Weird, I know. But since we jumped from fall to winter, and Halloween to Christmas, Thanksgiving always gets lost in the shuffle. I had big plans for the kids and I to make a "thankfulness chain" where we would write slips of paper what we are grateful for, and then string it together. We did one last year and, in all honesty, I was looking forward to making this year's even longer. And then life happened. November 1st came and went. No problem. A few more days went by and I asked Bella to cut the strips. A few more days went by and now we're half-way through the month and haven't written down a single thing. But we pray before bed every night and before meals every day, and the kids are always good to be thankful in those prayers.
And I've been keeping track for years. Almost 5, to be exact, as I began a gratitude journal on January 1, 2010. This morning I penned #3,438 and that's including the fact that I've missed some days along the way!
I am doing a two-week gratitude study for my personal devotion time, and decided to flip through the book and see all God's goodness pass before my eyes, much like Moses got to do. So here are just a handful of blessings out of thousands. I don't think you'll mind the lack of pictures.
Get comfy, this is a long one! But full of the big and little. The ways God has blessed, even if the ways aren't written on colored construction paper links and strung in the house.
#220 Quiet Indiana evenings
#247 A fluffy pile of shredded Kleenex and a fascinated little boy
#317 Wrinkled, smiling faces of soldiers honored
#334 Psalm 119:151 "But You are near, O Lord, and all Your commandments are true."
#460 "Mommy? You're my favorite mommy ever in a long time."
#463 Countless stars that You know individually
#557 Finished laundry, for however brief a time
#602 Chili and cornbread
#609 "Ryan, the crescent roll is not a piggy bank"
#634 Doing morning devotions across from Dad, also doing his morning devotions!
#648 Driving home with Christmas music on the radio, the kids holding hands in the back seat, and Isabella saying, "Happy Holiday, Ryan! I love you, Buddy Bud."
#660 A God who carries me instead of needing to be carried (Isaiah 46)
#678 Hitting the snooze
#731 Frilly aprons
#779 Ryan going, "bah bush" every time I pull out the Bible study book
#780 His subsequent "ooooh!" when I read the title
#833 Bella stretched flat across the dining room table to hold Ryan's hand for prayer when they were eating dinner by themselves
#854 Air conditioning!
#879 The kids fighting over who's cleaning up their toys. Yep. I hear the Twilight Zone music, too.
#934 Sunday afternoon naps
#1031 Ryan's delight at feeding the animals at the State Fair. "Mommy! Tickles!"
#1044 Bella praying that our suitcase (full of books) would be safe in the library while we were in the bathroom
#1050 The ice cream truck! It was like the cavalry charging to the rescue at the end of a long day!
#1098 A glorious sunrise. Honestly. Pure glory of God.
#1146 Learning to say "no" to what we really don't need
#1185 Ryan, stating what sound a goose makes: "Beep! Beep!" Uh, that's honk, honk, Bud.
#1201 Collecting the prettiest leaves God has to offer
#1227 Dilly bars (note: probably 200 of my #3,438 things are food!)
#1248 Unending whoops and giggles as Bella rides her first rollercoaster
#1272 "It's a Wonderful Life." I cry every single time.
#1275 Being the one who gets to explain the Christmas story
#1293 Bella belting out "Gloria" (In Excelsis Deon) very fervently. Afterward she asked, "Who's Gloria?"
#1303 Joshua (to Bella): "It's not all about you!" Bella: "Some of it is!"
#1329 The magic moment with Bella at the candle light service. Not the moment after when she spilled hot wax on her arm and cried like crazy.
#1335 Ryan's pudgy fingers pushing his Lightning McQueen under the bathroom door. "Here you go, Mama!"
#1394 Ryan being "cake" while Bella yells, "Don't forget the frosting!" and jumps on top of him
#1395 Spending extra time at Meijer because the lobsters were fighting...(it was cool...)
#1454 A perfect, yellow sun laying down for the night
#1472 "The secret to having it all is to realize you already do."
#1500 Catching Bella in the kitchen trying desperately to sneak some... grapes. (Grapes, people! Not cookies or chocolate. Grapes.)
#1501 Asking Bella what she's doing up at 10:45 p.m.: "Working on things.
#1631 The beauty of Lake Michigan-sparkling nature in the midst of cement, steel and glass
#1687 Bella being proud that she knows how to spell DVD!
#1699 Bella and Ryan rolling around on the floor in some sibling death grip, laughing the whole time
#1833 "We're on one dot of eternity in a timeline of [God's] glory." ~Pastor Brian
#1895 Wild abandon with glitter
#1910 Waking up to a clean kitchen where a messy one had been the night before
#1957 Bella and Ryan, sprawled on their bellies, magnifying glasses in hand, giving me a blow-by-blow of the ants in the kitchen
#2014 Bella wanting to order her own ice cream, "To give you a break," (which she said while patting my hand).
#2036 The smell after the rain
#2120 Remaining calm when I want to yell. That's all God.
#2141 In jokingly asking Joshua to write me a love letter he responds: "Can't. I put all my good stuff into it when we were dating. I've got nothing left."
#2145 Bella thinking she'll reap a hamburger if she plants a sesame seed.
#2161 Slow spin of a hawk riding air currents
#2211 Exotic dark of plum skin
#2218 Healthy children. Our reality could be a lot different
#2241 School supply shopping
#2281 Following through with my parenting. Even if it meant two spanking and two sobbing children
#2322 Water droplet earrings at the pool
#2325 Bella, playing on my phone, going over the flavors of her ice cream in the game: cotton candy, cherry, lettuce, sheep
#2335 "Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees." ~Karle Wilson Baker
#2388 Ryan's sunny disposition. I mentioned he didn't get any green Skittles in his bag. "But I got one yellow, and that's awesome."
#2419 The kids happily lost in an 1836 kitchen, and their imaginations, at Conner Prairie.
#2426 A stop-everything-and-look sunrise.
#2443 Showing Bella the spot where Joshua proposed
#2470 Kids who love to read. What a great gift.
#2515 Ryan asking for more "Brussels scouts"
#2576 Jesus "putting on flesh, knowing it would be ripped off." (Not my words, but our pastor's wife's)
#2577 Dark faces smiling in the hot Kenyan day wearing Bella's old dresses
#2620 Laughter pouring out of the kids' room
#2657 Crunch of snow underfoot
#2663 Sparrows turning the bird feeder into a carousel
#2675 "...every dawn is Day One." ~Ann Voskamp
#2978 Just a day. No drama, no crazy errand-running. Just a day.
#2986 The deer Bella drew on their bedroom window so they'd have a target for their dart guns
#3034 Sun and wind clearing out the skies
#3036 Bella running up and down he aisles of Walmart to see which pair of shoes makes her run the fastest
#3051 The swish of curtains blowing in the breeze
#3069 The smell of the grill. Bella said, "It smells like Papa!"
#3118 An offer. A full-price, cash offer!
#3142 The whole family sharing a "pew" for Bella's baptism
#3157 The house. I could list it as another 500 blessings
#3175 Kids' excitement at their very own library cards
#3266 Ryan's excitement at being on a train (Metra) and passing a train (freight)
#3238 Mass of family spread all over the yard
#3298 Ryan's serious karate face
#3316 Joshua's spider-killing method: spear it with his pocket knife
#3352 Five years of Joshua coming home safely from his shifts
#3383 Fuzzy warm sweaters and hot coffee
#3395 Family Uno party
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