Slow Down and Take a Deep Breath...

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It's Monday and I already know it will be a very busy Monday. I have much to accomplish today, lots to check off my mental to do list. I can already feel my body tensing, and my mind racing at top speed. How can I be most efficient with my time? How will I get everything completed?

Not enough time! Not enough time!

Slow down. Take a breath.

Say thank you.

Breathe in the joy of the everyday.

Exhale... thanks.

A gift. I need to slow myself...and appreciate, be in awe of the fleeting moments.

I have a sign hanging in my kitchen, a sign my oldest son gave me as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. I keep the sign up year round.

"It's a Wonderful Life" , beautifully matted and framed.

Yes, it is the title of a favorite holiday movie.....but, it could... and should be my motto.

Because thankfulness does bring joy--  And joy makes for a wonderful life.

A daily reminder.

* Emerald green, springtime grass

* Wet smell after the rain

* Eggs and toast for breakfast

* Long hugs from my child

* My husband laughing

* A good nights sleep

* Opportunity

* Friendship

* A floor that needs swept

* A bathroom that needs cleaned

* Errands to run

* Candles in the windows

* A full eucharisteo board

* Bare feet on concrete

* The smell of coffee

* Hands and fingers that type without pain

* A smile
I will praise the name of God with song, And shall magnify Him with thanksgiving.  Psalm 69:30 



Won't you take a moment and drop by? Visit with others who are sharing Multitudes On Mondays?

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Hard Thanks...

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All the reasons to be thankful....Click on the Multitudes On Mondays graphic on my right sidebar to read more.

Dear Reader,

I'll be honest with you. I'm not feeling very thankful today.

Mondays are never my best day of the week, and today seems especially "not very thankful". I feel guilty. I struggle.

Right now I'm seeing all "the holes" in the canvas of my life.  When concentrating on the holes, the rips, the tears... I find it difficult to see the beauty. I know that is a poor attitude, you don't have to remind me. Believe me, I know.

All the things I wish were....and aren't.

All the things I want...and can't.

All the trying to measure up....and falling short.

All the dreams...dashed.

All the little things....that become BIG things.

All the words thought....but never said.

All the wishing....not coming true.

All the obstacles....not overcome.

All the life beautiful...is really broken.

We live in an imperfect world.

 

Life IS broken. Isn't that true for us all?

Aren't there days when we each wonder, the why?

When our vision is full of gray, and the colors seem dulled?

When we want so much more, but get so much less?

 

God knew we'd have days like this. Hard days. Painful days. Days of longing for something else. Something that is seemingly just out of reach. The frustration. The grieving. The seemingly unfairness of it all. He knew. He always knew.

Giving thanks through the difficult times. The broken times.  Ann Voskamp calls it the "hard eucharisteo". The giving of thanks when we are searching through the darkness. The saying "yes" to God, when we don't understand. The trusting that this hard place we are in, is not the final destination.

Ann goes on to say, "Grace + Thanks = Joy".  She's right, you know

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything. Not about life plans. Not the wondering. Not the worrying. But in everything That is a big, all encompassing word. By prayer and petition God hears us!  With thanksgiving Always thanksgiving...even when it is the hard eucharisteo. present your requests to God. He wants us to talk with Him. In the good times and the not so good times. He is there.

And on a day when it seems dark, not just because of the storm clouds, I can say thank you. I can give the thanksgiving to the One who hears me even when the words aren't spoken aloud. I am thankful.

 

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Saturday Morning In My Kitchen

Candles and warm light in my favorite nook.



Hmmm...What to fix? The possibilities...

.

Writing down daily thanksgiving on the family Eucharisteo board.



It's all grace. Every bit of it.

Even this...



This is one of the first things I see....Lonnie refused to eat his nutritional bits.AGAIN.

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I'm Goin' In!!!

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I have been talked in to participating in Black Friday. Me and my posse' are hitting the stores at midnight.We're roaming the streets until the early morning hours. 'Cause that's how we roll.

1. Why I allowed myself to be talked into this...just proves that my mind is going.

2. I'm wearing my running shoes in case of any stampeding going on.

3. I hope I don't get beaten down by some big mama hyped up on caffeine.

4. I'm a little nervous.

5. People get crazy over a good sale. If I'm in the way of someone getting a big flat screen TV...I could get shanked at the Wal-mart and left to meet my Maker laying on the floor at Wally World, forced to listen to canned Christmas music as my life ebbs away.

