365 Days of Thanks // Week 17

4.23.14 - Friendships that pick back up where you left off. 

4.24.24 - A fun time watching B's first tball game. 

4.25.14 - Fresh air. 

4.26.14 - A successful wedding shopping day!

4.27.14 - Music 

4.28.14 - God's faithfulness

What are you thankful for?

"Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;..."  Psalm 105:5a

365 Days of Thanks // Week 16

4.16.14 - The special bond found in a sister
4.17.14 - Natural allergy medicine
4.18.14 - The opportunities being single has allowed
4.19.14 - Maggie's surprise was pulled off! Click HERE to read about it!
4.20.14 - Christ is RISEN!!
4.21.14 - Indoor plumbing
4.22.14 - Rain

What are you thankful for?

"I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works."  Psalm 9:1

365 Days of Thanks // Week 15

4.9.14 - Signs of spring everywhere!
4.10.14 - My brother and sister
4.11.14 - Financial help for dr bill was accepted and balance is ZERO! Praise the Lord!
4.12.14 - B got to go on visitation with us, and his excitement inviting people to church
4.13.14 - The church buying Greg Howlett's Piano DVD course
4.14.14 - Picnic weather
4.15.14 - Christ dying on the cross for MY sins!

What are you thankful for?

"Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people."  1 Chronicles 16:8

365 Days of Thanks // Week 14

4.2.14 - New cousins!
4.3.14 - Pizza
4.4.14 - Four new girls at Bible Study!!
4.5.14 - Computers
4.6.14 - A great start to our Missions Conference
4.7.14 - Clear direction as to God's will concerning a certain matter (click here for post!)
4.8.14 - Sweet fellowship with visiting preachers and their families

What are you thankful for?

"O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people."

Psalm 105:1

365 Days of Thanks // Week 13

3.26.14 - For the desk I was given
3.27.14 - The opportunity to invest in the kids lives during their formative years
3.28.14 - The opportunity to go to SPARK (ladies conference)
3.29.14 - A fun time with the ladies from church
3.30.14 - My Sunday School class
3.31.14 - A fun time surprising Kim for her birthday
4.1.14 - New shoes

What are you thankful for?

"I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people. "

Psalm 35:18

365 Days of Thanks // Weeks 11,12

3.12.14 - Sunshine!
3.13.14 - A fun party day with the kids celebrating B & J's birthdays
3.14.14 - The opportunity to earn some extra money
3.15.14 - Family day
3.16.14 - Messages that aren't 'sugar-coated'
3.17.14 - Josh getting home from Africa safefly
3.18.14 - Tastebuds-so I can enjoy all of the various flavors food has to offer :)
3.19.14 - Answered prayer today!
3.20.14 - Spring!
3.21.14 - Fresh fruit and vegetables
3.22.14 - That we were able to go to Casey & Lauren's wedding
3.23.14 - A message that served as a good reminder that Hell is real and people are going there if we don't reach them with the Gospel
3.24.14 - A weekend spend with Josh & Liz!
3.25.14 - The opportunity to work from home

What are you thankful for?

"Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name."

I Chronicles 29:13

365 Days of Thanks // Weeks 9,10

 

2.26.14 - An encouraging message on faith-filled, persistent prayer.

2.27.14 - Hugs and snuggles from the kids. 

2.28.14 - Another year of life and a great 26th year!

3.1.14 - My wonderful family and friends who made me feel so special today! 

3.2.14 - A living God!
3.3.14 -  My Etsy gift card
3.4.14 - Heating pads - perfect for aches and pains, or even to warm you up. 

3.5.14 - Pinterest - great place for inspiration 

3.6.14 - The simplicity of a cardboard box to bring hours of entertainment for the kids! 

3.7.14 - SIX girls at Bible study! Biggest group yet! 

3.8.14 - Grandmas who taught me how to crochet. 

3.9.14 - Vehicles

3.10.14 - Good, clean entertainment found in "I Love Lucy" :)
3.11.14 - Our monthly ladies Bible Fellowship

What are you thankful for?

