12-24-2010

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie

Rejoice

Psalm 32:11

Rejoice in the LORD and be glad,

you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Today's Gratitude List!

I was going to sit and write a list as is my usual way~ but then I thought... really I am just so grateful for EVERYTHING in my life~ I figured out why I have been so lax in my gratitude list lately. It isn't an ungrateful heart. I tis the oposit, my heart is just so FULL of gratitude in all the Lord has done in my life that just sitting and writting a few things down seems so... just not enough.

Today I am just rejoicing in everything the Lord has done in my life~ my family, my friends, my home.. all of it just has me so happy and full of joy!

December 11, 2010

For everything God created is good,

and nothing is to be rejected if

it is received with thanksgiving,

1 Timothy 4:4

Isn't just AMAZING all that God has given us!

How can we not show gratitude for all of it!

From the creation of the earth, with all the plants and animals

to sending Jesus to be the Blood Sacrafice for our sins

so that we may once again live in the presence of our Father.

My heart just swells at all that the Lord has done for me.

It is with GRATITUDE that I say

"LORD, Thank You for EVERYTHING!"

My family, my friends, my home, my very life!

All of it is because the Lord God my Father in Heaven

LOVES ME!

December 9, 2010

New Tradition:

sit in a room lit only by the

Christmas tree lights

and remember that our blessings

outnumber even them! 

1. Family
2. David
3. Robert
4. Eugene
5. Joshua
6. Katie
7. Elizabeth
8. Allen
9. Mom
10. New Baby
    these are the ones that touch my life the most!
11.  My brother
12. My sister
13. My nieces
14. My nephews
15. My cousins
16. My Uncles
17. My Aunts
18. My Grandparents
19. My 3rd cousin twice removed
20. My children's father's
    all of these people have been a blessing in my life!
21. K-Love radio station (yeah I am serious LOVE it!)
22. My Church Family
23. My Celebrate Recovery Family
24. Those Amazing Friends who stand by me through it all
25. The Awsome Friends who are more like family than a lot of my family!
26. Rain
27. Snow
28. Sunshine
29. Wind
30. Clouds
31. Electricity
32. Running water in my house
33. The Internet!
34. My computers
35. Fresh brewed coffee in the morning
36. My Bible
37. MUSIC!
38. My Home
39. My Car
40. Our Truck :)
41. E-Mail
42. Facebook
    (yeah it really is a blessing in my life~
    connecting me with friends and family that I had lost track of)
43. A WashingMachine! (think it isn't live without one for a month!)
44. Hot Showers! (think about the people in Haiti! OH how blessed we are!)
45. Enough money for life's needs and a lot of wants too!
46. Enough money to help others!
47. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
    
    
    LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

Because in all honesty is their ANYTHING in this world worth more than knowing that God loves us, that we love Him, and that we share love with all of God's creation!

December 7, 2010

Today I am extra thankful for this little life growing inside me!

So blessed!

Did you know at 9 weeks a baby has a heartbeat, toes, fingers, you can tell the baby is a baby

even though she is only about an inch long.

God is so AMAZING!

December 5, 2010

Have you thought about it? Can you remember something you prayed

so very hard for and didn't get it?

Wondering why God wasn't answering?

Begging, making deals, just everything you could think of

to get God to give you what you wanted?

Then one day~ you looked back and could see...

God KNEW what He was doing...

Today I am grateful for unanswered prayes!

December 2, 2010

December 2, 2010

How did that happen? How did it already become December 2010?

I am realizing that as a person gets older, the understanding of time changes and so time goes so much faster than when we were young.

For a child the period from now until Christmas Day is going to feel like it is taking FoReVeR.

A never ending 23 days left before all the fun and excitment.

But for us older folks... it will seem on Christmas eve that just yesterday it was Thanksgiving.

So what does all this have to do with Gratitude?

All of us~ young and old ~can take this way that time passes in our lives as an indication of just how important it is to savor each and every day. We can get so tied up with one day that we forget to loive everyday.

Today I am grateful that I am able tpo see each and everyday as a miracle from God~ where I can appreciate all the day has to offer,

that God has given me the ability to see just how important everyday is and freed me from living from one "holiday", "payday", or "iimportant day" to the next...

WOW!

I just saw that I haven't posted in here since the 19th!!!!! It isn't that I haven't been grateful for things, or sharing them (Thanksgiving time of course everyone wants to know what you are thankful for right?) So that is my excuse, I was out and about in the workld so much sharing my gratitude that the list just slipped by without update... my apologies!

As many know, who read my blog, I tend to look at the normal everyday stuff to be grateful for~ sunrises, snowflakes, hot cup of coffee (a new appreciation for it right now). I do this because God has been so gracious in providing so much in life that we overlook. Always wanting the next "thing" whatever it is, that we forget to just enjoy the stuff we have right here, right now, the stuff that makes our heart smile a little, brings a little joy, however momentary it is, to our lives. In capturing those little things it makes the "big" things just not so important.

Romans 5:3

Not only so,

 but we also rejoice in our sufferings,

 because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

Now myself, I haven't yet learned to rejoice when I am suffering, but I have learned to be thankful for whatever little things I can be thankful for.

But today~ Today I am actually grateful for one of those extraordinary blessings God pours out in our lives. God has blessed my life in ways I never could have imagined and now, the blessings just keep pouring out and I will be having another baby! I feel old to be doing this agian, but then I remember Sarah and how God blessed her with Jacob~ so I am excited and I am pleased! God is AWESOME!!!!

November 19, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

My Mom~ today would have been her birthday and it just reminded me how much I have to be grateful for having her as my Mom for 41 years. She was an amazing lady. Sure she had faults and there were times we would fight, oh boy could we fight. But Mom was always Mom, always there for me, my biggest supporter, my most valient champion, always advocating for me.

