Today, I am Thankful

A while back, I read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I am, on a daily basis, so thankful for the gifts that God gives to me.  However, I have come to realize that I am really crummy at writing down the things with which I have been gifted.  Today, the cup is running over into the saucer, and I had to pick up my list again...

• for sunlight streaming in the morning windows
• for being nearsighted with healthy eyes
• for a summer job for my son that is just the right fit
• for successful open heart surgery for my aunt
• for a summer haircut, and no wait!
• for a speech given, an assignment completed
• for six end-of-the-year exam exemptions for my son (hello!)
• for volunteering before being volunteered
• for people who go beyond the call of duty to serve others
• for fluffy chocolate chip pancakes

• for excitement building
• for people and places that give sweet relief from the everyday
• for items checked off a to-do list
• for laundry, caught up
• for sunshine and blue skies
• for affirmation along life's road
• for after-school snacks and discussions
• for our kitchen table where we sit and see one another, hear one another, appreciate one another
• for surprises

Matthew 12:34b

"...for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

Great Gobbling Gratitude!

Wow, so did you feel that shift?  All of a sudden I'm posting on the far end of the day instead of scheduling my usual 12:01AM.  No, you didn't feel it?  Well it feels a little strange to me, but I'll go with it since it's Thanksgiving week and all, and I'd like to get a post done about my

Thoughts of Thankfulness
91.  Dad and Mom will be home Monday
91a.  re-do:  I'm thankful that Dad and Mom are safe (and together, ha!) for an extra night in Paris due to missing a connecting flight from Paris to JFK
92.  a productive shopping expedition with my girl - stocking up for "the meal"
93.  the bird - which will thaw in time
94.  the anticipation of cinnamon jello salad and pumpkin roll
95.  my decision to shop on Monday morning rather than Sunday afternoon (thanks Jill!)

96.  my best girl - who is also my best motivation many days
97.  that I could say, "we've been where you are & God WILL provide" to an old co-worker who is currently unemployed
98.  a new and more challenging job for my brother-in-law
99.  warm banana muffins (why am I always thankful for food?  =))

Chicken Soup, Celebrating, and Crock Pot Dinners

Thoughts of Thankfulness

75.  a warm house on a cold morning
76.  restful sleep
77.  Mom & Dad - their health, ability to travel, enjoying time together
78.  chicken soup and meds
79.  a successful shopping expedition
80.  FaceTime chat w/ my hubby
81.  sitting down to read, feet in a stream of sunlight
82.  celebrating nephew, Noah - 12 years!
83.  a crock-pot dinner bubbling away
84.  safety for our family while we were apart

85.  a lengthy after-school discussion
86.  Hubby home safely
87.  though Son's backpack is lost, he HAS his phone, iPod, and wallet - which are usually inside.
88.  Daughter sharing her backpack in the meantime...
89.  bloggy friendships -- the real deal
90.  unending thankfulness for all of the leaves that we mulched, bagged, & dragged to the curb this weekend before the rain came today

Tea, Toast, and Talkin'

Thoughts of Thankfulness

45.  rye toast

46.  sunshine in November

47.  a successful pumpkin roll

48.  the aroma of a newly-unwrapped box of teabags

49.  the "magic" of making a sad person laugh

50.  barns

51.  my little camera
52.  talking and laughing on the phone with my sister
53.  my daughter hiking with Grandma and Grandpa
54.  meeting our son's teachers

55.  a good report card

56.  Fridays
57.  the smell of freshly baked bread
58.  a Saturday adventure

59.  root beer floats and oatmeal cookies -- though not necessarily together
60.  a colorful weekend in Ohio

"The art of deep seeing makes gratitude possible.  And it is the art of gratitude that makes joy possible.  Isn't joy the art of God?"  ~Ann Voskamp

Fog and Fall Colors

Thoughts of Thankfulness

34.  a "twisted peppermint" candle
35.  sharing a grapefruit with my girl
36.  a tree-lined street, in the colors of fall

37.  broccoli
38.  fog

39.  daughter wanting to try her hand at a pumpkin roll...  Love her "try" attitude.
40.  the van is fixed
41.  my daughter singing while she bakes 
42.  coffee with vanilla creamer
43.  scrappin' and laughin' time with Mom
44.  a warm house to come home to

Pumpkin Muffins

On page 199 of  my Betty Crocker Cookbook (c.1980) there's a plain muffin recipe with lots of variations listed.  I follow the Pumpkin Muffin variation.  Betty recommends adding raisins, but in our family we make that chocolate chips -- in this case, semi-sweet.  The muffins themselves aren't very sweet, so the chips are the perfect touch.

