So, I would love, love, LOVE to do this little project where I jump on this ol' blog of mine and post something I am thankful for each day. How cool would it be to have the whole month of November full of posts I found to be worthy of praise? How cool would it be to be able to one day go back and re-read all the blessings I had the chance to be apart of? Now, how likely is it that I would actually be able to do this?
Wait. Don't answer that.
I do want to try though...even though I've already missed SIX days.
The pressure of it all makes me want to give up before I even start!
Since I can barely remember what I had for breakfast this morning, I am not going to name six things that happened each day this week, but six things that I can remember from the last few days. Then, I will try my best to be here each day. Even if it is just a simple sentence.
So far:
1. I am so thankful for the wonderful fall weather we have been given this year. I am totally loving thoroughly enjoying the outdoors all the way into November. Which leads me to number two...
2. I am thankful that the kids love being outdoors as much as I do, and when necessary, I am able to tell them to haul their little booties outdoors to burn off the energy that is about to drive me insane. The other day, after being outside for a while, both kids came indoors as it was starting to get dark. They didn't want to stay indoors, though. They asked, instead, if they could each have some gloves to wear because their hands were getting too cold to climb trees. Since I was in the thick of making dinner, I obliged, and smiled as I watched both walk back outside with their gloves, flip flops, and shorts.
Oh, and along the same lines, I am thankful for an afternoon (today) so warm that The Girl was begging me to get into her swimsuit so she could run in the sprinkler.
In November.
3. After having some struggles with some people/situations I am facing in life, I was ever so thankful for God leading me to a little lesson written by Oswald Chambers. As Oswald Chambers talks about God's advanced preparation for us in this life, he states that many experiences are not meant for us personally at all, but instead to make us useful in His hands and to help us understand others and situations that take place in their lives. Because of this process, Oswald says that we may never state: "Oh, I just can't deal with that person." he goes on to say, "Why can't you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way."
Gulp.
He goes on to talk about how we tend to want to know why we have to go through something even before we go through it in order to, many times, to see if we can manipulate some sort of "shortcut". Then Oswald gives this reminder, "God's way is always the way of suffering--the way of the "long road home."
I am so thankful to have my eyes cleared and opened wide in light of this important lesson brought my way this week.
4. I am thankful for a wonderful conference with The Little Man and his dedicated teachers this week.
5. I am thankful for a chance to go through an old file cabinet in the basement. The Hubs would really like to get the basement finished this winter, so that means we have A LOT of cleaning ahead of us.
A LOT.
Thankfully, he is allowing the cleaning process to go by in baby steps. He knows that most of the stuff down there is mine and many items contain sentimental value. I am also thankful that my heart has been changed towards much of that stuff and I am now at a point in which I am willingly able to purge. Today, however, as I was going through this filing cabinet there were several things that caught my eye, and my heart. Pictures, old cards, and specifically a letter. The letter was from my grandmother and it was stuffed inside a card that she gave us to congratulate us on our marriage, and I almost tossed the card, until I saw the letter sticking out the bottom corner. In the letter, my grandmother tells The Hubs and I how special it was that we were able to come and visit her earlier in the summer. She was also sad that she could not attend our wedding because it was too far for her to travel, but she wanted us to know that she was there at the wedding. "No, you could not see me, but I was there in my thoughts and prayers." she says. This last summer we went to visit her again as we do every couple years. The grandmother we visited this summer is much different now than the grandmother that wrote that letter because my grandmother now is in some pretty advanced stages of dementia. With memories still fresh on my mind of her not knowing who I was this summer, reading this letter flooded my mind with memories of the woman she once was.
Thankful doesn't quite cover it.
6. I am thankful that this past week we received all our information on the Compassion child we are sponsoring. I loved looking at her sweet picture and pouring over the details of who she is and where she lives. I am even more thankful that The Girl was even more excited to get her hands on all of Robinah's information. I loved watching her dive into all the info and take in every small detail of this little girl half way around the world. I am thankful that she is excited to be apart of Robinah's life and is anxious to send and receive letters to/from her. The Girl is elated at the thought of having Robinah as a friend half way around the world. She is relieved that Robinah is now being cared for physically (The Girl chose Robinah because she was an orphan), and most importantly, The Girl was ecstatic at the thought that now, since she is being sponsored through Compassion, she will have the opportunity to be taught about the love Jesus has for her.
I am so thankful that The Girl knew that that was the most important part.
Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow...and all the days of November.
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