Summer Thankfulness

Summer is fun and long and beautiful and weary for a mom. When needed, pack a lunch and meet friends at the park, stay for hours and take silly pictures.

In so many years from now, you'll look back on those pictures and marvel at how fast the time has gone, how grown the kids are and how you wish scooters at the park were all you needed to make a day great.

So thankful for good friends, fun park and scooters. What are you thankful for this summer? Comment below...I'd love to know!

When Wednesday Seems So Far From Sunday - Preparing for Thanks

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and many of us are in the middle of preparations -- cooking our favorite dish, tidying up our homes or searching the grocery store for that one ingredient.

As we prepare dishes and homes this Wednesday, let's not forget to prepare our hearts. It's in the  midst of preparations that hearts get forgotten. But hearts need reminders too, reminders to see and give thanks. 

What moments lie before us today and tomorrow that we can be thankful for?

What moments big or small can we pause to notice and pause to give thanks?

For me, it's unhurried mornings and slow breakfasts because there's nowhere we have to be.

It's a thankful jar made by little hands, filled high with slips of paper expressing thanks for all the things little hearts are always thankful for -- family, snow and no school.

It's a table filled with delicious food and tomorrow's leftovers.

There's so much to be thankful for if we take the time to look for it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Letting Thankfulness In

I love when Halloween changes over to Thanksgiving. One of my favorite after Halloween activities (besides sneaking Halloween candy) is to change the sign on our front door from Enter If You Dare to Give Thanks. I love the changing of the holidays and the simpleness of the Thanksgiving season.

One morning just a few days after I hung the sign on our door, my kids and I were having a hard time getting out the door and off to school--shoes were lost, gloves weren't on little hands and the dog was definitely not cooperating.

I was frustrated at our last minute forgetfulness, so on the way out, I shut the front door with just a little too much gusto. As I did, the Give Thanks sign fell off door and landed right at my feet.

God's timing of this moment was not lost on me. Although I had no desire to give thanks at that particular moment--I admit I was pretty irked the sign nearly fell on my big toe--the reminder was much needed.

I was taught well as a kid. I say please and thank you and the perfunctory thanks to God for this and that blessing during prayers. But, how often do I let that thankfulness get into me? How often do I let it be part of my daily routine? It sure wasn't part of my routine that morning. 

Instead, thankfulness had to hit me on the way out as a reminder to be thankful on the way in.

Each day I have moments where I can let thankfulness in. But I have to open the door to it first. I have to recognize the areas of this moment where I can be thankful and then look hard for those moments. 

Because missing shoes, mismatched gloves and stubborn dogs are commonplace around my house, they leave me lacking in thankfulness. I need a heart all ready prepared to see the thanks and blessings--I need a heart prepared on the way in.

Missing shoes and mismatched gloves means we have more than we need to keep us warm. A stubborn dog means we have room for fun and laughter in our lives. Morning mishaps mean more opportunities to extend grace. 

Don't let thankfulness hit you on the way out. Prepare your heart to recognize it then allow it to come in. Let it be part of your daily thoughts and let your moments be saturated in it. 

Let thankfulness in during this season and all seasons to come.

This post also appears on the gettingrealministries website.