Today I really want to say "Mom, thank you!"

November 15, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. God calls us as He sees us~ not as we see ourselves

2. That God has taught me forgiveness

3. That in forgiveness, Satan has no weapon against it. 

4. God has taught me Trust

5. The real enemy is lack of trust, not people

6. The strengths and talents God has entrusted me with

7. Faith that God has given me truth in the Bible and so I know that

I can trust Him in ALL things~ that He is working all things together for His people

November 7, 2010

Gratitude For the Storms

How often do we ask God why?

We don't understand, the storm is overwhelming,

we feel the water rising, we are frightened...

When I am in those horrible moments where I am not sure I can keep going...

I think of Joseph~ how he was first tossed into a pit, then sold as a slave

works hard to move himself up only to be tossed in prison

he was betrayed by those he helped

He went through a lot before he finally got to realize the dream that God had placed on him

all those years before.

We know today that each of those things Joseph experienced was part

of God's plan. However unfair it might seem

that someone had to go through all that

it all came together perfectly to fulfill God's plan.

So today, I am giving gratitude for all those things that seemed horrible at the time

but served to get me where I am~

1. 1978~ moving to Lassen County~ how could I know then as I struggled with it all, that this would become HOME and that my life would be made full because we live here
2. That first committed relationship that fell apart before my very eyes. Even though I was trying to keep all the pieces together. Aside from my son coming from that, there were things I learned that I wouldn't use until much later in life and there were people who I met because of him that are still counted among my dearest friends!
3. The move to Southern California~ oh how I hated my exile to the desert! However I learned just how precious home really was and that it did not matter that others wanted out of home so bad~ it was my life and I was happy and content to just live in our little town and treasure it, not whine.
4. My terminal divorce (it was a joke because it took 9 years for it to be final) but it taking so long saved me some from very serious mistakes in life
5. My relationship with Ronnie~ 26 years of crazy~ who knew at my lowest moments in that relationship God was working miracles!
6. My Mom dying~ oh Lord how I did not know if I would actually survive losing her. Here I had a brand new baby, my life was a disaster and she went and died. God gave me what I needed to get through it and although it still hurts in my heart today to not have her here~ I am a different person a better person from that devastating part of my life!

100 Things

Can you think of 100 things in your life that bring you joy, that you are grateful for?

I can! and here is my list to share with you!

1. God~ without Him, I would have nothing, be nothing~ God is my everything!
2. Jesus~ His sacrafice that day on the cross gave me the chance to have an intimate relationship with my Father in Heaven
3. The Holy Spirit~ my personal comforter and guide in this crazy life
4. My husband~ what a joy and a blessing to be with someone who loves me and shows me he loves me in so many ways!
5. Robert~ my oldest son
6. Eugene~ my next son
7. Joshua~ my 3rd son
8. Katie~ my oldest daughter
9. Elizabeth~ my youngest daughter
10. Allen~ my baby boy
11. My Mom~ she may be gone from this world but she is ever present in my mind and I thank God that she was my MOM
12. All the extended family that has been there, blessed me, encouraged me, challenged me
13. Friends past, present, and future~ how glorious is it to have friends that step up even when you do not know you need them, to be there for you and to allow you to step up and be there for them when they need it
14. Enemies~ sometimes it is difficult to be grateful for the people who do wrong to us, who aim to cause us harm. Yet they to have a special place in our lives to teach us something God wants us to know.
15. My Church Family~ how blessed am I to have these amazing people to help me on my journey to know God more intimately!
16. Celebrate Recovery~ a blessing indeed! The big group and small group have changed my life dramatically!
17. Those souls in life, who have no idea that they impact your day. A simple smile, a courtesy, what might be considered nothing by others but have a positive affect on your day.
18. A baby's giggle~ it is the sound of the angels laugh I am sure
19. Hugs and Kisses from small children~ they are so honest and sincere in giving hugs and kisses that you know you have been blessed by them!
20. Snuggle time with a small child!
21. Hot cocoa on a cold winter afternoon
22. Hot tea with lemon and honey when you are feeling snuffly
23. Hot Fresh Coffee the first thing in the morning~ mmmm good stuff!
24. Drinking that coffee out of  a cup that reminds me to Rejoice in the Lord!
25. My husband bringing me coffee in bed~ how sweet is that?
26. Electricity in my home
27. Running water
28. Internet
29. Cell phones
30. Cable that allows my family to watch something other than trash tv
31. My computer
32. My coffee maker
33. All those little electronics we take for granted~ vacuum cleaners, cameras to take pictures of our family, can opener, crock pot, those little blessings are so awesome
34. Cooking without having to make a fire (especially in the summer)
35. Washing clothes in a washing machine (imagine having to go by the river and beat your clothes on a rock)
36. Fresh clean clothes dried on a clothes line!
37. Crisp cool sheets to crawl into on a warm summer evening
38. Soft warm flannel sheets to crawl between in the winter
39. Having a bedroom not shared by the entire family (or worse yet a tent!)
40. Clothes that we wear (some are not as lucky as we) that are climate appropriate
41. SHOES! Athletic shoes, dress shoes, snow boots~ seriously how amazing it is that we women can have 20 pair of shoes (maybe a little gluttony there :) )
42. Personal hygene things~ think about it~ shampoo that smells delicious, face wash that keeps our skin young, body wash that is pleasant and refreshing or soothing according to our purchases, toothbrushes, toothpaste that is minty fresh, footpowder, deoderant~ seriously people how awesome is it that we have all that?
43. Hot showers that envelop you, energize you, get your day started!
44. Bubble baths in candle light!
45. Foot baths with just a hint of peppermint that make your tired achy feet feel oh so good!
46. Pedicures~ painted toes~ really a foofoo thing but I am so grateful to be able to do it
47. Lotions and Potions that bring amazing aroma's to our bodies
48. Being able to have a manicure! How good does it make a woman feel to have pretty nails?
49. A good chiropractic adjustment! Getting your body all lined back up the way it is suppose to be!
50. A full body message that gets your blood pumping and makes you feel oh so good
51. Winter
52. SNOW!
53. Building snowmen
54. Having snowball fights
55. Sledding
56. Sitting by a fire while it snows outside
57. Did I mention SNOW!?!
58. Spring
59. The rebirth of all the all the critters and plants
60. Lilacs
61. Roses
62. Daffodills
63. All the amazing flowers of spring!
64. Trees that turn into big flowery bushes with spring~ promising delicious fruit in summer
65. Summer
66. Days at the river
67. Fishing!
68. Swimming!
69. Days at the park!
70. Long walks in the woods
71. All the amazing things you can do outdoors in the warm weather
72. Camping
73. Running barefoot in cool grass
74. Watching the children play!
75. Fall
76. Oh the glory of the trees, in all their fall colours~ it is awe inspiring to see the vivid hues of fall on them
77. Playing in a big pile of fall leaves
78. Those cool autumn mornings, so wonderful
79. Seeing the deer that come to the yard because it is autumn and that is what they do
80. Scammpering squirrels any time of the year
81. Puppy kisses
82. Cuddling a puppy
83. A fat cat laying on your lap purring
84. Seeing a dog run after a ball or frisbee~ pure joy and excitement that they exude!
85. Standing at my kitchen window watching the sparrows gather their nesting supplies
86. Watching all the different birds, flit from here to there~ how amazing that they can fly!
87. Sitting on a river bank, watching the fish jump, frogs jump, and just enjoying the beauty God has given us
88. Laying on your back in the grass, watching the clouds drift by, imagining that this cloud is a bunny, that cloud a truck, and just enjoying the moment for what it is
89. Dinner with the family~ it is great to spend dinner time with the family all together!
90. My husband cooking breakfast for all of us
91. My husband washing dishes (what an awesome man!)
92. Sitting on the sofa, snuggled up with my husband, knowing that in that moment all is perfect in my world
93. Having my daughter reach for my hand as we walk. She is growing up so fast, but she still reaches out for her Mom's hand <3
94. Reading to my little ones
95. Watching the joy on my children's faces when they discover something new or conquer something they have struggled with
96. Seeing my beautiful daughter becoming an amazing young woman, making good choices and turning into someone I am truly proud of
97. Watching my son as his personality develops and he grows from "baby" to "boy"
98. All the moments in life that bring so much joy and happiness
99. Memories~ all of my memories make up all the things on this list & so much more
100. Every Blessing God has poured out in my life~ truly they are too many to count!

