I wanted to get this out in the first part of the week but it seemed as though taking care of some not so great feeling children became more of the priority. Since Thanksgiving fell on the 25th this month I thought it would be great to list 25 things to be thankful for. I also already had plans to do something for the month of December leading up to Christmas day but who knows if that will happen so why not go ahead and do my Thanksgiving post. I love to look back at old posts and see what was going on at the time so by next year I'll enjoy reading back over this list and adding to it for Thanksgiving 2011. I should go ahead and say that these will be in NO SPECIFIC ORDER, just what pops in my mind while I type. I considered writing out my list first but never found the time to do that either.
1.Our Heavenly Father- this is such an obvious one and should always be at the top but before I elaborate on my own I have a song on my play list by Phillips Craig and Dean. They sing it much better than I can say it! It is such a beautiful song! I am listening to it as I type.
2My Husband- I know we all think our husbands are just the greatest but I really really think mine is. He has been really busy these past few weeks and we haven't been able to have our normal time together so this has been very hard on me. That's just how much I enjoy his company!
3.My Sweet Children- Morgan-Katie-Josiah-Jacob-Sarah-Samuel and of course Baby Stephen who will be here in just a few more weeks. God has given me these wonderful healthy children. When I think that Morgan will be 30 when Stephen is her age it overwhelms me. I want to keep my older ones young but I know that is impossible so I enjoy seeing them grow in the Lord. I look forward to their future.
4.Our Home- I love our home! It is not new and it needs quite a bit done ( or at least that's what I hear Sammy say) and to think we will soon be a family of 9 it may seem small to others but for us it is just what we need. When we had our 3rd child we lived in a 3 bedroom house that was about half this size. I remember a friend asked me where in the world would I put another baby. I almost had to laugh at the thought that our homes need to be huge. I have seen homes and been in some that held 8-12 children that were smaller than our little house and they did just fine. I pray that I will always be content with my home. Being content is a wonderful place to be at. Most days I feel pretty content but its easy to let "things" get in the way of our happiness. I know some who are never content and I feel really sorry for them.
5.Our church and Pastor- We have been a part of 3 churches since we were married ( this is besides the church we actually were married at). All 3 have been great places to be at different times in our life. Waterville has just been an awesome place to be. We have some of the sweetest people in the world that we worship with. They have become more like a family to us. We have a pastor who leads us and wants the best for the congregation. He truly loves his "flock". And like the old saying goes -you don't know someone till you work with them everyday- Sammy has said time and time again that Allan is the real deal!
6.Some very precious women in my life- I really believe that God puts people in your life at the perfect time. There are some very wonderful ladies that God has put in my life through our church. This is an extra blessing to me as I have an "absentee" Mother and Sister. These ladies are Older, Middle Aged, and Younger but they are all very special and very important to me. Not only to me but also to my children. I know I can count on them and also I believe they love me just for who I am, and that can be really hard!
7.Other Homeschool Moms- It is so great to have some other Moms that I can talk to and share ideas with that are also doing the same thing our family has been doing for all these years. Homeschooling your kids is sometimes hard for others to understand so it is great to have these other Moms to share ideas with. I think we help each other in that way.
8. Our new dining room table- This was built by a true craftsman. I think it is just gorgeous. It also has a bench that Cliff built that will hold a whole bunch of kids. We do many things at this table not only eating all our meals but schoolwork, family devotions, and just sometimes sitting and drawing or reading a book. There always seems to be someone at the table. Sammy keeps it shined up and we all take extra care with it. Who knows how many it will one day hold. I hope that Cliff and Kay will delight in knowing that we not only nourish our bodies at this table but we also educate and disciple our family here too.
9.First Baptist Church Library- Mrs. Lynda and her helpers- I have no idea what we did before we had this library to visit. It is just the best place to go and get books and DVD's and just pure encouragement from the ladies that work there. I have at least one child and normally more than one that want to go at least once or twice a week. I love that it is now so close to us. It has been such a blessing to our family over the past few years. I can't really remember how long it has been since we have been visiting but I think at least 3-4 years because Jacob was really small when we first started . It is a perfect fit for our family.
10.Sammy's job in the ministry-Sometimes you know when things go a certain way it is all Gods timing. For about the first 8 or so years of our marriage my husband worked all kinds of hours and then he worked 3rd shift for a time and that was VERY hard for me. I basically didn't sleep any because I am such a scardy cat. I've come along quite a bit since then. After many years of praying God gave him a great first shift Monday-Friday job and he was also bi-vocational at Charleston First Baptist. We thought things were going great and then the doors just started opening up at Waterville. It seemed like we had been thrown a curve ball and "our plans" were going to change. God had even better plans for us and we are so glad that he is able to be in full time ministry. My husband loves other people. He loves them even when people just really get on my nerves. I am so proud for him and our family that God is able to use us at our church . It is a perfect fit for Sammy and I also love to see peoples faces that knew us about 20 years ago and then they find out that he is really an ordained minister. Not that he was a bad guy at all but you just don't see at 16 or 17 what God has in store for you. A true blessing.
Sammy, Katie and Morgan sang together this past Sunday. They sang For the Beauty Of the Earth.
11Baby Shower for a 7th blessing- I was completely shocked when I read that there would be a baby shower for us this past week. Is that not the sweetest thing in the world. How many get blessed with a shower for #7. We have received so many great things for our little guy.
.
This is the first part of my thankfulness post. Hopefully I will get around to finishing it. I believe it is quite possibly the longest thing I have ever done. Maybe I can plan on doing it every year to see what God has done for us each year