"I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good."

Psalm 54:6

365 Days of Thanks // Weeks 6,7,8

**Obviously I'm a little behind posting these. I haven't been feeling well for the past several weeks and have been lacking motivation to post, but I have been continuing to reflect daily on what I'm thankful for even though it's taken longer to get it on the blog. Here's an update to catch us up!**

2.5.14 - A fireplace to heat things up on a cold night. 

2.6.14 - Saving money by switching to a different phone plan!

2.7.14 - In-home washer and dryer. 

2.8.14 - That God knows what my future holds, and it's better than I could ever plan for myself. 

2.9.14 - Receiving Benjamin Everson's new CD as a gift. 

2.10.14 - A supportive family. 

2.11.14 - The time we had with Jonathan - it was Maggie's last day watching him.

2.12.14 - Being able to go to church and for everyone who rallied together to help me decorate for the Valentines Banquet. 

2.13.14 - That God loves me and never fails, even though I fail Him all the time. 

2.14.14 - Modern medicine. 

2.15.14 - Massage chairs. 

2.16.14 - The missions house at church that we're able to spend Sunday afternoons in since we live 30 minutes away. 

2.17.14 - For feeling pretty good most of the day!

2.18.14 - Mom and Maggie's safety traveling. 

2.19.14 - A message on faith - just what I needed!

2.20.14 - Answered prayer - even when the outcome isn't what I expected. 

2.21.14 - Sticker books that hold the kids' attention for a while. :)

2.22.14 - Days of rest. 

2.23.14 - Naps. 

2.24.14 - Easy Mondays. 

2.25.14 - Increased energy

What are you thankful for?

"I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people."

Psalm 35:18

365 Days of Thanks || Week 5

1.29.14 - Time spent playing in the snow and making a snowman with the kids. 

1.30.14 - The beauty of snow...I love watching it snow!

1.31.14 - A flexible job. 

2.1.14 - The opportunity to go with the teens on their weekend youth rally, and that one of them got saved!

2.2.14 - For my brother and the godly man he has become. {Happy Birthday!!}

2.3.14 - Audio Bible...a great way to get in some Bible time when sick. 

2.4.14 - A dad that has always been faithful to work hard and provide for our family. 

What are you thankful for?

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;"

I Timothy 2:1

365 Days of Thanks || Week 4

1.22.14 - An encouraging sermon - challenging me to make sure I'm giving my best to the Lord!

1.23.14 - Skype/Google Hangout

1.24.14 - Reconnecting with a former student. She was in the kindergarten class that I subbed in before I started teaching on my own. I feel old! lol

1.25.14 - The opportunity to teach piano lessons.

1.26.14 - One of our teen girls came to church after being away for 1 1/2 years! Praise the Lord!

1.27.14 - My God provides for all of my needs!

1.28.14 - Peace that passes all understanding!

What are you thankful for?

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 

Colossians 3:15

365 Days of Thanks || Week 3

1.15.14 - Cows...because they give milk, and milk makes ice cream! :)

1.16.14 - My wonderful, loving parents. They're the best!

1.17.14 - The weekends

1.18.14 - Nail polish. Such a small thing can instantly make you feel girly. 

1.19.14 - The great church the Lord has us in

1.20.14 - That our Pastor's wife is improving from her pneumonia, and hasn't needed to be transferred to a bigger hospital. (Update: she was able to go home!)

1.21.14 - A God that we can trust! He'll never leave us or forsake us! (Heb 13:5)

What are you thankful for?

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 

Psalm 100:4

365 Days of Thanks || Week 2

1.8.14 - We got snow! It's not much, but it's snow!! (It melted a few days later...boo)

1.9.14 - For all those years of piano lessons - even if I didn't like it at the time

1.10.14 - Good health. Though there's times I may not be feeling well, it could always be worse.