6. Why am I being so dark and morbid?

7. I'll tell you why.

8. I'll be out in the middle of the night...in the dark and cold....with 90 bazillion other people, strung out on over doses of turkey and mashed potatoes.

9. Hyped up on caffeine.

10. It's a deadly combination.

If for some reason I don't blog tomorrow...you'll know why. I'm either sound asleep after my night life of shopping 'til I drop....or well, I'm dead. Run over by a mob of crazy Christmas shopping mamas-on-a-mission.

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Thanksgiving Facts About Me

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The odd. The unusual. And the downright scary.

1. My husband does the turkey. I am creeped out by the cold turkey skin. And if there are any pin feathers that happen to still be stuck on it....gag.

2. A bare naked turkey in the crock pot, oven roasting pan, or deep fryer....whatever. It looks creepy to me.

3. I don't like to know what the meat looked like "before".

4. That is the reason I could never own a beef cow. I would name it. I would pet it.  It would be my friend. It would make it difficult to eat. And I like hamburgers so....that just wouldn't do.

5. I really like pumpkin pie, or really any kind of pumpkin dessert. I like to buy pumpkin in a can. Too bad it doesn't grow like that in the garden:)

6. I also like green bean casserole, creamy corn, sweet potatoes, dressing, and apple pie....with vanilla ice cream.

7. I like too many of the Thanksgiving foods. It's a curse.

8. This isn't looking good.

9. I will have to do A LOT of T-tapping to make up for today. I wonder how much sweating I'll be forced to do to make up for the gluttony?

10. Of course, it takes 15 million hours in the kitchen for MAYBE 20 minutes of eating. That stinks. I think the cooking and baking should be an Olympic sport. Sort of like a relay race.

11. Then just when one is in a turkey induced coma.....

12. There is Black Friday.

13. Insanity.

14. I usually don't go anywhere near stores on this day.

15. But Brittany wants me to go with her this year.

16. God, help me.

17. I could be killed in a stampede.

18. I could end up on the 6'oclock news.  Black Friday death. It sounds like a plague, doesn't it?

19. In the meantime I will be thankful. Because I have a lot to be thankful for.

20. Counting my blessings.

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Thanksgiving

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T-Today is a new chapter

H-Happiness is right in front of me.

A-Attitude is what makes it or breaks it

N-Near and Dear are my family

K-Kellogg's Cornflakes because I need them to make my yummy, hash brown casserole

S-Savior that makes all else possible

G-Growing and Learning new things every day

I-Independence in the country I live in and as an individual

V-Visiting Family and Friends

I- Influence on the next generation

N-Night time sky filled with breath taking stars

G- Gobs of food and a full stomach

Plenty to be thankful for. Some stuff that even seems weird. All of us have things to be thankful for, it's all a matter of perspective. Gratitude is all in how you look at it....or look for it.

Wishing you and those you love a very Happy Thanksgiving.

An Attitude Of Gratitude

How many times do I gripe? Feel sorry for myself? Complain? Say, "why me"?

The truth is I have plenty to be thankful for. My human nature tends to focus on the bad or annoying and take the good for granted.

If we are honest, aren't most of us that way?

Today I have made a pact with myself. I will only look for the good today. No, I am not neglecting anything. I am not trying to be Polly Sunshine, or ignore the necessary. I'm doing nothing but making a choice.

1. I'm thankful for my vision. I saw the most beautiful sunrise this morning. Breathtaking, actually. God, as master artist, paints the morning canvas with hues that can never be duplicated with the human hand. It is a sight to behold. And for that I am thankful.

2. So thankful for my hearing. I woke to the sound of rushing wind going by my window. I cannot see the wind, but I sure can hear it. The sound reminds me of a roaring river. I hear the morning noises of my family, the coffee maker humming and sputtering, and the cat meowing. And for that I am thankful.

3. I'm thankful for food. As I was getting the coffee creamer out of the fridge this morning, I looked at the inside of my refrigerator. Really looked. It is packed to the max with food and trimmings for Thanksgiving. To be able to afford to feed my family...It humbles me. I know there are many who do not have what I have. I've been uncomfortable before, and hungry...but, never starving. When my husband went through nearly a year and a half of unemployment I knew what it was to have our family "eat cheap". It wasn't always great, but we didn't go hungry. So, to have a full refrigerator makes me feel thankful.