It is so wonderful to sit and see that God truly has given me spirit of joy~ where I can appreciate all the awesome and amazing things He has provided for me in my life and in the lives of everyone. My heart truly rejoices at all the blessings in my life. When trouble comes, as it always does, God has given me the ability to find the good in it all. While sometimes it seems that no good could possibly come from the horrible situation that has arose, God has blessed me with the ability to see that even though I may not understand it, he is using the challenge I am facing to bring Glory to His kingdom, to form me into a mighty woman of God, to be a positive influence in the life of someone else.

Truly I am blessed and give thanks to God for all of it!

November 4, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. My Husband!

For ALL he does! He is AMAZING!

He bring sme coffee in bed, he helps me with housework,

he is loving and affectionate

He is perfect for me!

Never in all my dreams could I have dreamed of someone so amazing.

2. My children!

Each of  them brings a special something to my life.

Robert, Eugene, Joshua, Katie, Elizabeth, and Allen are totally amazing and wonderful!

November 3, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. That my family has all their needs taken care of
2. That we are able to share with others
3. That we have been given many of our wants in life
4. Our home~ that we can have others share it with us
5. Plenty of good food
6. God's blessings that just rain down like fall leaves into our lives~ it is so easy to forget all the little things that happen each day that just blesses us. The parking spot where we want to park being available, the line we are in going faster than the one next to us, the light staying green as we go through it, the gentelman stopping to allow us to go in front of him, the coffee being poured faster than we can drink it at a restuarant, 1000's of little things every single day!

November 1, 2010

That list of the 10 things I am Grateful for having happened in 2010

1. Custody of my daughter
2. Engagement to my husband (he gave me my ring on the anniversary of my mothers death. Made a very sad day into one that has good memories
3. Marriage! My husband is awesome!!!
4. Learning to be content in a house I thought I hated~ I was so sure God should give us a new house and was feeling resentful when He didn't until I realized, until I became ok with this situation God is not going to move me into another because soon I would not be thankful for the new home either.
5. Having a car~ we spent most of 2009 without one so it has been AMAZING to have one in 2010
6. Financial Prosperity~ certainly we are not "rolling" in riches, but God has been faithful to provide all our needs and many of our wants and desires.
7. Renewed Faith in the Lord! Blessed is my life because of this! That even if I must walk through the wilderness, HE is with me!
8. Return to Celebrate Recovery! How awesome to get back among friends, to be in a place where my heart sings with joy because I aam among friends.
9. Finding a new and totally awesome home curch! God is good to provide this body of Christ for my family and I to fellowship in!
10. Bringing Forgiveness into my heart... my lif eis forever different because God taught me to forgive.

November 1, 2010

This year is flying by~ 60 days and it will be 2011~ how did that happen?

Take time with my today to think of your 10 fondest memories of 2010!



