Weekly Gratitude Journal

As I was preparing this post I realize I didn't record a huge answer to prayer for one of my sister's grandsons that our family has been praying for. I just have to mention it since it's not in my list down below. I wrote it down in my journal today though. It's never too late to give thanks for an answer to prayer! There are so very many things to be thankful for, big and small, but in my opinion the greatest thing to be thankful for is God's love and divine intervention in people's lives. If you have loved ones you are interceding for, don't give up. God's persistence is greater than their resistance. Keep praying and keep giving thanks that God is always working.

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Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks, 

piling up gratitude day by day in my journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#16,949-#16,990

5-8-2023-

-God's help with the notes for tomorrow's meeting

-praying on FaceTime with my sweet grandson who is sick

-God's provision and care for us

5-9-2023-

-God's help and wisdom when I ask

-our growth groups praying for our grandson

-tonight's meeting

5-10-2023-

-a preventative check for skin cancer that went well

-new baby leaves on the fiddle leaf fig I thought I'd killed

-the trees full of birds singing on my walk today

5-11-2023-

-our second grandson is nine today!

-our third grandson who was so sick is much better

-God speaking very clearly and personally to my heart

5-12-2023-

-our firstborn grandson is nineteen today!!!

-a condo on the beach reserved for our time with our east coast kids

-a beautiful day off and a day trip to a new to us beach

5-13-2023-

-freshly mowed grass

-summer weather in May

-a nice long heart talk with my big sister

5-14-2023-

-videos from my South Carolina grandkids

-singing The Blessings with all of the mamas and their kids who were at church today

-my nephew and his family joining us for lunch

5-15-2023-

-a good follow up visit with my doctor-

I'm healthy and well, thank You, God!

-a freshly groomed pup

-our five year old grandson talking the waiter into free cake because 

"it's almost my birthday!" (It's ten days away.)

5-16-2023-

-God working out the details for loved ones I've been praying for

-making Joanna Gaines chocolate muffins to share with others

-lunch, prayer, planning and heart talk with a friend

5-17-2023-

-my almost six year old grandson asking if I can stay an extra week when we visit-(Papa said yes!)

-God's care and protection of my heart when running into an old friend who greatly hurt me

-God's care for me when I got so sick in the night

5-18-2023-

-our friend from Hawaii joining our growth group online for prayer

-a clearance sale windbreaker for our trip

-getting to be at our granddaughter's school concert

5-19-2023-

-our secondborn daughter-today is her birthday!

-irises in bloom in our backyard

-a caring friend

2-20-2023-

-a new summer nightgown

-a clean house

-my husband changing my flight so I can stay an extra week in Florida!

2-21-2023-

-our church family

-a friend's help weeding my front flowerbeds

-love and forgiveness

still following,

Weekly Gratitude Journal

Sometimes I have to look back through my gratitude journal to figure out where the time went. How is it already the ninth of May? I continually have good intentions to post more regularly and then this happens. Time has zoomed by and I can't figure out where it went. It's curious that I look in my gratitude journal rather than at my calendar. On the calendar are weekly and monthly meetings, and growth groups and leadership meetings and gatherings and dinners and birthdays and holidays. But in my journal are recorded sweet moments spent in the early mornings with my hot cup of coffee and my open Bible and journal, phone calls with siblings, FaceTime calls with grandkids, walks in the unpredictable spring weather of the Pacific Northwest, a Saturday afternoon spent with a friend, a pot of tea on a weekday afternoon and deep conversation and prayer with another friend, date days with my husband. In other words, recorded in my gratitude journal are both the ways I'm spending this one precious life God has given me and the ways God has met me and blessed me in the middle of it all. With that said, join me as I share some of those ways here with you. Today it's the past three weeks...