4. I'm thankful that my husband now has a job. One that he is really good at. One that provides for our family. When one has walked through the valley of unemployment and been faced with the scary possibilities of losing everything....to have a job, makes me thankful.

5. I'm thankful for a healthy family. Sure, we all get croupy, or deal with sniffles, or stomach aches or occasion...but, we are healthy for the most part. Nothing serious. Having known the feeling of standing over the grave of a loved one, it makes me appreciate health all the more.

The truth is all these things that I just said I was thankful for...I could lose tomorrow. I could be in an accident, I could get a scary diagnosis, my family members could be hurt, and my husband could lose his job. These things happen. I am not immuned to the problems of this world.

If that were to happen I know that I still have the greatest gift of all. That is my relationship with Jesus Christ. His love knows no end.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?.....No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:35,37-39

There is a deep peace, that passes human understanding, when those verses really sink in...and for that I am thankful.

 

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With A Thankful Heart

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As we are heading into the Thanksgiving season, I am taking time to think on those things that I am thankful for. In the midst of life's urgent moments, frustrations, and chaos, it is good to slow down and remind oneself to take pause and say thank you. Each of us has much to be grateful for...

1. My very real relationship with Jesus Christ. It is because of this relationship that all other things make sense.

2. God's Patience with me. For all the times I mess up, and yet He loves me.

3. My heavenly Father's faithfulness. I can always count on Him.

4. God's blessings. He has blessed me in ways that I do not deserve.

5. Family...that loves me. People that love me through thick and thin. Through the smiles and the tears.

6. New friends. Old friends.

7. For Saturdays

8. Full Moon

9. Getting to sleep in.

10. Rainy days with a good book.

11. That bad days usually don't last.

12. Beautiful Fall leaves.

13. Being ABLE to exercise. For hands and feet and legs and arms that work.

14. Hot chocolate.

15. Quiet times.

16. For my blogging buddies. Getting to see their lives through their eyes. For making me laugh out loud:)

17. Warm clothes.

18. A husband that loves me. That reminds me that he is here ALWAYS.

19. For being a mom.

20. For healthy, funny, nerve wracking, nutty, confusing children.

21. A family that loves me. When I'm mother of the year, or a pain in the neck.

22. A mother who loves me.

23. In-laws that accept me, and love me.

24. Good memories.

25. My health.

26. That all sadness usually passes.

27. I am even thankful for the hard times, the sad times, the painful times....because, it is in light of these times that everything else seems so much sweeter.

28. Church

29. Connections

30. Being able to help special needs individuals.

31. Love

32. Feeling useful.

33. My computer.

34. Sunrises/Sunsets

35. Seasons of the year

36. Seasons of life

37. Prayer

38. Pets

39. Classic movies

40. My country.

41. The privilege of voting.

42. Freedom.

43. Flavored coffee in a favorite mug.

44. Forgiveness.

45. Having yet another day to be thankful.

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There Is Beauty In The Simple Things

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1. Warm candle light spilling  from the windows on a dark, chilly night.

2. Opening the mailbox to find a letter addressed to you.

3. Breathtaking sunsets where all the colors melt into each other.

4. Small churches with stained glass windows and steeples.

5. Lantern style street lights.

6. The very first snow of the year

7. Hot chocolate with gooey marshmallows.

8. Flavored coffee in a favorite mug.

9. The smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree.

10. Thanksgiving with family and friends around the table.

11. Having plenty to be thankful for.

12. The laughter of small children.

13. The silence on Christmas Eve.

14. The clank of wind chimes.

15. Driving down a country road.

16. Finding a great coffee shop in town.

17. The smell of apples and cinnamon.

18. A day off

19. Snuggling on the couch with a the TV remote and a bowl of popcorn.

20. Having friends over.

21. Laughing at something stupid.

22. Music that touches the soul.

23. A much loved and well worn bathrobe.

24. A loyal pet.

25. Friends

26.The beauty of nature

27. Holding hands

28. Smiling

29. Memories of happy times

30. Knowing that you are unique, no one can ever take your place.

God blesses us every day with the simple things.

 

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