Good Morning!

This morning the Lord blessed me beyond what I could ever have deserved if blessings were based solely on what we have done in life. I sat on my front porch, coffee in hand and as I looked across the emerald green grass that sparkled with the diamonds of morning dew as the Lord sent His light from a sapphire blue sky I was caught in a moment of gratitude for all the people God has sent to my life. From the moment of my birth, the Lord has strategically placed people who have helped me, encouraged me, changed me to become the woman I am today. Some were there for a short season, just a moment of time. There are those who have been there since my life began. Still others who flow in and out as God has lead them. As God showed me the people who have brought me to where I am today I felt an overwhelming gratitude for each of them that I cannot begin to express in words. I had thought of listing them each and every one and realized it would take me a lifetime starting right now to go back over the last almost 47 years to not leave out a single moment or person and what they have done for me. So with that- I am not going to list them but just be grateful for each and every life that has touched mine.... God has indeed been GOOD to ME!

Monday Thanksgiving!

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╭•⊰✿ღ Today is going to be a good day! ╭•⊰✿ღ
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Today we are off to see a specialist for our youngest son and the gratitude on my heart is that we have health insurance. Having gone most of the last 4 years without it, it has been a blessing to be able to take the children to the doctors for routine check ups and the specialist appointments as needed. Truly feeling grateful for it as we get ready to go. And just so you dear reader knows, I am confident it is an innocent murmur and it will not affect our little guys life in any way.

Sunday Blessings

Good Morning Readers! What a wonderful day the Lord has made! The sunrise was spectacular here in my little corner of the world and the Lord reminded me just how amazing His handiwork is! As I watched the sun come up across the neighbors field I was so overwhelmed at what He does each and every day!

My life is truly  blessed in ways that are truly overwhelming to me. We may not be living in the "money" prosperity but we live in true 100% prosperity in our daily life!

I wake up each morning, and am blessed to be able to watch the sunrise with a cup of coffee and God by my side. Soon after that my little ones and husband are awake and I see the blessings of the Lord in having them in my life. We eat breakfast, another amazing blessing from God that we have plenty of food to eat! In the course of just those first few hours of the morning I receive a minimum of 20 blessings from God. Oh I know He gives those same blessings to a lot of people and even unbelievers and that is ok! Because I would desire that everyone know how amazing my Lord is!

Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

 I am grateful! For mornings and afternoons and evenings and nights and sunrises and sunsets and full moon light. I am grateful for stars in the skies and my little stars I get to tuck in bed at night. I am grateful for clean drinking water and a garden that grows yummy food! I am grateful for all that the Lord has done, is doing and will continue to do for me!

As I pray to the Lord asking Him to make provision for the house I have in my dreams, I am also sitting here with TOTAL gratitude for the house we have. It is a very nice little house and I get to watch the sun rise over a field with a horse and cows instead of a row of houses. Seriously in my life a REAL blessing! Since the outdoors is where my heart flourishes. I sit with my coffee and realize, even if we haven't got the financial prosperity that others seek, my little family is richer than most people we meet each and every day and for that - THANK YOU LORD!

TIME!

Have you ever found yourself wishing away time? On my Facebook news feed this morning I was met with "Finally Friday" and "I live for the weekend". In other posts recently I have watched as people wished for a day in the future to be here right now.

As I read different posts that wished away time, I realized how much we can miss in the here and now when we are wishing away the time we have right now.

Today I am grateful for God showing me how important it is to live right now for this moment. Not that making plans is a bad thing. In fact we need to be attentive to plans for the future, Yet, there is a balance that has to be found. Where we enjoy RIGHT NOW where we are and at the same time adjust what we are doing to what the future is going to bring.

It is a blessing from God, this very moment in time. A "PRESENT" to be unwrapped and enjoyed! As I sat thinking on this matter, I was able to see in my own life where I have been guilty of losing precious opportunities for breathtaking moments because I was so intent on what was coming next I forgot to enjoy what was right now.

As many of my readers know, our family is working towards being home owners. Each day I spend a little time working towards this goal. Looking at geographical locations that we as a family will enjoy, looking at housing costs in those areas, looking at work possibilities for my husband in the areas we are contemplating. I also look at homes all over the world that catch my fancy. Knowing that if I am CLEAR in what I and my family want we will be more likely to achieve it. I also look at our budget fairly regularly, since we need to save if we are going to buy. So much involved in working towards being a home owner.

