Being Thankful

Iknow its been a long time, life has kind of caught me a bit off guard.. but I need to take a look at what makes me life complete and what I am thankful for.... last weekend Savan and I went to see Jake. It was so nice. It was actually very memorable. He looks so much like his dad. It was wild. We shopped a bit, had a great dinner at the Mustard Seed and just visited. I miss him like crazy. He is doing well in school and seems to be living a good life. I am hoping he will come down for Spring break for a visit. Its been just too long. I am thankful for smart, witty kids who are loving and kind. Thanks God!

All American...

Tonight Savan and I were going from one picture taking location to another and we stopped to get some beverages... we were discussing All American icons. I think we are being nostalgic since its the 4th of July.

We decided that its more than Coke, hamburgers, fries and a shake, Baseball and apple pie. Now even more we look at the flag and are thankful we live in the land of the Free. Thanks to all the brave. We have the ability this weekend to celebrate our Independence with family and friends, we can ohhh and ahhh over the bright sparkles and booms in the air and reflect on what a great country in which we live. I think that so many don't get it. They think that everything is a "right." In my everyday 8-5 job I deal with so many ungrateful people, they have revenge almost always in their thoughts and actions, its about "sticking" it to their ex or the father or mother of their child. Its about what money and how much, and how often, its never about being thankful they have a healthy child, or a rich in spirit family. Its about hostility and how we aren't doing enough. I want to at times shake them and remind them how bad off it is in so many places. I read about countries where they walk miles for a cold drink of contaminated water, where child are sold into slavery or abandoned into an orphanage because there is not enough food or money to adequately care for them. I am such a priviledged person because my zip code is in the USA. I don't have to worry if my children will be safe and cared for, my government has made that a "right" I don't have to worry about water or shelter, its a right as well. Granted some live in shabby and horrible conditions in the US but overall we are spoiled and taken care of.....

I think my point is this..... be THANKFUL. I can't stay it enough, thank you your family for being there for you, for loving you when you don't deserve it and for being on your team. Be Thankful to your friends for the laughs and the fellowship, be Thankful to the founders of this country that we get to celebrate this week and be reminded this is the USA. And most of all, be Thankful to the Father that he sent his Son, that He made a way on a tree for us to truly be FREE.

What is All American to you?

Being Thankful on Monday

Welcome to Monday! Who turned up the heat? After working at the store yesterday I jumped into my RED HOT (literally) Minivan and when I turned it on the outside temp read 108. Holy Batman that is hot. Today was the same. I keep praying for those that don't have A/C and animals that live outside without any shade.

Today is Monday. Its a 4 day week but its still Monday.
Here is what I am thankful for....
1) DIET COKE with special ice on this mighty warm day
2) GREAT A/C at work and in the red hot minivan (oh at home too)
3) a new super sweet doggy door at home that the mom bought. What a blessings
4) a GREAT cricut class tonight taught by Kelly!
5) a kind and wonderful daughter who is working this week while my folks travel
6) A fun birthday party Friday nite for Cori J.
7) My folks are going to see my brother for the weekend
8) I love 3 days weekends (upcoming)
9) a husband holding on by a prayer but holding on nonetheless
10) a loving Faithful Father who gives me Grace and Mercy as I start each new day.

How about you?

Being Thankful on a Monday

instead of dwelling on my day I am choosing a new route.
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends![b]
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord. Lamentations 3: 22-26

Pslam 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

I need a Faithful Father today. What a great thing to know that He is here.

On Thankfulness

I was thinking today about Thankfulness.... as my day was going ary... and came across some great words from a devtional....

It is natural for us to ask help from God in times of trouble or sorrow. It is also natural to plead on behalf of our loved ones. These two forms of prayer - petition and intercession - are vital. But the prayer of thanksgiving, mentioned so often in Scripture and made so eloquently in many Psalms, must also be an essential part of our lives as Christians.

Are we truly thankful to God for His innumerable blessings and mercies toward us? Do we really feel we even have anything to be thankful for? Perhaps, amid our daily duties and struggles, an occasion for gratitude seems hard to find. We may have pressing financial needs, urgent family problems, deep personal sorrows or concerns. We may be only too well aware of the evils of our time, or the sins of our heart. We may simply feel empty, weary, isolated. The evening news, or the events in our neighborhood, may make us feel that talk of thanking God is at best simple-minded and at worst hypocritical.

In reality, the practice of prayerful thanksgiving is essential to acquiring inner peace. Far from being simple-minded, it requires - and develops - a living faith and humility in the soul. One of the reasons God often seems far from us is simply because we do not - even will not - see Him where He is, in the daily circumstances of life He sends us.

Giving thanks to God for everything in our "ordinary" lives can help us to see at last that nothing in our lives is really ordinary. Life is never "ordinary". It is rather a passage from time into eternity. The circumstances that rise before us, the problems we encounter, the relationships we form, the choices we make, all ultimately concern our eternal union with or separation from God.

If we as Christians truly believe that our lives are lived under the sign of the Cross and in the light of eternity, then we must believe that God is with us in all the changing fortunes of our days. And we must also believe that despite natural disasters and human ills, evil is not finally triumphant and death is not victorious. In our lives there are no chance events, no irrational twists of empty fate, but rather the ever-present workings of a provident God, Who uses all means to lead us into the harbor of Christ.

When we begin to feel, however faintly, the truth of this, we shall find much to be grateful for. The spirit of thankfulness is a necessary part of the spiritual discipline of living in the present moment - with God - and not in the past or the future. We cannot know what will happen tomorrow, or even tonight; we cannot change what is already past. But we can be grateful today for the blessings of today - the blessing of life itself, the blessing of communion with God through prayer and the Holy Eucharist, the blessing of repentance, the healing of forgiveness. Even the small, seemingly trivial, moments in our day - the sight of a bird in the sky, the greening of a tree, the laugh of a child, the voice of a friend - speak to us of God if only we wish to hear, for everything of beauty, of light, of love, comes to us from Him.

What do you think?

I need to be Thankful

Its been one of those days.....
I think the first thing I need to do is Thank GOD.... otherwise I am going to go postal on someone.... (yes Jamie would have come up with some way funnier here but my funny bone is on strike this week)
- There was plenty of Diet coke today
- instead of working on my lunch I went out w/Jean and it was just what I neeed. Love you Jean the Queen
-We got in new stamps today from Great Impressions, how can one not love SPRING stamps?
-Savan helped again at the store 'cause mom is still sick, she is great. What would I do without her? -Love ya babe!
-Amanda had her baby, Mr. Jaxon arrived last week and they are healing at home, not without twists and turns but all good things come with a price, right?
-I have 6 people signed up for my beginning class tomorrow nite, that means that people are catching on that Scrapbooking is important work, its a high calling to record all the good things in our lives!
-I had a GREAT private party Saturday nite, Kerry O, Kim W, and Traci F made HOME Letters and had girl talk, thanks ladies for the therapy!
-Our luau rocked totally Don Ho style Friday nite. Dad cooked fab chicken and beef kabobs and Aurie made yummy salads, people loved their leis' and punch. I love having such energy in the store. 26 ladies makes this place all worth it!!!
-I have funny dogs to go crawling home too and a hubby who with limited coping skills still reached out and tried to comfort me this weekend in my time of sorrow, frustration and sadness.

How about you? Are you thankful or are you like me and need Jesus to come into your Boat and calm the sea? This rowing can be tiring when it just keeps raining and storming...