4/14/2011

It really is the little things in life that we take for granted and don't realize how much we appreciate them until we have to live without them!

Take doing laundry, for instance.

When first married, my hubby and I lived in downtown Chicago in a very small one-bedroom apartment. Laundry facilities for the entire building were a few stories below us so we hauled our laundry (and a stack of quarters) there once a week.

When we then moved back to northern Indiana with our newborn baby girl, we were again in an apartment with no laundry facilities in our unit. However, we were now living closer to my husband's parents who graciously allowed us to do all of our laundry at their house. Bless my mother-in-law's heart, she washed, dried and folded most of it for us each week!

When we then purchased our first home, we had a "laundry room" but it was totally demolished during the major remodeling job of the kitchen and bathroom and laundry room. It was unfinished for almost 2 years (you can read about the remodel and see pictures here), during which time we continued to let my mother-in-law bless us! :-)


When we finally had laundry facilities in our own home, available to use 24 hours a day without inserting coins... I was ecstatic! I don't know if anyone was ever so excited to do laundry!

And that feeling has never really gone away. I actually enjoy doing laundry and seeing the pile of dirty clothes dwindle in size.

Sometimes when we do without something, we can more clearly see its value. Now I no longer take my washer or dryer for granted. Instead I am thankful that I have such conveniences because I well remember the inconvenience of not having them!

So today I am thankful for washers and dryers.

What are you most thankful for today?

It's Thurday. I am thankful.

After my grandmother's funeral last weekend, I am reminded again of how thankful I am for my family.

I have known all four of my grandparents, living near all of them for the first 18 years of my life. Not until I was in my 20s did we bury my first grandfather. Within this past year another grandfather and grandmother have passed on, leaving just one grandmother living. How thankful I am to have known them and loved them, to have wonderful memories and pictures to cherish.

Family. It's a beautiful thing. Created by God. For our good.

Psalm 68:6 "God sets the lonely in families." For this I thank Him today.

To cultivate an ongoing spirit of thankfulness, I'm thinking through the things - both big and small - that I want to thank the Lord for sending into my life.

Last week my daughter and I were focusing on "Being a Thankful Woman" in our Bible study that we do together. We came across this challenging thought - What if God took away from you everything you've never thanked Him for giving you? Like a waiter taking back your food because you were ungrateful or like a grandparent taking back a birthday gift because you showed no appreciation for it... what would be taken away from you if God saw your lack of thanks-giving as a true lack of appreciation for the gifts He's given?

I am certainly not saying that God will do that. Or even that He is keeping a tally of things we thank Him for and things we don't.

I am suggesting that He has given us THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of blessings, gifts, relationships, and joys. We should not be lacking in finding something new each day to focus on and say "Thank You, Father!"

I am reminded of the 10 lepers who were healed by Christ in Luke 17. Only one took the time to return to Christ and express his gratitude. The rest went on with life. I'm sure they were rejoicing, probably ecstatic to return to their families after being outcasts. Even though they had so much to be thankful for, they failed to give thanks to the One who healed them and caused them so much joy.

So today, I am thankful for the Bible. I am thankful for the Word of God that is still living and active and powerful and speaking to our lives this very day. How lost we would be without God's Word to guide us through this life and lead us to Him!

Let him who has eyes to see see what the Father has bestowed... and give Him thanks!

What are you most thankful for today?

3/10/2011

I've mentioned more than once that we've been sick lately. The reality is that all 4 of us have been sick off and on for over 3 weeks.

The good news: my son, my daughter and myself are all about 95% healthy these days! Coughs are lingering and my daughter's chapped nose looks terrible, but we are on the road to recovery and we are oh-so thankful for that!

The bad news is that my hold-out husband now has the full-blown version of it. Sinus inflammation, coughs, sneezing, drainage, tired, lack of appetite. He's missed one day of work this week, so far.

So why is this part of a Thankful Thursday post?

Maybe it's just me, but whenever I'm sick I realize how much I take my good health for granted the rest of the time. Most days I get up and do my daily tasks without a second thought about how healthy I am, how blessed I am to be able to do what I do without pain, without any physical issues to slow me down. So even though no one in my family is 100% healthy right now, I am thanking the Lord for health. For the good health we enjoy the rest of the year. For healthy bodies, healthy minds, healthy spirits. And I often ask that He would make us more mindful of these things and therefore my likely to give Him thanks and praise.

When was the last time you thanked the Lord for a healthy body? Don't take it for granted - it's truly a gift from God!

I have a friend who is 40 years old and has been close to death in recent months. She was dying of a living disease and her only hope was to receive a new liver. She just got that new liver so we'll see how things progress from here. Each time I pray for her, her husband and her 3 young children, I also thank the Lord for the good health He's given me. I don't want to take it for granted nor do I want Him - the Giver of all good gifts - to think I'm ungrateful.

What are you thankful for today?

2/24/2011

I've been thinking a lot about seasons lately. The changing seasons. Each so beautiful, each so unique. How God timed the seasons so perfectly - a few months of one thing and our human tendency is to get bored with it and want to have something new.

This led me to ponder the seasons of life, especially with children. During their early years, our children are constantly growing, changing, moving from one season to another. From a season of newborn stillness to a season of movement with crawling and walking. From a season of silence into a season of talking. Seasons of fast physical growth and seasons of slower physical growth while they grow in other ways.

Constantly changing.

The last few months have felt like changing seasons to me. Last summer was a season of busyness. Last fall was a season of preparation, as we delved back into homeschooling and preparing for foster parenting. This winter has felt like a season of renewal - lots of time spent indoors, refocusing time and attention on family. It has felt like a season of waiting, of anticipation as we wait for our next fostering opportunity. It feels much like waiting for spring, waiting for what we know is coming, waiting for what God has planned and in some ways wishing it were here already. Like spring's arrival, we know it's coming but we don't know exactly when it will arrive. Sooner. Later. We wait. And we use the waiting time to be strengthened, to be rejuvenated.

I thank the Lord for the changing seasons - the beauty and uniqueness of each one.

In light of not having phone or internet service for almost 48 hours earlier this week, today I am thankful for phone and internet service! :-)

Apparently mice ate through our phone line about a mile away from our house. This is what the repairman told me.

Being without created feelings of isolation, but also made for a day with no interruptions. I focused on my kids in a more engaging way. We had a great few days. So my challenge is to now keep some of that focus and not allow my time to be so eaten away with this computer screen.

But I am thankful to be able to connect again. One of those things you don't realize how much you rely on until it's gone.

What can you thank the Lord for today?

Today I'm thankful for family.

Today is my husband's 35th birthday. Happy birthday to the love of my life!


Also, last weekend my oldest brother and his family stopped by for a visit, while traveling from Wisconsin to Florida (via Indiana - a rather indirect route, I know). Although brief, it was so great to connect with them and give the kids a chance to play together.