***************

Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks, 

piling up gratitude day by day in my journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#16,882-#16,948

4-17-2023-

-waking up to sunshine

-God's faithful provision and care for us

-good reports of what God is doing in our growth groups

4-18-2023-

-God is hearing and answering our prayers for a loved one

-our youngest grandson went from not talking to talking up a storm, 

seemingly overnight!

-getting a walk in the one hour it didn't rain today!

4-19-2023-

-a good report from my physical-thank You, Lord for a healthy body!

-phone chats with all three of my girls today

-a sunny evening after a rainy day

4-20-2023-

-a nice hot Venti Americano

-such good weekly prayer points and scriptures prepared by one of the women in our church

-tonight's Bible study was so good!

4-21-2023-

-Friday Date Day with my guy

-finding some new walking shoes that I needed, at a discount price!

-my hub's giving our pup a bath

4-22-2023-

-a sweet time of prayer and the Word

-a clean house

-tea and catching up with J.

-a phone call with my oldest sister

-our favorite muffins (with eggs-breakfast for dinner)

4-23-2023-

-a baby dedication

-a good morning in God's house

-Sunday afternoon rest

4-24-2023-

-a FaceTime call with my youngest granddaughter

-a successful gluten free cheddar garlic biscuit made for my friend who has celiac

-a delicious dinner, fellowship, communion, prayer and time of sharing at growth group

4-25-2023-

-lunch with our oldest daughter and her husband

-a beautiful, sunny spring day

-God working out what could have been a difficult situation in a beautiful way

4-26-2023-

God's abundant care for us

-a walk by the sea

-a phone chat and prayer with a friend

4-27-2023-

-a warm and sunny day

-sharing a pot of tea with a friend

-an encouraging and helpful call with a leader

4-28-2023-

-a slow, lazy Friday date day morning

-summer like weather

-dinner outside by the river

4-29-2023-

-a fun Saturday afternoon with a friend

-finding the perfect gift for someone

-this beautiful day

4-30-2023-

-Sunday morning Sbux in bed before church

-trusting God with life's unknowns

-walking our dog with my friend and her dog

5-1-2023-

-It's May!

-roast beef, potatoes, carrots and homemade sourdough bread shared with friends

-God's provision

-a bouquet of lilacs from our backyard

5-2-2023-

-my husband filling up my car for me

-buying and making some fun things in anticipation of decorating my grandson's birthday cake

-going to our eleven year old granddaughter's school concert

5-3-2023-

-a new journal

-lunch with a friend I've not seen in a long time

-God's comfort when I feel alone

5-4-2023-

-waking up to a thunder and lightening storm

-God speaking to me from Judges 2 and 3

-a kind and gentle phlebotomist 

5-5-2023-

-Facetime call with my middle girl and her two youngest boys

-sweet text from my oldest grandson

a lazy Friday date day with my guy

5-6-2023-

-good results of my bloodwork

-an especially sweet time in the word and prayer this morning

-a young man from church mowing our grass for us

-my guy bringing home dinner so I didn't have to cook tonight

5-7-2023-

-a great Sunday worship time, message and discussion

-a nice Sunday afternoon nap after waking up at 4:30 this morning for some unknown reason

-a Sunday evening walk

still following,

Weekly Gratitude Post

Do you remember that a year ago last December my husband talked me into getting him a puppy for his Christmas gift? 

Sal, my husband's silver labradoodle is a year and a half old now and has settled into being a fun addition to our empty nest. Even though she's his dog, per our agreement before getting her, she's become my walking companion. Today we managed to take a nice brisk walk in the one hour that it wasn't raining. I'm thankful for that.

I'm thankful for videos of our youngest grandson talking so clearly now. It seems like he went from a few random words to being a fluent talker overnight. Dislike is too mild of a word for my feelings about living clear across the country from him, but I'm so thankful that I can see him on FaceTime and through videos sent via text. We've come a long way from when my mama got news of what my little girls were doing via handwritten letters and the U.S. postal service. There are certainly disadvantages to our technology driven lives, but being able to talk to and see my far away daughters and grandkids on my phone whenever I want is one big plus.

