Thankful in the Face of Sadness

I realize that there is no way I am going to keep up with posting on here every day, so I am going to have to settle for 'whenever I remember' :). That being said, I will happily post the thankful thoughts I have had over the last few days...

I am thankful for:
*SNOW :) :) :)
*Icy roads that allowed Emily to have NO school on Thursday afternoon and Friday!
*Frigid weather that has caused us to spend many evenings in front of the fire playing games, watching movies and talking together - always fun to Mom!
*Good health overall for everyone (Emily has a sinus infection but is on the mend now)
*Time with Michael while he is still home-he and Nicholas have watched Bond movies!
*Great day in worship - Ravi Zacharias preached for us this morning - a very special blessing.
*Time to get my house completely back in order, purge lots of messy cabinets, drawers and closets and do extra cleaning of those 'often ignored' areas that we all have.
*Precept Bible Study started back on Thursday -we are doing Philippians this semester and so far, it is even better than 1 John :)
*I have all of my funds for my Ecuador mission trip in April! Now to start working on funds for Medical Mission trip to Honduras in June and possible trip to Argentina in Sept/Oct!
*A good nap this afternoon (small things matter too!)
*The privilege to record a CD with my amazing choir this coming weekend.

So why the sadness? Well, as a Mom with two children who live most of the time away from home and too far for easy visits, I can tell you that it doesn't matter how many times they come home and leave - it is STILL hard to say good-bye! Michael leaves in the morning to drive 11 hours back to PHC to start classes on Wednesday. He is a SENIOR now so that is really exciting :)

But we don't know what his plans are (he doesn't even know what they are yet!)He may or may not come home for spring break. His spring break is the same time as our trip to Ecuador, so even if he came home, we'd only see him for 2 days on the front end and maybe not at all on the other end. In the summer, he really needs to do an internship and may find the best option in the VA/DC area which would mean he might only come home for a week on each end of summer. I know this is way more than I need to think of right now, but it's alot easier to say good-bye when you have SOME idea of when you will see your child again.

Our visit has been good overall. Michael is at an age and stage where it seems there are more differences than similarities with his parents, and even with his younger siblings. He thrives on argument and debate, loves to play devils advocate and sees an awful lot more 'grey' than he ever did before, though he is convinced that it's all black and white of course. We have been relatively argument-free over this whole break, but it's not without much effort. I really work to find common ground, show and tell him that I love him, include him in discussions, activities and family times.

He loves time alone in his room, which is fine, but I did much more to encourage him gently to plan time with friends, siblings, taking care of shopping needs, etc. That caused his days to be more interesting and full. I do think this had an effect on his demeanor and his attitude overall.

I love my husband and my children. I feel blessed beyond measure to live in the family I live in. I treasure time with each family member and especially love the holiday time all together. We had a great visit with Ashley and Steve for four days over Christmas too - lots of beautiful music in our house with both piano and saxophone being played daily, often together - amazing!

As I go into a new week, where everyone will be fully back to regular life, school, work, I joyfully and thankfully anticipate a few times of peace and solitude in my house, some productive times with my Bible Study, better meals being made, more exercise and back on track with eating less, exercising more and feeling more energetic! It should be a great week - Lord-willing!

A New Challenge

It's actually harder than I expected to come up with new and different, sincere and impactful things that I am thankful for every single day. And I consider myself a pretty thankful person! It's easy to just repeat or repackage the same few top items over and over, but that is not what this blog is about. I want to be sincerely, deeply and uniquely thankful, each and every day, for the specific blessings of that particular day.

Yesterday (Jan 5)I was thankful for:
*Two dogs who mostly get along, play well, and give LOTS of love to all of us :)
*A restful evening with my husband, in front of a lovely crackling fire, cross stitching, playing Skip-Bo (card game) and watching news and football together.
*Timing that worked out - got lots of cleaning and chores done in between and around a necessary trip to Kroger - where I got EVERYTHING I needed.

I love when I have a bunch of random little things to do in a day and it works out that by dinner time, every single item is done plus a few that I hadn't remembered or noticed until I walked past them - like a basket of laundry plus clean stuff in the dryer :).

Thankful for so many things...
Loren

Back to Normal

That is the first thing I am thankful for today...being back to normal! I got up early today, was able to spend time with Emily before she left for her first day back at Reinhardt and really was productive all day! I love Mondays like that :)

Soooo, here is what I am most thankful for today:
*A warm house, fire in the fireplace and time to spend in front of it on a bitterly cold day
*Time to really spend on Bible Study today - Philippians
*Good health that allows me the energy to clean my whole house
*Time to really clean out and organize some neglected areas of my house

Lord, help me to see the blessings, the special and unique joys in my daily life that are from You to me. Let me have a fully thankful heart!

January 2 and 3, 2010
Well, they say it takes two weeks to create a new habit, maybe more for some of us, and it is obvious that I need more focus to actually remember to post! I did, however, pray before bed and share with God what I was thankful for yesterday. As such, I will post both days points of gratitude today.

January 2 I am thankful for:
*A fire in the fireplace and time to enjoy it while still finishing up the cleaning, reorganizing and packing away of Christmas
*Relaxing time with my children to invest in their lives
*A nice dinner with Michael, Emily and Noah Cypher
*Time to stitch, read, cook, talk and still get all things done at home

January 3 I am thankful for:
*Sweet time sharing heart to heart with Nicholas
*A wonderful morning at our precious church with precious friends
*Great lunch visit with Anna Duncan
*Afternoon NAP!!
*Evening time helping Emily get ready to start classes tomorrow, play with Cassie together and watch "Holiday" with Michael and Richard

The blessings have been so sweet from this weekend and I am so thankful to God for filling my heart over these last days! I pray the Lord would help me to continue to see ALL of the blessings I enjoy every day and to be mindful to post the most meaningful ones each day as a reminder to me and an encouragement to others.

A New Year, A New Attitude

The Bible has much to say about gratitude and thankfulness. It is clearly a matter of the heart. I want to start this year off by listing several things that I'm thankful for each evening before bed. What a great way to refocus my heart and mind! What a great way to set the tone before going to sleep! I am excited to make a habit of bedtime gratitude.

Here is my January 1, 2010 gratitude list:
1. I am thankful for a great, relaxing day with my family. We took down the tree together, cleaned everything up, had a nice dinner in the DR tonight (Nicholas had to work until 10PM), then Michael, Emily and I played two games of Yahtzee - I lost miserably - then Emily and I played Phase 10 and she beat me too! But it was all good.

2. A fire in the fireplace on a really cold day, time to read, exercise, organize, cross stitch, play games and just relax!

3. Starting a new year with everyone healthy, happy and together.

4. A crisp winter morning with a gorgeous blue sky this morning!

Thank you Lord for loving me and for so many blessings that I in no way deserve!