Thankful Thursday

While I am no longer an Oprah fan, I used to be. 12 years ago she had a book on her book club that I decided to buy. Simple Abundance. It is a daily devotional that challenged me to be thankful and find joy in the simple things of life. I kept a journal adding 5 things a day to be thankful for. Over the years, I have went thru that journal a couple of different times, with each pass adding to the list. One of my 5 entries for Oct 21, 2000 was "I decide what affects me." I enjoyed this process so much that I have added it to our family's suppertime tradition. We have index cards labeled for each day of the year and the nights we all sit down together for supper, we go around the table and voice something we are thankful for and I jot them down. As the years have past it is fun to read back on previous years entries such as...thankful for thick pillows, common everyday tasks and ibuprofen.



It is more than just fun though, it is biblical. As Christians, we have a lot to be thankful for. I came across this article by Rev Andrew Cammenga, from Fl regarding the Chapter of Psalms 75:

Another week is almost past. Only seven days but it represents over 600,000 seconds, and in each one the Lord had to provide us with life and all the big and little things which we needed. When David thinks of this he exclaims: "How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them."

Scripture wrestles with words to give expression to a heart filled with thankfulness to God. It speaks of "making music" to the Lord, and of "singing" His praise. It chooses such words as "tell," "declare" and "boast." In our text the word "thanks" is used, which in the original means "to stretch out the hand," "to point with the finger," The meaning is significant for it suggests that we go through life and point to all that we have and say, "This is of the Lord, and that is of Him, and that, and that..."

For God's people there is even more to life than that all gifts and experiences come from God; our text tells us that in everything God's name is near. In every gift, great or small, in every experience of joy or soorrow God brings Himself close to us in faithfulness and love. This fellowship with God brings truest joy. It assures us that all God's gifts are directed to our hope and joy in Christ.

As we point to the gifts and experiences of the past week and remember that God gave them in Love, we'll have something to talk and sing about. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
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While the 1st several days it is easy to think of things to be thankful for...our family, friends, homes, day 30 isn't as easy. It is a retraining of our minds to purposely seek out the little things that are commonly taken for granted in our busy lives. I challenge you for at least 30 days, to jot down 5 things a day you are thankful for. Ask God to open your eyes and heart and be ready to point those out to your kids and others.

My 5 today are:
1. Fresh deer steak for supper
2. Potatoes that were in the oven in plenty of time to be soft all the way thru
3. The strawberry cake our neighbor blessed us with.
4. For finding the super soft fleece blanket to snuggle up with Wyatt.
5. Black Cherry Koolaid

hmmm....4 out of 5 things revolve around food.....

June 2010...just a little late

Forgive me for these updates and photos being a good 4 months in the past.

We painted the front porch this summer. This is the little man helping me wash all the wood railings down 1st.

And After:

Gabby turned 9 years old. Although I took the cake decorating classes so that I could make some lovely cakes for my kiddos birthdays, I was turned down for the job as she wanted to do her own cake. I printed off the directions and she did it all including switching out the correct tips. She is by far more creative and talented than I. (it's a pony).

Summer sunburns :(

They were all slathered down with lotion and all out for the same amount of time. Makensie has my skin and got it the worst. She turned red, pink and then back to translucent.

Gabby turned a nice warm tan and peeled a little on her shoulders.

Brian got tan and had a bajillion little blisters on his shoulders.

Enjoyed a beautiful rainbow!

Made a short notice wedding cake.

Worked at a fund raiser for 4H.

Attended a night of ministry where the gentleman tamed a wild horse in front of us in less than 2 minutes and correlated it to scripture. It was amazing.

Took in an area fireworks display. Notice Allen wearing a sweatshirt while the rest of us were sweating! Come to find out he was on the verge of heat stroke. It was a long hot summer for him.

So went the month of June.