October 31, 2010

It is All Hallows Eve...

For some tonight is a time of evil and demons

For others it is a time to celebrate the Saints

For some it is just about getting candy

For others it is just another day

(^ ^) (^ ^) (^ ^) (^ ^)

I wanted to take a moment to really be grateful

that I live in a place where no matter what this day means to me or anyone

else we live in a place where we are allowed to observe it the way we see fit.

(^ ^) (^ ^) (^ ^) (^ ^)

October 29, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

Being it is fall and there is much talk about harvesting~ I wanted todays gratitude list to be about the things I am sowing in my life for a havest later.

1. Love
2. Peace
3. Trust
4. Joy
5. Happiness
6. Patience
7. Positive Attitude

October 28, 2010

In observence of the most awesome holiday!

Today, October 28, 2010

is National Chocolate Day!

An awesome holiday!



Let me tell you! This is a holiday to celebrate, really get into, really really give it 100%! What food in life gives as much pleasure? (well maybe coffee?)

So in now particular order are some of my very favorite choclate things and I want to say on this day of observance~ I am VERY grateful for CHOCOLATE!

1. White Chocolate mocha coffee
2. Hot Cocoa
3. Chocolate chip Muffins
4. Reeces Peanut Butter Cups
5. 3 Muskateers
6. Really any milk chocolate candy bar <3 disgusting as they are I love them!
7. Strawberries dipped in chocolate
8. Chocolate cake
9. Chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup
10. a BRICK of GOOD Chocolate~ Lady Godiva, Ghiradilli, Lindt... you get the picture

October 27, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. Mornings! How amazing to wake up and know you have a whole day ahead of you.
2. Quiet times during the morning before others are up making noise
3. Having a cup of coffee with God
4. Knowing that my life is so amazingly blessed by the presence of some of the MOST amazing people!
5. Graduating Parenting Class (funny been a parent for 25 years but took a parenting class)
6. The aroma of the pot roast in the crockpot filling the house
7. Having no worries about how the day is going to go~ secure in knowing God is in control

Life is beautiful!

October 26, 2010

Good Morning Gratitude List!

What are you thankful for today?

Seriouisly from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed there is so much in my life to  grateful for!

1. Waking up~ praise God another day to be here with friends and family
2. Waking up in my bed! Praise God I have a bed and don't have to sleep on the floor or ground
3. Waking up in my home! Praise God I have a home!
4. My husband making coffee! Praise God, I have a husband willing to do things,
   Praise God we have running water in our house,
   Praise God that we have electricity to operate the coffee maker
5. Having a computer to check on friends and family across the country!

So much, just think about the first half hour of your day~ what do you have to be thankful for?

Ocotber 25, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

October 25, 2010

1. RAIN!!!! It has been raining for 3 days now~ so needed and so amazing and Praise God for it!
2. Weddings!!! It is awesome to be able to witness a wedding and see th elove that people have for eachother! What an amazing blessing!
3. Family both far and near! This past weekend I got to see family that I hadn't seen for a while~ what a wonderful thing!
4. Long Road Trips! yes thankful for them <3 they take me places I really want to be
5. Financial ability to make long road trips~ Praise God for making it all happen
6. The amazing view outside a car window~ seeing places you hadn't seen before because you hadn't stopped to look!
7. Singing fun songs with the kids in the car on a road trip!
8. Monday mornings and back to routines :)
9. Living a simple life
10. LOVE <3 friends, family, God, Love is an amazing and beautiful thing!

October 22, 2010

Good Morning! Todays gratitude list is all about those things you don't think about so very often~ ever thought about being grateful the newspaper is delivered to your door? I did... when it didn't show up one time, I realized just how I took it for granted instead of being grateful for it. Fully charged batteries in you camera, phone, or other electronic, when you thought it was low! How cool is that. Yesterday I was cleaning up a million balls off the floor (ok more like 50 but still) how absolutly amazing is it that A) I have all those awesome toys for my son, who loves them! B) I have the physical ability to bend over pick the balls up, throw the balls, etc. We take our general financial ability for granted. We take out health for granted. How crazy is that when we are so blessed?

A vacuum cleaner, a washing machine, a coffee pot! How awesome are those things. They make things so much easier in our lives. Yet we tend to take them for granted and forget to be grateful for them. Stove, oven, refridgerator (go campoing for a weekend you'll remember to be grateful for them LOL) hot air and cold air available at the turn of a knob... really so many things in life to be grateful for.

October 21, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. The Sunshine
2. Moonbeams
3. Clouds in the sky
4. Flowing Rivers
5. Nature in ALL it's splendor and glory! GOD is AWESOME!
6. Forgiveness~ given and received
7. The past for all it has taught me
8. The future for all that is yet in store for me
9. NOW because it is absolutley perfect for NOW!
10. Life! Living, breathing, coffee deprived morning life!

I also wanted to add, today I am grateful that it is the 61st anniversary of a special person being born,

Without his birthday, I would not have two of the most amazing kids on the planet!

October 20, 2010

Gratitude List for Today

1. Flowers, every kind! How wonderful they are! They brighten our day, in a vase or out in our world!
2. Photography! How awesome is it that we can save memories with the click of a button!
3. Husbands who do dishes! (I am so blessed)
4. Babies who want to sit in your lap all day~ earlier I was whining about it. Then I thought about it. Really I am grateful my son wants to be held and played with!
5. The changing of the leaves~ the magical colours of fall are AWESOME!

I am so grateful for all the blessings in my life! God is so amazing! From the things in nature that bring joy to the more mundane of just having the day to day provisions. There is more than I could list to be thankful for in my life!

October 19, 2010

Happiness is an attitude.

We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong.

The amount of work is the same.

