A Lifestyle of Thanksgiving

I so love the Thanksgiving Holiday! Have wonderful childhood memories stored and "bring" them out at times when I count my blessings, which are really too many to count.

But Thanksgiving is more than a single holiday. It's a lifestyle that should be lived 365 days a year...each and every year! We have so much for which to be thankful, even in these challenging times.

I love Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation which, today, still rings true even though it was written in 1863.
Will share that next week but today and for the next few blogs other "Thanksgiving" thoughts
will appear.

One of my very favorites is Psalm 100, which we recited in elementary school...public school.
Our teacher even read us Bible stories after lunch every day.

Psalm 100...a Psalm of praise or thanksgiving
"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves;
we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations."

Amen and Amen!

High Def Trekking!

Have seen the most gorgeous trees this year...all in "High Def"! Amazing!
The colors have been absolutely vibrant!
Today my trek took me through Ballantine into Pineville and back again.
Wow!
What an incredible treat! Only God could think up these colors!

Autumn Wonderland!

Have been on a journey this morning through a magical autumn wonderland, from one county to another and back again!
Breathless is the way to describe the majesty that surrounded me! I was practically overcome with such delight and to make it even better I was listening to some excellent teaching of the Word! Wow! It just doesn't get better than that!
I know I just experienced a bit of Heaven on earth! Selah!

Beginning to....

watch Christmas movies! Actually I'm a bit late; usually have watched quite a few by now.
Watched White Christmas in Blueray...oh my! It's vibrant! I saw so much detail that I've never seen before. Wow!

Tomorrow night is Elf with April's family and "Uncle Bill". We'll get pizza and watch. I saw a bit of it in blueray.
Blueray is amazing! It's like being there... in the movie!

Oh there is one Christmas movie that I do watch year round...The Nativity! It's a great one!
Another favorite of ours is The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young.
Oh and there's Scrooge, the musical, and all the Christmas Carols...hmmm, I could just keep on going! There are quite a few we call "favorites"!

TWO WEEKS!

Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away...TWO WEEKS....amazing!
A friend told me last night that she had heard a Christmas song on the radio and thought it too early but then she realized Thanksgiving is practically upon us!

Our Indian Summer Thanksgiving is a week from this Saturday and that's the one with which I'm "swamped"!
There is still much...MUCH... to do but it will get done!
How do you entertain 16 kids, ages 11 and under? That's what I'm working on and have been working on and I'm still working on! Trying to get a "Bouncer" but can't get the people to call or e-mail me back. Have something else up my sleeve but I better get moving a bit faster on it.
All these ideas are whirling around and around and I think of them when I go to sleep, when I wake up and all throughout the day. Need to "nail" it down!
I want it to be so special for them.

Like I said, it will come together and it will be fun! It will be so nice having most of my family, 36 of us, enjoying the beautiful Autumn day and just being thankful to be together!

A change of "havens"

Well since it's officially too cold to have my early morning time with the Lord out on the porch, even with the "heater", I've gone to the livingroom and the fireplace. I take my coffee, journal, Bibles, etc. and with comfy pillows at my back, I hibernate there...sometimes for hours when nothing else is pressing. This morning has been one of those "hibernating" moments.

Have had some "deep", heavy thoughts whirring around in my mind and was led to various scriptures that resolved the issues for me. Oh how I love the Word!

The Lord even "spoke" to me concerning some very specific things, even before I had a chance to verbalize them to Him! I love it when He does that!

It's wonderful to share such intimate, holy times with Him. What a way to begin the day!

Clara's Tea Party

Here's Makenna and her friends, from left to right, Lauren, Makenna and Rachel!
We had a great time and oh, so many goodies!
Wonderful fellowship with the girls and their moms!