Even in the midst of planning and dreaming, I have to STOP when one of my little ones needs a hug, listen when one of them is excited about something they have discovered, when my husband wants to share something he is thinking. Because while the future is out there somewhere, these guys are right here right now and I don't want to miss a single moment of it!

(_)0 The Best Part of Waking up (_)0

No it isn't coffee in my cup (although that is pretty close up there to the best)  For me the absolute best part of waking up is the opportunity to make another amazing day! I love that I live in a time and place where my mornings get to be full of music that praises God and that music is playing for me when I get up out of bed! I love that every day brings some new adventure and I get to be part of it! Yes I am grateful for LIFE! MY LIFE! It isn't perfect but it is a GOOD life!

What if?

Good Morning! What if we woke up today with only what we were grateful for yesterday?

Praise the Lord my life would still be FULL to the OVERFLOW with all I ever need and more! Because in all honesty I can say that my heart is grateful for everything in my life. Beginning with the people God has placed in my life. My husband and children and extended family and so many wonderful friends! From the ever so simple living where I live, to the comforts of living when and where I do, to my friends and family who bless my life so very much, to the amazing sunrises and sunsets that God paints for me everyday.

My computer and books and my camera and OH SO MUCH MORE!

God blessed me with curly hair and brown eyes that can see and 2 ears that can hear. I can speak and breath with ease. I have arms that are perfect for hugging those that love me and who I love with hands attached to do things like type and write! I have two legs that can carry me anywhere and feet that have shoes on (ok maybe not yet at 5am but I have shoes to put on them!). I have a stretch marked belly where once 7 amazing little lives started. I have all I could need in this body of mine and I grateful.

I am grateful to wake up with my husband and pour a cup of coffee and chat with him before he heads to work. To take that coffee and sit on my front porch and have a wonderful conversation with God as the sun rises before me. I am grateful that as I drink my coffee and my little ones wake up I am able to hear their pitter patter on the stairs coming to join me every morning.

I am grateful that God grants me all of this and so much more!

For my cell phone and skype that let me keep in touch with loved ones far from me. For paper and pen and the US Mail that let me write to  those who bring my heart joy!  For love ever lasting from those I adore!

Have I mentioned how grateful I am for dirty dishes in the sink? How blessed am I to have running water that comes out hot or cold with the turn of a handle? That we have plenty of food, even to the point where a bit of waste of it seems to be no big deal (but it is a big deal to waste it, it really is!). To be able to reach into a refrigerator and grab COLD milk, how blessed am I!

A funny little gratitude, my son the other day reminded me of- He was quite disturbed when I wiped his nose with toilet paper. Toilet paper is for butts not noses he tells me.  Here in the US we expect one type of paper to wipe our butts and another to wipe our noses. Really how grateful we should all be for that! LUXURY living!

For all of this and more - I live in constant gratitude and I hope I never take any of it for granted! It is with a grateful heart that i enjoy all of it!

Morning Time Thanksgiving

Oh what a beautiful morning the Lord has made! The dew on the grass, the birds singing in the trees, the sun shining! I am so grateful for my mornings and being able to start the day with God's glorious creation in front of me!

It gives me an opportunity to reflect on all that God is doing and has done and will do in the future. It is marvelous to sit quietly and look at the world and KNOW how blessed my life is. I cannot imagine any better way to start my day.

This morning I am especially grateful that my husband is working. God has placed in his heart the desire to provide for his family and to be in a time and place where that is happening is truly amazing and so wonderful for my husband. He gets a bit unpleasant to be around when he spends too much time not working. I am grateful the Lord has placed on my heart to pray for my husband. I do believe that has impacted my husband in a positive way. Although not 100% consistent, I do try every day to pray for him before he walks out the door to work. I pray for him to meet up with people in his day who will help him in his journey of living this life God has given him. To encourage him, to give him wise advice, to share their faith in the Lord with him and for him to be able to do all that with them as well.

I found this "Guide to Praying for Your Husband" and want to share it with you dear reader...