~Francesca Reigler

 

 

Gratitude List for Today
October 19, 2010

1. Laughter! Seriously, think about it, LAUGHTER is amazing!
2. Humour~ a little sarcasm (not the hurting kind, the funny kind) a little bantering, a little satire, a little irony, all brought to you by HUMOUR!
3. Friends (Especially friends who laugh with you!)
4. The internet (I keep in touch with old friends, make new friends, and can find almost anything I want to know about!)
5. The aroma of bacon early in the morning
6. Sitting quietly, listening to God, and hearing Him!
7. Forgiveness~ how awesome is it to extend forgiveness, to just let go of the hurts of the past and move into the future.
8. School *laughing* keeps my kids busy for a few hours a day
9. Hope! Isn't it amazing that God has given us a hope for the future!
10. Love! Love is all around us~ God's love is in us and around us, friends and family are loving us all over the place, loves only boundry is the one we place on it!

October 18, 2010

1.  My amazing family!
2. My Bible
3. My camera that lets me keep memories
4. Fresh Morning Air
5. Waking up to a clean kitchen
6. Being able to help my husband learn something he is struggling with in school
7. Knowing the forgiveness of God
8. Being able to extend forgiveness to others
9. Watching my little one play
10. LIFE!!!!

October 17, 2010

Today I have an attitude of Gratitude about:

1. Cars that are trustworthy and dependable!
2. Long road trips that go smoothly
3. My amazing children
4. Coffee to keep me awake
5. The feel of a little one sleeping in my arms
6. The beauty of the world around us
7. Fall Colours
8. Waterfalls
9. Rivers and Streams
10. Being able to SEE all the world has

October 15, 2010

Today I am thankful for the birthday of someone, a person who I know longer talk to, but who once was a very important part of my life, and without the presence of this person in my life, I would not have one the greatest blessings I have ever been given.

October 6, 2010

My heart has been touched by the power of forgiveness...

Tonight I am grateful for God, through the sacrafice of His Son, Jesus Christ, provided a way for my sins to be forgiven and through the power of the Holy Spirit living in me, the ability to know exactly what has been forgiven.

I am grateful that God has been at work in my heart for me to extend forgiveness to others who have hurt me. That through the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart constantly, I have been learning that I need to extend the Grace, the forgiveness, I have been given to others. No matter how big or how small the transgression, I need to extend the same forgiveness God has shown me.

God and the Holy Spirit are still working on my heart about reconcilliation... but forgiveness~ thank GOD for the wonders of His LOVE!

October 2, 2010

Gratitude List for Today

Living life with an attitude of gratitude, it really makes you so much more aware of all the wonderful things God has done. Today I was sitting here thinking about my list and knew that there a gazzilion things I am grateful for~ The moment I wake up in the morning, I am grateful I wake up next to my husband, I am grateful, I have my prayer time, I am grateful, I get that first cup of coffee, I am grateful, I wake my children so they can get their day started, I am grateful, I get my shower, I am grateful. Life is AMAZING and so often we take everything for granted. I want ot live my life with the knowledge that EVERYTHING in life is a blessing and wonderful and acknowledge all that God does for me!

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew,

so does my gratitude renew itself daily.

The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.

~Terri Guillemets

1. Sunrise and Sunset and all the hours in between
2. The awesome food we get to eat
3. COFFEE!!!
4. My Internet
5. My Computer
6. FRIENDS
7. My awesome and amazing husband
8. My babies (all of them!)
9. My Car! (so much nicer when walking is a choice)
10. My Life!!!!

September 27, 2010

Today my gratitude is all about the wonderful and amazing world around us~ yesterday my family and I went for a drive in the forest. We saw beautiful lakes with trout literally jumping out of the water, we saw butterflies, woodpeckers, chipmunks, trees trees and more trees~ it was all just so amazing nad awesome and magestic! God has been good to us, giving us so much beauty that we often miss. I am grateful for being able to see the weathered bit of drift wood that was on the shore of one of the lakes we went to. To see how time and water took a limb of a tree and formed it into something that looked like human hands had smoothed and polished it. But it was God's hands who did it! I am grateful for that burnt tree that looked like a little black bear standing next to the road. I am grateful for the fish we caught, that will fill our bellies tonight at dinner time. I love living in my mountains! Thank You God for making it so!

September 23, 2010

My Gratitude List

1. My Belief & Faith In God
2. 
   
   My Belief &Faith in Christ and His sacrifice for me and all believers
3. 
   
   My Faith in the Holy Spirit to guide me
4. 
   
   My Prayer Life
5. 
   
   My Bible (Life's Instruction Book)
6. 
   
   That through Christ I have a one on one
   relationship with my Father in Heaven
7. 
   
   That God has shown me what LOVE is
8. That God has shown me what FORGIVENESS is
9. That God has brought me into fellowship with others who are helping me grow my faith and I am helping them too
10. All of Creation! 

September 22, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. FALL! I love the leaves changing and
   HOW AMAZING is it!
2. Cooler Mornings
3. Indian Summer Afternoons
4. Long Walks with my family
5. Short Walks with my family
6. Playing at the Park!
7. Pork Chops for supper
8. Having a Home!
9. Cattails
   (serious Cattails are so awesome
   and
   I am grateful for them
   because they make me smile)
10. The joys of Family!

Sunday September 19, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend the entire day (14 hours) with my 3 little ones and my husband~ it was a pretty awesome day!

We started off leaving from home at 9am, the long drive to Reno was fun, singing chatting and no fights. We stopped first at the Sierra Safari Zoo, where the kids got to see the animals there, play with and feed the variety of deer that love the crowds, and have a fun time.

