Gratitude

Thanks to my pretty awesome husband we have, as a family, memorized the following:

Have a Spirit of Gratitude in all you do and say.
Thank God for your blessings,
and express appreciation to others who help you.

(we got the quote from this publication. Its chalk full of wisdom and values worth preaching to your kids and putting into practice yourself.)

Now, John would be the first to tell you that I do NOT posses a spirit of gratitude in all I do or say, but these are words to live up to, and during the month of November we've tried a little harder to find things to be grateful for.

The "tree" in the photo is our second annual "gratitude tree". Little paper ornaments are provided and a pen made available so that during the month of November we can jot down that for which we give thanks. It is fun to see what our kids come up with (Porter is, of course, very thankful for the Wii...as illustrated by the 8-10 ornaments, some of them written by him and others by his siblings, that state this). Bryn mentioned at the introduction of this year's tree that it would be harder to come up with things to be grateful for than it was last year

"because last year all our stuff was in storage, and its easier to feel thankful when you don't have so much stuff". Out of the mouths of babes, I tell you, come words of truth and wisdom.

So, I thought this week I'd show you a few things that I feel grateful for. Today? I"m thankful that all my kids have the chance to attend their public schools. And that those schools are safe and are trying to provide them with an education that will help them grow and be successful in their futures.

And I"m thankful that John isn't out of town this week.
And I'm thankful that whenever I call to talk to my daddy, he picks up and listens to me.

I'm thankful Mason came home last week with a form so he could run with the cross country team; thankful he has ambitions and desires that will help him grow and progress.
And thankful I got to go last week and eat lunch with my kids at school. Spending 30 minutes alone-even with large groups of children around us-with my school aged kids was a treasure for me.

I'm thankful we will gather tonight as a family, with a daddy here to participate, and enjoy a family night-I'm thankful to be part of a church that not only respects my desire to teach my children right from wrong and truth from error; it expects and encourages it.

There are some more "thankfuls", and I will share a few of them every day this week.

What are you thankful for? Think about it, post it here, and remember to kneel down and thank your maker for all He is and does

for you.