Thankfulness, day 26, 27, 28

been a bit behind as I try to scrape a Thanksgiving dinner together and am a bit gimpy still from the fall down the stairs!

I am so thankful for how wonderful it is to see people who give of themselves--giving love and time, and resources and hospitality. When it can be so hard to give, as times are difficult and we are limited, it is wonderful to see people share of themselves. Thank you God for people who labor in love out of faith. Thank you for people who believe that it is worth it. Thank you for those who are ridiculously generous and for those who go beyond what would seem possible to help those in need. Thank you God. It's a sign of your goodness to us.

Thank you for Jesus and for coming to rescue us, for coming as one of us. Thank you for being faced with every temptation but remaining with out sin. Thank you for the suffering you endured, humbling yourself to the point of death on a cross. Thank you for not letting sin and death have the last word. Thank you for raising Jesus from the dead. Thank you for life forever in his name. And that it really is life. Thank you that you aren't finished with us yet, thank you that you continue to help us, thank you that we can always come to you through Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We could never stop thanking you!

Thankfulness, day 25

Today I am thankful for changes in plans and for having to slow down. Yesterday I fell from the top of the landing all the way down to the bottom step...thankful for no broken bones, thankful for Arnica, thankful for ice packs and thankful for legos and DVD's and markers to keep my boys engaged while I sit on the couch and read. That is one enormous bruise and one very sore arm. Its not quite the same as when my sister and I used to sit on our enormous bears that were bigger than us, hold their legs and slide down the stairs on them. Thankful for friends who come round to help, and thankful that my house just isn't going to be clean for home group.

Thankfulness, day 22, 23, 24

I am thankful for 3 red jackets. Last night as we waited to catch a train home, during the rush hour I kept my boys back against the wall of the platform (thank you for that safe place to wait) and played Colored Coats. The game is this...watch all the hundreds of people swarming off the train and trooping up the stairs and count how many coats have a color other than black, brown, or grey. There were 3!

I am thankful for how sweet little twin girls look when they are dressed alike. I am thankful for that strange light in the sky (the sun!) I am thankful that in the winter time we see more of the moon.
I am thankful that Prince William asked Kate to marry him. I am thankful for engagements and weddings and marriages.
I am thankful for my husband and how he pursues me. I am thankful for the day he asked me to marry me, and for our wedding and for these nearly 10 years that we have spent together.

Thankfulness, day 21

I am thankful for clean streets, for living in a council that removes graffiti (or as Ethan calls it...geography) from the play ground equipment. I am thankful for the elderly woman who held Tim's hand while I tried to carry all the stuff on to the bus. I am thankful for getting on a crowded bus, with my 2 little ones and discovering my husband was already on the bus. I am thankful that when children lose their shoes or hats or mittens, people pick them up and place them on the garden wall or the fence or the stop light. I love when people take a moment to help people they don't know, are still considerate enough not to drop trash everywhere, clean up after their dogs, I am thankful for these things.
And I am thankful that my friend's baby girl is 1 today!

Thankfulness, day 20

I am thankful today, for the habit of thankfulness! I feel so lifted out of this downward spiral of complaining and moaning and cynicism. I know this is not of my own, but a work of God in me. I was in such a rut when I started this process of blogging something I am thankful for everyday before thanksgiving day. Here it is 20 days in, and what a difference. On day 2 I was still wallowing and angry and not wanting to write anything, because I felt so low. And now, God has given me such a greater sense of peace and joy. Thank you God for the gift it is to give thanks.

Thanks also for giddy little boys before they go to sleep, thanks for Tim's sweet smile and telling me "You have sweet dreams" over and over. Thanks for how beautiful the frost and the fog looked this morning with the trees bare branches reaching up in the midst of it. Thanks for helping us finally meet our neighbors across the street. Thanks for pigeons and how funny they look sitting on the chimney pots to warm themselves. Thanks for Laura Ingalls Wilder and the 1800's, my favorite time of history. Thanks God for candles on the table even when its just me eating with the kids, for hot soup and peppermint tea. Thanks for watching over us. Thanks for Jesus.

Thankfulness, day 19

Today I am thankful for the slideshow that plays on my laptop when its not being used. Sitting here with my ill 2 year old listening to a Christian radio station from my home town (online) watching these pictures go by. These are just a few. I am thankful for pictures and memories and my family, and for this homesick feeling. Thankful that I can hear people talking in a way I understand and for online streaming audio radio...the same station I used to listen to driving to work. Thank you God, for these good gifts.

Thankfulness, day 18

Sara Groves has a song that has lyrics somewhat to this effect: "What I thought I wanted, what I got instead, leaves me broken, yet grateful." I am thankful that God doesn't always give what we think we want. I am thankful he is good and his ways are good and his ultimate purposes for me is for my good and his glory. I am thankful that he is always the same even though life and circumstances can change, and sometimes be very, very hard. I am thankful that this is the temporary stuff and that heaven is forever, and i am thankful I will be there with Him. Thank you God, for not giving always giving me what I want, thank you for giving me what you give instead. Its perfect.