One more way to use pumpkin at this time of year!  (YAY!)

I hope you'll enjoy the recipe as much as our family does!

Pumpkin Muffins
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour (the book recommends NOT using wheat flour!)
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice**
1/3 c. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips


**The first time I made the recipe, I didn't have pumpkin pie spice in the house, so I used equal parts cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves - which in this case would translate to 1/2 tsp. each.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease bottoms of muffin cups, or use paper liners.  Beat egg; stir in milk, pumpkin, and oil.  Stir in remaining ingredients all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).  Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Immediately remove from pan.  Makes about 1 dozen muffins.

Thoughts of Thankfulness:

27.  warm feet on a chilly day

28.  a jack-o-lantern full of stars glowing in the yard

29.  the thought (from "One Thousand Gifts") that "Thanksgiving CREATES abundance"

30.  today, mission-minded...  a reminder not just to "live at 30,000 feet"  thinking globally, but also right here on the ground level at home

31.  the way my hubby grabs my hand as I walk by

32.  the beauty of a stained glass window

33.  the sound of little voices

One Year, & Thoughts on Slowing Down...

Thanks for stopping by from time to time,

and for listening to my ramblings.

I'm not sure what I thought I'd have to say

that anyone would want to listen to,

but I've rambled just the same

--and you've listened.

That's no small thing.

{group hug}

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

How ironic (or not ironic at all...) that on the same day I posted THIS, I later read these words from Ann Voskamp:

"In a world addicted to speed, I blur the moments into one unholy smear,"

-AND-

"Hurry always empties a soul."

I guess I was on the right track.  Slowing down is good.  Better.  BEST.

What tricks have you found that help you slow down, making you more aware of all that there is to be thankful for?

21.  just enough water in the boiled tea kettle to make that first cup of tea
22.  the tick of the clock which reminds me of my aloneness
23.  frosty grass - another indicator of the changing seasons
24.  our kids have good friends and are discerning about friendships
25.  pumpkin seeds, roasting in the oven
26.  oh how I love to bake -- thankful for each ingredient

Keep On Keeping On

So, I was off to such a good start.  Got the book on Saturday.  Was rolling through it over the weekend and Monday, and then the week got busy, and I let the busi-ness carry me away.

And I have reached these conclusions.

To do this right, I have to slow down.
To do this right, I have to keep my list close by.
To do this right, I need to discard this list on a piece of paper and pull out a journal.
To do this right, I need to take the journal with me when I go where I go.  Afterall, I'm not just thankful for things when I'm at home.

11.  home-baked cookies

12.  my sweet hubby bringing home goodies (today: strawberries)

13.  a housecleaning spree (who knows why)

14.  amazing friends

15.  clearer understanding of an issue

16.  a view of the sunrise for my son

17.  my son's hard work during a week of testing at school

18.  scrappin' time with my mom

19.  bargains at Penneys on Friday night

20.  a vanilla-spice candle

These are all honest bits of thankfulness from my heart, and yet after a week -- shouldn't there be about a million?  I'm not comparing to Ann - really.  I just know there should be so much more.

This coming week, my goal?  To slow down, to read more of the book, and appreciate smaller things.

Beginning

Today, amongst other things, I am thankful for:

1. receiving One Thousand Gifts, the book
2. family meals, all of us together
3. yard work completed
4. a purged garage
5. worship
6. teaching my girl about gifts
7. cleaned bathrooms
8. laundry, put away
9. an awesome high school guidance counselor who has helped us transition from homeschooling to public high school
10. yogurt - a healthy "guilty pleasure."

Don't Change the Story!

I was writing a post the other day (yet to be posted) in which I mentioned that if given the choice by God, (many days) I would gladly do toddlerhood-times-two if I could skip the teenage years.

Of course, I wrote that during a moment of surging emotions.

Yesterday, I received my copy of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I wasn't very far into the book before I read this:

" ...maybe you don't want to change the story, because you don't know what a different ending holds."

Ann continues:

" There's a reason I am not writing the story and God is.  He knows how it all works out, where it all leads, what it all means.  I don't."

Amen, Ann.

I knew there would be great things to learn from this book.

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven..."

Ecc. 3:1