It's GRATITUDE Overflow!

This morning I really feel the overflowing blessings of God! When the morning first started, I missed morning quite time because my 3 year old woke up when I did (before the sun was awake!) and then my computer was having issues and it took over an hour to repair the problem, my husband informed me he would be working all weekend again, and I began to get frustrated. This was not the way the day is suppose to start.

Yet in all of this God showed me! He allowed me a chance to read my personal Bible instead of reading an online version, he gave me precious snuggle time with my little guy, and he reminded me to be grateful my husband is working! It can be easy to lose sight of the beautiful blessings all around us when we experience a moment of frustration.

Life is amazing and even when those little things happen that can throw us off track, God is right there to guide us back to where I feet need to be and for that I AM GRATEFUL ♥ And coffee that was made when I woke up and was ready for me to drink as I faced the not easy start to the day - REALLY grateful for it! ♥

Patience

I am not the most patient person. Some time ago I came to learn to wait for a while with some patience. I do not have a fast food drive thru expectation to resolutions. Yet I still have this lingering thing of wanting what ever it is I am waiting on pretty quick.

This morning God really showed me that when I wait it is BETTER! Better than I ever thought it could be. When I push to make things happen, I often end up with something ok but not what God had intended for me before I interfered.

Today I am grateful that God is revealing to me the ways to be PATIENT while I wait for what He has planned for my life instead of trying to make things happen my way!

☀ Good Morning ♥

This morning I have to Praise the Lord for so much! I am truly in an amazing time in life and my cup runs over with love and joy in so many ways! Blessed with an amazing family, a wonderful husband, good friends, and all the comforts that we in the U.S. have come to expect. Truly God has been good to me.

As I sat thinking about all that I am grateful for, God really touched my heart to remind me to be thankful for the power of Forgiveness!

Mark 11:25
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Recent days have shown me just how much it sets you free when you extend forgiveness to those who have hurt you - intentionally or unintentionally. It is an amazing feeling to be in a place where you have forgiven and moved past that person or event having a hold on your life in a negative way. Truly grateful for the power of forgiveness!

MONDAY GRATITUDE!

GOOD MORNING Dear Readers! The sun is rising on another Amazing Day the Lord has made full of so many totally amazing blessings from heaven! I am so excited for today!

What's so special about today? Well in terms of what the average guy thinks, not much. It really is just an average Monday. But I know that each and every day the Lord gives us is a day to CELEBRATE! An opportunity to be AWESOME! A day for God to open the heavens and pour out His BLESSINGS!

So on this Monday morning I am grateful for Monday's and all that the day promises! Love and Family and Provision from the One who provides all I could ever hope for!

Monday's Are AMAZING and I am GRATEFUL for this day!

WOW!

I was sitting on my front porch and watching the world go by. God and I were having a conversation as I watched a couple of cars that I really liked drive by. I found myself saying to God how I would really like one like one of them. A moment of epiphany as I heard myself say it and realized that NO I don't really want one like one of those.

A friend of mine has a saying when she catches her complaining about things only people born in "developed" countries would think to complain about. She will say "First World Problem". Here we complain about things that really have no impact on life itself. "My car is an older model" "My internet connection is slow" "My house needs new carpets" we have an expectation of things in our lives that really have no baring on actual LIFE.

We are a privileged bunch of spoiled kids.

Today, sitting on my porch I realized that although an amazing old Victorian home, a new car, high speed internet complimenting an awesome computer that speeds across the web, a new outfit, or any of the dozen of things I might think I want or need during any given day are GREAT things... they are just that THINGS. None add a single bit of Glory to God or bring me into closer relationship with Him. Now some of those things would be useful in the society we live in to bring God's Word to others, even without them I have a voice that is able to share God's goodness.

After my little epiphany I have decided to take one 24 hour period where I do not talk about anything I don't have and really truly focus on all the AMAZING things I have in my life today!

God is Good and I am blessed and I want to STOP looking at what I don't have and really really be truly GRATEFUL for all I do have!

August 9, 2014 Gratitude

PEOPLE! Yes I am grateful for PEOPLE!

Today would have been my Grandma's 106th birthday if she were still with us and it got me to thinking about how amazing it is to have all these different people who influence our lives.