1.11.14 - My KitchenAid mixer

1.12.14 - Lunch out with one of the teen girls

1.13.14 - Even though I'd love snow, I'm thankful for the warmer weather we had today making it possible for the kids to play outside for a while.

1.14.14 - That my mom (and Mrs. D. through HomeEc) took the time to teach me how to cook. 

What are you thankful for?

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

Psalm 92:1

365 Days of Thanks || Week 1

1.1.14 - A day spent with friends

1.2.14 - One on one time with Braxton

1.3.14 - Three girls came to our monthly tween/teen girl Bible study

1.4.14 - This challenge - it has made me reflect more throughout the day of the things I'm thankful for

1.5.14 - One of my Sunday School girls felt like she could talk to me about something she's been struggling with

1.6.14 - The opportunity to watch and invest in the lives of these two precious children 

1.7.14 - The experience and knowledge I gained working as a church secretary for 5 years that I'm now able to use in my new church

What are you thankful for?

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

A Challenge: 365 days of thanks

Welcome to 2014! I can't believe it's here! This year I want to purpose to be more thankful. I want to reflect on every day and find something to be thankful for. There's going to be good days and not so good days, but there's always something to be thankful for!

So my challenge to myself is to post weekly what I've been thankful for in that past week. At the end of the year I'll have 52 posts and 365 things I'm thankful for (that I've written at least!).

You can join in too! If you have a blog and write a post about it, leave a link to your post in the comments. If you don't have a blog (or don't want to do a post), you can put what you're thankful for in the comments! I'd love to hear what you're thankful for!

Here's to a year of thanks! Happy New Year!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

I Thessalonians 5:18

Thanksgiving '13

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I sure did! It was a wonderful times spent with family and friends. One of the special things about the day was that we got to use my great-grandma's china! I had so much fun setting it all up!

 

 

I wanted to take advantage of this Thanksgiving season to teach the kids what it means to be thankful. I made a thankful tree and we spent many afternoons coloring leaves, asking them what they were thankful for, writing it on the leaf, and letting them glue it on the tree. I also made up a little song about thankfulness and taught them "In every thing give thanks." It was a fun craft for the month of November, and a great way to teach the kids to be thankful!

 

 

Thankful For Trials?

Just like anyone else, I've had some hard times in life. I shared a very personal story with you not too long ago (thank you for your kind words!), and there have been other things that will probably never be on the blog. Do you know what though? I'm thankful for those times! I know it sounds crazy, but it was during those times that I grew as a person. God used those trials in my life to change me and teach me things. And for that, I will always be thankful! 

Ps 119:71 - It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

"Every struggle in your life has shaped you into the person you are today. Be thankful for the hard times; they can only make you stronger." -unknown

Mia Familia

I love my family SO much and am thankful for the wonderful relationship we have. I know not every one has a great relationship with their family, so I definitely don't want to take what we have for granted. It's definitely because of the Lord! I am so BLESSED!

What Makes Me Happy

It's hard to believe that it's already November. Am I right?! The year has absolutely flown by! 

As soon as November hits, we start seeing lots of posts, status updates, tweets, etc about things that we're thankful for. Even though we are thankful all year round, there's just something about the month that holds Thanksgiving that stirs up in us a desire to express our gratitude even more. 

I was looking up some quotes about thankfulness and I found this one...

:: It's not happy people who are thankful, 

but thankful people who are happy ::

How true is this?! I know in my own life, I find that I'm more happy when I'm thankful rather than complaining. Funny how that works! 

There are several things that I want to talk about this month that I'm thankful for, but the first one is the Lord. I don't even want to imagine where I'd be without Him. Not only has He saved my soul, but He is with me guiding me and directing me every day. Seriously, how do people go through life without Christ? He's all I need! 

He loves me when I'm unlovable. He gives me mercy when I don't deserve it. He gives me grace to get through the hard stuff. He gives me peace that surpasses all understanding. There is such joy in knowing the Lord! 

What about you? Do you know the Lord and the joy that He brings?