Thanks Giving One Day at a Time: Week 4

Day 22: Our beautiful home in the country...and "coming home" is just wonderful!

Day 23: Music! Christian, Christmas, and so many amazing songs and artists that bring a smile to the heart, a fond memory to mind or even make you sit up and pay attention and THINK!

Day 24: School Holidays! Two-day weeks! And sleeping past 5:05am! Woo Hoo!

Day 25: Pigs and puppies...playing together...priceless! It make me smile...and laugh out loud!

Day 26: Laughter! So healing, so infectious...and so healthy! And such a treasure when it comes from very little people!

Day 27: Our dogs...and unconditional love! You can yell at them (and make a mad face and put them outside) for stealing the ham bone off the counter (the lab) or jumping onto the dining room table to finish off the left-over breakfast sausage (the Yorkie), and they still love you and long for your approval and greet you with a happy tail-wag!

Day 28: The smells and tastes of the season: peppermint, eggnog, pumpkin-spice lattes, pecan pie, turkey + dressing + cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, squash casserole...

Day 29: The amazing community of faith that make up our city! We are so blessed to live in this "buckle of the Bible belt" and I am reminded of this almost everyday! And we are so blessed that we have a strong and talented group of men and women in the armed forces that preserve this right for us!

Day 30: Family...immediate, extended, crazy, sane...all of 'em.

30 Days of Thanks Giving...I am truly blessed.

Thanks Giving One Day at a Time: Week 3

Day 15: Our minister, Rodney Ashlock. He is one of the most knowledgeable and insightful people I know, and I learn so much from both his classes and his sermons...and so much of what I learn is applicable at the moment I hear it...and so much speaks to exactly where my heart is when I hear it!

Day 16: Getting away...time to refresh and relax, time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, not feeling guilty for not getting all my chores done, time to read, reflect...and just spend time with Budrick!

Day 17: Christian Radio! What an incredible blessing it is to be able to hear music that is positive and encouraging and that edifies! I am especially grateful for KGNZ, 94thefish, KLTY, The Journey with Tom Dooley, Air1 and especially that early Christian radio station I listened to in Houston in the 70's.

Day 18: Answered prayers...and an AMAZING God!

Day 19: The opportunity to share of myself and help others...and all of those who do this for a living! Abilene is truly blessed by the works of Love & Care Ministries, Mission: Thanksgiving, the Christian Service Center, Meals on Wheels, and so many others...

Day 20: Having everyone home and in their own beds...I never sleep better than when all of my kids are home! Ryan and Amie don't get to come home often enough in my book-they are so busy-but when they are here and Wayna is home...Aaaahhh!

Day 21: Dependable electricity and (warm) running water! We are SO blessed to live here in this place and at this time. At the Zambia Tree of Life Mission Dinner tonight, we learned that even the largest hospital in that nation is not so fortunate!

Thanks Giving One Day at a Time: Week 2

Day 8: The leaves that change color on the trees! I love that one can look at the trees and see that the seasons are changing...the riot of color is amazing...and I love that a tree may be crimson on the west side yet still summer green on the east side...all at the same time on one tree! I love watching the trees mark the passing of time...the oak and maple in our yard, and all the amazing trees that I see each day. Even in this small west Texas city I can appreciate our amazing technicolor God at work!

Day 9: Friends...and reconnecting with old friends on FaceBook! It is a good thing to have people who share your interests and values and memories...very blessed indeed!

Day 10: Wonderful smells and fragrances and all the memories and imaginings they evoke...coffee (it smells even better than it tastes!), chocolate, balsam, pine, cedar, baking bread...

Day 11: Prayer...that we can turn to God and pray for anything, but especially for those who are hurting. Answered prayers are wonderful, as well, and I am mighty thankful for many of those, too, but just being able to vent and unburden oneself to such a wonderful listener is just so...comforting and such a wondrous release...

Day 12: the ANTICIPATION of the approaching Christmas season! Just looking forward it so exciting! I love when I see the first billboard (Garden World in mid-October), the first Christmas lights (around an apartment front door three days before halloween), and hear the first Christmas song on the radio!

Day 13: Pedicures, primping and pampering! I love visiting Simply Diana and Stephanie!

Day 14: Christmas Carousel, Christmas in November, Taste of Sam's, Baack's (and other) Holiday Open Houses...such wonderful opportunities to share the anticipation of the season with other like-minded souls just fills me with Christmas Spirit!

Thanks Giving One Day at a Time: Week 1

Day 1: Watching the joy my husband experiences in planting trees and growing our orchard (34 fruit trees, 5 pecan trees and 15 shade trees)! He planted our two newest trees today, and he takes such delight in bringing life to our little place in the country.

Day 2: Wildflowers! As I drive in to school from our little place in the country, the wildflowers just amaze me, and it is as if there is always something blooming, and something different every few weeks...from the very earliest spring through these late days of fall. Even now, there are little white flowers and very tall yellow ones, and on the bushes outside the Public Health Clinic--bushes that have been green all summer--there are now little tiny red flowers! And the wild roses are blooming now, too! So beautiful! Such a pleasure for the eyes!

Day 3: Blogging! I LOVE this way of being able to express myself...even if no one is reading it! It somehow adds to my sense of purpose, and it makes me smile, as well!

Day 4: The fact that when I walk into Java City on Wednesdays, the barista, James, knows what I order and when I walk in will ask, "Will it be the usual today?" The usual! Me! I have a "usual!" For some reason, this makes me extraordinarily happy...to know that someone I barely know acknowledges my presence in the world! It make me feel alive and special all at once! And yes, maybe a bit silly, too!

Day 5: Sunshine! I love that warm feeling of the sun on my skin when it's cool outside. If I take a moment and just let the sun warm me, it makes me feel alive and aware of all the amazing things that are around me. I especially appreciate this in cooler weather, but sitting on my porch swing with the sun shining on my legs is nice all year long!

Day 6: Journal Time! I love the opportunity for "me time" that I carve out each Friday morning! I only wish I could take my computer with me and blog from there, as well!

Day 7: Coffee with my mom! Most every Saturday, my mom and I are blessed to be able to get together for coffee and catching up! We've lived in different cities for most of my adult life, and I am so glad that these last few years we have been able to share this time.

A Month for Giving Thanks

One of my favorite things to do is count my blessings...a mental daily gratitude journal of a sort. And the month of November just seems a perfect time to STOP and take a moment each day to not only think about, but stop and acknowledge, my gratitude and thanks for one of the incredible blessings in my life! In my journal each November, I create a calendar, and for each day I jot down something specific for which I am thankful. Sometimes it is little things I choose to include, like the smells of coffee and peppermint and Christmas trees, and sometimes it is something big, like our home or our jobs or our cars. Sometimes I believe that people get so wrapped up in simply getting through each day, trying to conquer it while preparing for the next, that we forget to stop and take a deep breath, and simply revel in being alive at this time and in this place. Though I certainly realize that some people are not in a position to find much to be grateful for at times, I want to believe that there is always something to make each person smile...at least I hope this is true.

And so I challenge YOU to make a list of things for which you PERSONALLY are thankful, one thing for each day of the month of November...and it doesn't matter if anyone else understands why you have included something or not! It can be anything that gives you joy or makes you smile! As you do so, I believe that you will find that gratitude is truly empowering! Happy Thanks Giving!

By the way, what am I thankful for today? Watching the joy my husband experiences in planting trees and growing our orchard (34 fruit trees, 5 pecan trees and 15 shade trees)! He planted our two newest trees today, and he takes such delight in bringing life to our little place in the country. I am truly blessed to be a part of this!