The "Family" of origin, the "Family" of adulthood, the "Heart Family", the "Friends" the "Church" the "Social Friends" "Work Friends" and of course the Fremenies and Enemies. Each and every one of them touch our lives and affect who we were yesterday, who we are today and who we will be tomorrow.

My list would be more than 100 if I just counted the amazing people God has placed in my life at different times and for different reasons but that truly were a blessing to my journey. So rather than list them all and feel like I might forget someone or make too much of someone while not enough of someone else I will just say:

THANK YOU LORD for each and every person who has touched my life and brought me to here today! Lord your blessings in the form of people totally ASTOUNDS me! PRAISE the LORD for PEOPLE who God uses to draw us closer to HIM, who God uses to provide for our needs, who God uses to encourage us, who God uses to prod us when we want to stop... each and every one of them, even a THANK YOU for those who intended to harm but God used the circumstances to bring about better things than I could ever have imagined!

One Year Ago

Today my gratitude is for the courage God gave me a year ago to do something I never could have dome with out Him! We gave away everything we owned that wouldn't fit in our minivan and we headed north! We didn't have a job lined up or even a home but we stepped out in Faith that God would provide!

How amazing our last year has been! The move grew my faith in GINORMOUS ways that would not have happened if we hadn't taken that first step. I learned more about fully relying on God than I had ever done before. Life has been blessed beyond measure and I am beyond GRATEFUL for all that God has done in the last year!

We are taking the first steps to move into something even more amazing and we are EXCITED because we know that when God is for you it does not matter who might stand against you, any mountain or giant will be moved by the mighty power of the Lord and a mustard seed size faith!

THANK YOU GOD for giving me that courage to step out of the boat I was in and take that first step in faith!

I have said it over and over but my most favorite part of my day is sitting on my front porch watching the sunrise while I have a cup of coffee with God. It is so amazing to watch God paint the sky just for me while we talk. I cannot think of a better way to start my day ♥♥♥♥

I count my blessings and always this is one that is at the top of my list along with the people God has placed in my life, my husband and children and the extended family and friends who are like family. Truly even if I have nothing else the fact that I have God and these wonderful people I can have find joy in the new day. When I start counting all the other blessings God has given me, like a home and internet. I do enjoy the blessings that I am able to get from the connections I make online and sharing my blog and reading others and being able to find worship songs online and read through the Bible with all the different versions and see how others interpret what they read- truly amazing the internet!

My little vegetable garden, oh I love that God grows it and it provides food for my family! I love that there are flowers all around to bring a smile to my face. That God brings that little hummingbird to my window to brighten my day. That I am able to sit and watch the little squirrel in my front yard. Yes God blesses me in so many ways!

Trying to count all the blessings God pours out is like trying to count all the stars in the sky! You can try but you lose count and if you ever feel like maybe you have counted them all, more pop up right before your eyes!

I am grateful for all that GOd has shown me and given me and for all that is yet to come!

I have said it over and over but my most favorite part of my day is sitting on my front porch watching the sunrise while I have a cup of coffee with God. It is so amazing to watch God paint the sky just for me while we talk. I cannot think of a better way to start my day ♥♥♥♥

I count my blessings and always this is one that is at the top of my list along with the people God has placed in my life, my husband and children and the extended family and friends who are like family. Truly even if I have nothing else the fact that I have God and these wonderful people I can have find joy in the new day. When I start counting all the other blessings God has given me, like a home and internet. I do enjoy the blessings that I am able to get from the connections I make online and sharing my blog and reading others and being able to find worship songs online and read through the Bible with all the different versions and see how others interpret what they read- truly amazing the internet!

My little vegetable garden, oh I love that God grows it and it provides food for my family! I love that there are flowers all around to bring a smile to my face. That God brings that little hummingbird to my window to brighten my day. That I am able to sit and watch the little squirrel in my front yard. Yes God blesses me in so many ways!

Trying to count all the blessings God pours out is like trying to count all the stars in the sky! You can try but you lose count and if you ever feel like maybe you have counted them all, more pop up right before your eyes!

I am grateful for all that God has shown me and given me and for all that is yet to come!