We are having an awfully cold and wet spring this year. But last Friday, the weather was beautiful. Hip, Hip, Hurray! We took a Friday date day drive to the beach. Oh, how I needed that walk by the sea! And I found a great piece of sea glass, just moments after beginning my walk. For the nice weather, a lovely date day with my husband, a delicious seafood lunch, a walk by the sea, finding seaglass and a pup that is now a great traveler, (unlike her disastrous puppy stage), and walking companion I give God thanks.

There are always things about life that I wish were different, from life's little annoyances, like this gray, wet, cold, spring, to life's big things, like concerns for people I love and the ever increasing darkness and chaos of this sin-twisted world. "Yet, I remember" is a phrase often used in the Psalms, usually after some lines about sorrow or suffering or frustration or anger. Yet, I remember the writer says, and then shifts the focus from his lament to the character and lovingkindness and faithfulness of God. Deliberately giving God thanks each day is similarly a sift of focus, from what I wish was different, to the blessings of the life I've been given. And I've been given so very many blessings, more than I can count...but I intend to keep on trying.

***************

Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks, 

piling up gratitude day by day in my journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#16,826-#16,881

4-1-2023-

-the freedom of asking for forgiveness and being forgiven

-a fun day of antiquing with a friend

-sweet photos of my grandkid's t-ball game and their faces aglow with delight at Disney on Ice

4-2-2023-

-Robin Mark's Prodigal Heart Song

-God's Word preached

-a writing idea started

4-3-2023-

-putting new shelf liner in the kitchen cabinets while listening to worship music

-my friend and her grandson unharmed in a car accident

-a nice evening walk

4-4-2023-

-our son-in-law-today's his birthday!

-God's clear direction for an upcoming meeting

-dinner, fellowship, planning and prayer with my Visionary Leadership Team

4-5-2023-

-waking up headache free!

-an "everything looks great" report from the dentist

-a long phone chat with my granddaughter

4-6-2023-

-Psalms 42 and Nicky Gumbel's commentary on it on the You Verson App.

-a mini trampoline to work out on when it's just too stormy and wet to walk outside

-tonight's teaching on the cross

4-7-2023-

-a sweet Friday date day together

-a clearance sale Easter dress

-delicious hazelnut crusted halibut

4-8-2023-

-an early morning walk

-baking for Easter all afternoon ( I love to bake!)

-Nathaniel Bassey's new album

-facetime calls with all of the youngest four grands

4-9-2023-

-Christ is risen!

-texts of the grandkids in their Easter clothes

-Christ our Passover Lamb

-His body broken for us, His blood shed for us

-Easter dinner with family and friends

4-10-2023-

-God's Word

-a rainy day tucked inside studying and prepping for tomorrow's meeting

-God's care and provision for us

4-11-2023-

-our youngest daughter-today's her birthday!

-God's help with my notes for tonight's meeting

-hearing from my granddaughter

-a nice long phone chat with my sister

4-12-2023-

-answers from the dr. about my husband's back pain

-my favorite hot tea

-our women inviting their friends to church/our women's meeting

-answers to prayer for our friends new grand baby

4-13-2023-

-pink sunrise

-the Holy Spirit's help to pray

-God's provision

-all of those praying for my husband's back

4-14-2023-

-my husband woke up pain free for the first time in five days!

-a beautiful day to take a drive to the beach!

-a perfect piece of seagrass just for me!

-a nice long walk by the sea

4-15-2023-

-a home to clean

-my husband bringing home dinner so I don't have to cook tonight

-a beautiful evening walk

-stunning cloud formations in the evening sky

4-16-2023-

-Sunday! Thank you God for being able to gather together, worship together, hear Your word preached, grow and learn

-my husband and our fourteen year old great nephew accidentally wore exact matching shirts to church today 😂

-trying a new to us restaurant with our nephew and his family

still following,

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