Then it was off to Chuckie Cheese... all three kids had a BLAST. Lots of fun and things to do together and seperately... truly a good time even if we did have to eat cardbord with melted cheese on it for lunch.

After Chuckies it was SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL~ so Katie and I had a blast with that... the otehrs... well they just sort of tagged along and didn't complain too much. We found some great bargains on some terrific outfits for everyone. Including getting an awesome birthday present for one of the olders.

After all the shopping we went and had dinner... mmmmm... a vote was done and it was decided that The Atlantis Tucan Charlies Saturday night, Steak & Seafood buffet would be the choice. We all left so stuffed we were waddling. Good stuff for sure.

Finally on our way out of town, we grabbed some groceries and then home, to plop down exhausted! But all of us feeling like we really had a good day together as a family.

Septemner 17, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

Friday September 17, 2010

1. Sitting, watching the trees change from vibrant greens
   to beautiful yellow, gold, and orange
2. Brisk Autumn Mornings
3. Warm Autumn Afternoons
4. Owning a Car~
   so nice to drive where you want to go
5. Affording the Insurance~
   I can remember a time where
   there just wasn't enough nmoney
   to take care of the insurance for
   the car so this is awesome
6. My husband has a day or two worth of work!
7. Getting to take a trip out of town
8. Clean Kitchen that i didn't have to clean
9. Deer in the yard having breakfast
10. Watching the squirells play in the trees

Gratitude List for September 15, 2010

SO today I am not making a list~ but I want to share with you just how grateful I am that God created me to have free will, that I am given the ability and all the tools needed to make the choices in my life. Then God placed me in the USA. A place where I continue to have free-will as a legal right.

Yeah there are laws and rules that give me direction and hey, I don't have to listen to the law or rules if I don't mind paying the consequences because I have this free will thing going on in my life.

Seriously, next time you have a chance, really think about how great this life is that we have, that we are able to make our own choices about our words, actions, etc and not subject to the puppet control of another....

September 14, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. My son's facination with balls~
   it brings a smile to my face,
   when I watch his joy at being able to play with a ball.
   To hear his squeel of delight when someone throws him a ball.
   To hear him, as you are channel surfing see a ball game on
   and he yells to go back to the ball game (football, soccer or baseball!)
2. Living in a world where my children all have the chance to be WHO ever and WHATEVER they want to be.
   However I have had to explain to my daughter that although
   she COULD be a fat British man
   that it would take a great deal of work and money
   and that I really think she could do something more with her life.
   (see story at bottom of page)
3. Precious moments with all my kids.
4. Precious moments with friends and other family
5. New Friends and Old Friends
6. Youth Group at our Home Church
7. COFFEE~ without which I would still be asleep
8. The aroma of fresh baked bread
9. Sunrises that paint the sky in beautiful detail
10. Soft breezes in the tress

Story from above:

One day my daughter is in a counselors office. Counselor very seriously asks her what she wants to be when she grows up. She replies "A Fat British Man" the counselor told her it was impossible. Very indignant, she stands up, tells him he is wrong, because her Mommy and Daddy told her she could be anything in the world that she wanted to be. Just a note on how literal our children can take our comments.

September 12, 2010

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today's Gratitude List

1. I am grateful for a healthy immune system
   that seems to protect me from a lot of the germs
   flying around my home
2. I am grateful for good HOT Coffee in the morning
3. I am grateful for my amazing husband
   who will run the errands I need ran without grumping at me
4. Having good food to eat
5. I am grateful for my computer!
   So many of my friends live in it!
6. I am grateful for sunshine
7. I am grateful for rain
   (which by the way, we need a little of a
   round here the river is so low)
8. My cell phone!
   I am able to keep in touch with my friends and family
   no matter where I am because of it
9. I am also grateful for the wonderful support system I have available to me!
10. I am grateful for finally finding a home church that fullfills

September 10, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness,

and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psalms 107.15

1. 
   
   The Awesome Medical Care System we have in the US


2. 
   
   Hot Coffee on a hard to get moving morning


3. 
   
   A bed with warm blankets to sleep in at night


4. 
   
   Awesome friends!


5. 
   
   A husband who washes dishes


6. 
   
   The Lord watching over my family

My list is long, but I wanted to take and explain just how grateful I am to live in the time and place that I live. Although life is not always perfect and there are many things that could be changed in my little corner of the world I feel ever so blessed by God to be living here and now. To have access to medical care when my child is sick in the middle of the night, to be able to drive to the hospital in a matter of minutes, to be seen by a competant doctor. I feel blessed to live where there is electricity and running water and all those

Thursday September 9, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

Thursday September 9, 2010

1. Cloudy skies~
2. Fall is HERE!
3. Cell Phones
4. Elizabeth~ she is such a joy
5. Katie~ she is so full of life
6. Joshua~ his humor is awesome!
7. Eugene~ what a character
8. Allen~ his infectious laugh
9. My husband~ he is awesome (even if he denies it)
10. Trust/Faith in God

September 4, 2010

Count your blessings.

Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you,

the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play,

and you will finally be able to move forward

to the life that God intended for you with

grace, strength, courage, and confidence.
Og Mandino

Counting Blessings, my gratitude list, the things that make me smile... all of these things make life so much more enjoyable.


And now, dear brothers and sisters,

one final thing.

Fix your thoughts on what is true,

and honorable,

and right, and pure,

and lovely, and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8

September 2, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. Long Hot Showers!
2. Smell scrumptious body soaps
3. Fab hair day
4. Make up that makes you feel BEAUTIFUL
5. Music!
6. DANCING!
7. Being able to pray for others!
8. Living life OUTLOUD
9. Raindrops and puddle jumping and rainbows and thunderstorms!
10. LIFE! Life is so amazing and so wonderful and just BEAUTIFUL!