WOOHOO! Sunrise and Coffee and God!

I have said it over and over but my most favorite part of my day is sitting on my front porch watching the sunrise while I have a cup of coffee with God. It is so amazing to watch God paint the sky just for me while we talk. I cannot think of a better way to start my day ♥♥♥♥

I count my blessings and always this is one that is at the top of my list along with the people God has placed in my life, my husband and children and the extended family and friends who are like family. Truly even if I have nothing else the fact that I have God and these wonderful people I can have find joy in the new day. When I start counting all the other blessings God has given me, like a home and internet. I do enjoy the blessings that I am able to get from the connections I make online and sharing my blog and reading others and being able to find worship songs online and read through the Bible with all the different versions and see how others interpret what they read- truly amazing the internet!

My little vegetable garden, oh I love that God grows it and it provides food for my family! I love that there are flowers all around to bring a smile to my face. That God brings that little hummingbird to my window to brighten my day. That I am able to sit and watch the little squirrel in my front yard. Yes God blesses me in so many ways!

Trying to count all the blessings God pours out is like trying to count all the stars in the sky! You can try but you lose count and if you ever feel like maybe you have counted them all, more pop up right before your eyes!

I am grateful for all that GOd has shown me and given me and for all that is yet to come!

Foo-Foo Girl

Afternoon Gratitude-
I sat here looking at all sorts of different homes and gardens and really wonderful things that one can do when you are a home owner. I saw many really nice things that were in a variety of different styles. But I admit nothing makes my heart go pitter patter like foo-foo gardens and ribbons and lace in an old Victorian place! I love and appreciate that God made me a foo-foo girl!

Tuesday Gratitude

Love and Blessings dear readers! I have a little quote up above my coffee pot that says "I can do all things through Prayer and Coffee" and this morning I am especially grateful for coffee.

I realized a while back that although I like the caffeine and might even have a bit of an addition to it, the thing that I like MOST about coffee is that each and every morning I am reminded to pray because of my coffee.

Most mornings I take my coffee to the front porch and sit with God, talking about the day and the things on my mind. It is a wonderful quiet time with God that I really enjoy having. I also am able to sit and have a cup of coffee with a friend at a local coffee shop and sit at the table with my husband. Coffee is amazing in how it provides an opportunity to connect with others.

And so it is for these reasons that I am grateful for coffee!

ALIVE!

GOOD MORNING Dear Readers! What a blessing it is to be alive to be able to shout for joy at this amazing day the Lord has made! How grateful I am that I get to be alive! I am grateful that I have the life I have. It is truly a blessed life!

Oh we may not have all the money we would like, but we have enough for all our basic needs (I remember a time when we didn't) We may be renting instead of owning but hey that's so much better than homeless (we have been there too!) I am grateful for my amazing husband who shares this journey with me. It took a long time to find each other but I am ever so grateful God brought him to my life! My children, the seven I gave birth too and the half dozen who have my heart as if I had! I love them all so very much and it fills my heart with JOY to have them all in my life! 

Yes indeed life is GOOD! God is GOOD! I am grateful to be alive today!!!!

GRATEFUL HEART

GOOD MORNING Dear Readers! What a wonderful day to be alive! This morning as my boys and I ate fresh strawberries, they had a glass of milk I had a cup of coffee and WOW! How grateful I am that we get fresh fruit to eat- many places in the world they have nothing to eat. I am BLESSED to live in a place and time where there is such an abundance of healthy food choices (ok and not so healthy choices too that taste yummy)

I am grateful for my morning coffee. It is one of those things I really enjoy. Could I leave it and never have another cup? I am sure but I am ever so grateful that I don't have to. That I get to sit on my front porch, watch the sunrise and drink my coffee!
 You know, as I think about all that I have in this life and all that I am able to do my heart soars with gratitude! Life isn't perfect, there are things I would like to change, but PRAISE GOD for all I do have and all I get to do and the amazing people in my life! It is GOOD! 

May the Lord bless each of you who reads this with people who love you enjoying fresh strawberries (or favorite fruit) for breakfast over a cup of coffee (or tea) or a peanut butter jelly sandwich on a blanket in the yard or a bucket of chicken on the tailgate of the truck while you watch the sunset!