more than a little nibble of those beautiful sandwiches.  They "didn't taste the same."  The girls said they "weren't hungry."  And so they just sat on their plates...rejected...

I was having something different for lunch so these awesome sandwiches were just going to go to waste, thoroughly unappreciated by the ones they were made for.  Perhaps a couple of wasted sandwiches wouldn't bother me so much (yeah, yeah, I know...starving children in other parts of the world and all) but there's a lot of food I make in this household that goes totally unappreciated by others.  I like to cook--beyond grilled cheese.  And some of the foods I like have a lot of flavor or are things I've never tried before and I'm pretty used to my kids thumbing their noses at the dinners I make.  Very rarely does Daddy try something new and exciting for dinner only to be met with a teenager's eye-roll and and a disappointed, "WHAT is THAT?"  (They don't know what they're missing.)

The grilled cheese sandwiches were just one more bit of evidence of the lack of gratitude my kids show for what I'm able to provide for them.  And, as I've said several times so far, these were AWESOME GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES.  They were works of art.

Well, after lunch I was able to get out for a small bike ride myself.  Along the way I was thinking about all of the AWESOME, WONDERFUL, GREAT creations God puts before us that go unnoticed and unappreciated.  Here we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth and people pass by, they go up and down roads, they camp or hunt or fish, and hardly offer any thanks, any word of gratitude for what God provides.  It made me think, while pedaling, about all the many things in my life, all of the blessings I have been given, which I take for granted, and which never move me to praise my Maker and give thanks to the Creator.   God has blessed us with grilled cheese, but he has certainly blessed us with so very much more.  And do we merely thumb our noses?

As this was all swimming around in my mind I rode along Alyeska Highway, headed back home.  I could see clouds rolling in and I wondered if it was going to rain later (it did).  My legs were tired.  I was feeling good.  And then I saw it...a brilliant rainbow in the sky.  Thank you God, for a wonderful, beautiful rainbow.  I pedaled harder, hoping to snap a picture with my old cell phone before the rainbow disappeared...and then I lost sight of it.  Oh well.  It was still a great gift to see it and be reminded of all the many gifts God has given me:  life, family, health, bike, home, a wonderful church, grilled cheese.

But, as I crossed Glacier Creek, there it was again.  I took a picture (yeah, the one at the top of the post) and thought I'd share it with all of you as a reminder to offer God some gratitude today.

What are you thankful for?

What do you take for granted even though God blesses you with it on a daily basis?

Do you thank God for your grilled cheese and rainbows?