September 1, 2010

September 1, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. Deer that lay under the shade of trees
2. Squirrels that sit on a branch watching us play
3. Cattails on the river bank
4. Apples on an apple tree
5. Blackberries getting plump and ripe
6. Long walks with my babies
7. Summer days fading into Autumn
8. Youngest learning how to slide all by himself
9. My Family
10. My relationship with God!

August 29,2010

Todays Gratitude List

It is all about my KatieBug

I am so grateful for her! She is an awesome amazing kid

who brings me so much joy and happiness!

She has a beautiful spirit!

She is independent and self assured,

full of her own opinions about things and not afraid

to share her opinions.

Katie is such a blessing!

She has a sense of humor that is as big as her heart!

She loves with all her heart

Sharing and Caring for those in her life that she loves

She is giving and generous (although you would never

suspect it with the way she acts at time *laugh*)

Katie is truly an amazing daughter and I am SO Blessed!

Augus 28,2010

Today's Gratitude List

Fall is in the air~ it is back to school time, birthday time, and warning that snow is coming soon! Today my Graititude List is really about these things~

Grateful for the changes in seasons. It is so wonderful to watch the days change from summer to fall to winter and then back to spring and a new year.

Grateful for school starting~ it gives me a few hours a day to do what I want/need to do. As much as I enjoy my children and love being around them and doing things for them, I miss the "me" time that comes during the school year.

Birthdays~ ahhhh...

My Joshua's was the other day, my precious Katie has hers tomorrow, and on the heels of theirs will be mine next Saturday. Birthdays are a reflective time for me. And with the three of ours being so close together it is even more so.

August 26, 2010

Today is my son's 19th Birthday~ so I am dedicating todays Gratitude List just to him!

I am grateful for Joshua~

I am grateful for his sense of humour!

I am grateful for his empathy to people

I am grateful for his strength

I am grateful for his honesty

I am grateful for his smile that can brighten even the darkest room

Joshua is truly an amazing young man, so full of promise for his future and so full of life and joy NOW!

On August 26, 1991 my life was forever changed by this child's birth. He is such an amazing kid and I am so glad that he is mine!

I am proud of all that he has accomplished, graduating high school when it looked like he shouldn't. He did what was needed to make it happen, leaving behind fun and games for the last 6 months of school, doing only school all day and most evenings so he could graduate. The mission trips he has gone on, sharing with people in other countries the word, some fun moments, and some health care things too.

Joshua is a wonderful son and I know just how blessed I am to have him in my life!

August 24, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

Today I am so grateful that God has provided me the opportunity to be a full time stay at home Mom~ as my little one struggles with Croup, I am not worried about having to miss work or leave him with a babysitter. I am able to be here for him full time all the time while he is sick. God is so amazing and I am so grateful for this opportunity to actually be a Mom and raise my kids instead of having to leave them with sitters as I did with my older kids. Really I am blessed in uncountable ways!

August 21, 2010

Todays Gratitude List!

I was sitting here thinking about what I am realy grateful about today~

Have you ever wondered why God created us the way he did?

We have a sense of humor, we laugh, we find joy!

How amazing is it that God made us to be such a happy creature!

Today my gratitude is all about all the amazing delightful wonderful fun joyous things that we get to enjoy in this life!

Life is so delightful~ take a minute, see what brings a smile to your face...

What is it that makes your heart just burst with joy?

What happens in your life that makes you want to sing?

My list is miles long... I know if I sat down and wrote them all out I could give you pages of things that are just awesome and amazing and bring me joy!

#1: GOD!

#2: My family and friends

#3: All the people who touch my life,each and every day!

From there we go to all the other stuff in life~ puppies and kittens

Nature and ALL it holds for us to enjoy

(Butterflies fluttering, bright yellow buttercups, deer grazing,

rabbits hopping, purple iris in bloom, sparrows building their nest,

really this list of just things in nature could reach 1000 things)

Home and all the wonders that are there along with all the convienances that bring us joy and happiness.

I know you have some of these things and things of your own too...

August 17, 2010

Today's Attitude of Gratitude

As a child, my grandmother would play the piano, from it would be all these amazing old time hymns. I grew up singing them although I didn't always understand what exactly they meant. I would sing along side my Grandmother immersed in the songs.

As a teen, a few run in's with the religious establishment had me high tailing it away from church, I wanted nothing to do with these people who talked about a loving God but had evil in their hearts.

I was more comfortable hanging out with the sinners, the agnostics, the atheists... they were real and few showed the hypocrisy that I saw in the "Christian" world... but there was that little part of me that held onto the early life experiences in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and my Grandmother's piano playing. (see Proverbs 22:6)

From around 1983 until 2004, I was lost in the desert, wandering around the same mountain, whining and bemoaning my situation, owning no personal responsibility for my life OR giving God any of the glory for my life...

2004~ my first real adult encounter with God. I got it. Somewhere inside me, it clicked. I still didn't turn my life over to the care and control of God yet. But I was getting it. I attended church, was invovled in a recovery program for people of Faith, was working on getting involved. But there were so many things that just didn't seem right to me in orgainzed religion...

Today I can see why and I thank God for His patience with me as I learned these things and learned just how blessed I am,,,

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
*Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
[*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

August 16, 2010

Today's Gratitiude List

MY HUSBAND

God has blessed me with this amazing man~ and I am ever so grateful for him.

There are times I forget just how amazing he really is.

He brings me coffee in bed.

He helps with things around the house.

He is a loving father to my 2 little ones.

He loves me.

Yes indeed, my husband is amazing and I am truly blessed to have him in my life!

