A month of Thanks...

A Thanks for every day in November 


~ red-orange leaves turning yellow

~ time to help a friend

~ my tallest boy leaning into me when he's tired and frustrated instead of pushing me away

~ His grace that gets me through each day

~ forgiveness, and the reminder to forgive others as He forgives me

~ my family, just being together

~ the privilege of being a mother, a teacher, a hugger, a kisser, a helper, a baker, a lego locator and so much more to my amazing boys

~ Mercy...because I so don't get what I deserve

~ perfect fall weather

~ chocolate cake

~I'm so very grateful for lives laid down, for men and women who fight for our freedoms and for the oppressed around the world

~I'm thankful for the tantrums and the bad behavior

~for arguments and hurt feelings

~for headaches and insomnia

~for traffic tickets and money being so tight~I'm thankful because it's all grace. All of it.

~ I'm thankful for hot water to wash dishes and indoor plumbing

~ for hand lotion on cracked finger tips

~ for strong walls that keep my family warm

~ and for that sweet woman on the street who seems to have none of those things and how our small gesture of blessing to her was multiplied back a thousand

~ I'm thankful for my mother's 60 years, for the surprise on her face, for all the family

~ I'm thankful for rest after being so busy, for a sweet, slow day at home with my boys

~ I'm thankful for the rainy day, the gray that helps me appreciate the blue, the chill that helps me appreciate my warm, cozy home, the damp that reminds me my husband is out driving and running around and working in all kinds of weather

~ for the people in my life, too many to name, that love and share and build and pray and walk this walk along side of me. He made us to need each other. I'm grateful for each of you

~Thanksgiving Day~ I'm am thankful for this book that has inspired me to see what has always been there...the eucharesteo (giving thanks) that ALWAYS precedes the miracle. Go ahead look for yourself. See how many times you missed those little words as you read His word...He gave thanks...with thanksgiving...give thanks...It's there. Every time. How did I always miss it?

~I am grateful for overflowing plates and my mom's house full

~for a lazy day off

~for a weekend at work, a job where I can humbly take care of sick children

~for church with my family

~for the learning we do together

~ And for how as this list ends, as this Month of Thanks comes to a close (but really gratitude should never, ever end), we enter into a month of Preparation. How fitting: gratitude leading to the anticipation of His coming~