August 14, 2010

Todays gratitude list is a little harder to come up with... right smack dab in the middle of an exciting and amazing life I have been hit with some depression. But even in the midst of this darkness, I know that God is blessing me and that I have many things in my life to be ever grateful for...

It starts at the begining of each day, the sun rises, sending the warmth of God to begin our day. Looking out across the horizon as this sun makes it's appearance, God blesses us with the most amazing colors in the sky~ "blue" will never be the same after you watch the shades of blue the sky turns during sunrise.

Colors... think about being grateful for all the colors God has given us through this refraction thing... pink, blue, purple, green, red, white, and on and on... simply awe inspiring when you think about it. Take a look at a rock, a simple thing as a rock can have so many colors and shades of colors in it... totally amazing.

Rocks and dirt and water and the things of the earth~ plants and animals all there to provide for us, to be there for us to use and enjoy. Honestly how totally amazing is it that all these things are there for us. The world is such an amazing place!

August 13, 2010

TODAY'S GRATITUDE LIST

1. My children~
   Robert-
   his mental illness and drug addiction has
   been difficult to deal with but he has also
   brought many times of joy and wonder
   
   Eugene-
   this kid has been such a blessing in my life!
   He is smart and funny and has taught me that
   no matter what life gives you, you can overcome
   it and be better because of it
   
   Joshua-
   My Jewish son who has been going on Christian
   Missions, spreading the good news of Christ
   and what he did for us to children around the
   world!
   
   Katie-
   This child, with her strong will and desire to
   be the very best her she can be without caring
   what other people think is just amazing!
   
   Elizabeth-
   Who knew 8 years ago when I found out I was pregnant
   that this child would be the one who brought me to
   Christ. Her unwaivering child faith has been such
   an inspiration to me. When I don't feel like going
   to church, she is there, encouraging me to go...
   
   Allen-
   This boy is the light of my life. He came into this
   world under less than ideal circumstances, yet he has
   been such a blessing and joy. He has a wonderful spirit
   that just makes me joyful!

Heiress?

Romans 8:17
Now if we are children, then we are heirs heirs of God

and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings

in order that we may also share in his glory.

How totally amazing is that? Being an heiress? Say it out loud "I am an heiress". Being a child of God, we will inherit the Kingdom of God. Until we receive that inheritance in it's entirety we are like any child in a family~ the Father will do great things for His child just because He loves the child.

Think about it... what do parents do for their children~ so if we do that for OUR children, think how great God is and how much more He will give...

I heard a lady today say "Think of it like this, God has handed you His ATM card and PIN"..

August 11, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. My husband has a temp job today
2. He is working with a mighty man of God who will lift him and encourage him
3. My daughter comes home tomorrow
4. My son starts school today!
   A blessing after he quit 3 years ago and seemed to have lost all desire to even truly live life
5. My awesome friends!
6. The Word of God
   It has been feeding me everyday and working on my heart
7. Sink full of dishes I need to wash
   We are eating well and spending time together as a family
8. Waking up in the arms of my husband
   I cannot even begin to express how special this is to me
9. KLOVE Radio Station
   A wonderful way to have worship music in my home and help
   keep me focused on the things of God
10. ♥♥♥ LOVE ♥♥♥
    God's Love, Christ's Love, Friend's Love, Family's Love
    Just all the Love that is in my life!
    So amazing, so wonderful such a blessing!

August 10, 2010

GOOD MORNING Faithful Readers and New Readers too! I have been neglectful posting of late~ it is not because I am not making my gratitude list, rather it is because life has been busy and logging in to post it has been put off...

I sat here this morning thinking about my list~ today is a day when I am truly wrapped in the arms of gratitude~ I woke up this morning in my bed, next to my husband, the sun shining through our window and I knew from that moment how blessed I am today. I have a home, a bed, a family, the sun is amazing, the breeze blowing is awesome, the little sparrow who has built her nest under the eves at my window, the deer stopping traffic out in front of my house, my son waking up and wanting to cuddle, my husband brewing the coffee first thing, sitting with him over coffee discussing what we need to accomplish today... WOW! Life really is a blessing and there is so much to be grateful for and so often we just forget the simple things in life that are so awesome!

Think about it~ when you take a shower~ think about being grateful for running hot and cold water that you can adjust the tempurture to your exact comfort, that the water runs out onto your body rinsing away not just dirt but tension as well, that you have soaps that smell so good to wash your body and hair with, soft fluffy, absobant towles to dry off with when you clinb out of the shower... really in just that 15 minute act you could list 20 things to be grateful for... try it! I challenge you!

August 3, 2010

Today's Gratitude List

1. My Bible~ the word of God that is there to guide me
2. Counselors who are there to provide guidance for my family
3. My husband~ imperfect as he, is an amazing man and I am blessed to have him in my life
4. My children~ in all their loudness and rambuctiousness and disobeying and all that~ my children are pretty awesome and boy I cannot imagine life without them
5. The Internet~ because it provides so many opportunities for me in this life

August 2, 2010

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13

1. Wisdom~ God has been faithful in providing wisdom in situations where I have needed it and asked.

2. Faith~ God has been busy teaching me to have faith~ faith not only that God CAN do something but that God WILL do it, if only I have faith.

3. Love~ While I have been fortunate in my life to experience much Love, both giving and recieving, I am grateful today that God's Love has been so steady and unchanging and has been the consistant in my life when all else was chaos

4. The Holy Spirit~ having the Holy Spirit alive in me~ knowing that God is right here in me~ I am just amazied at it and so grateful because as long as I yeild to the Holy Spirit and the direction God is giving me, my life will be blessed beyond all imagination

5. Songs of Worship~ I am so grateful to the muscians who have created so many songs of worship to share with me and help me to keep my mind focused on God at all times