~ Smile ~ What has God blessed us with?

As we enter this week and look ahead to Thanksgiving, I smile at what the Lord has been doing in my life and my family's life.

This past weekend has been a busy one for our family.  My dad, sister and I traveled down to NYC for a few days to help with a church and the food pantry that they run.  Wow!  What an eye opener!  Yes, we have all heard that story of how someone went somewhere, where the people were in serious need and there eyes were opened to how blessed they were.  But somehow, when it happens to you, it still hits you hard, right between the eyes.

How many times have I had to worry about where my next meal was coming from? Never.  How many times have I wondered if I would be warm enough when the snow comes? Never.  How many times have I wondered if there would be enough food left after looking at the 100 people in front of me in line at the food pantry? Never.  How many times have I gone looking through bags of donated clothes set out on a table hoping for a jacket for someone special? Never. How many times have I wished I could bake Christmas cookies with family members, but known that it would all depend on if a certain store donated the ingredients needed to make cookies? Never. How many times have I waited in line for hours in the cold to receive that days groceries? Never.  How many times have I thought about God, but not known how to get to know Him? Never.  How many times have I searched for peace, love, and joy, but not found it because I had never been taught where to find the Source of love, joy and peace? NEVER.  When have I ever had a hurricane come through and ruin ALL my posessions? Never. When have I ever had to wonder if the water I was drinking was actually hurting my body, more then helping it? Never.

God has given us so much and yet so often I fall short in my gratefulness.  As I look back on the weekend and think of the people that I met and talked with, I can think of so many other things I am thankful for.

A family that loves me! A genuine relationship with my Heavenly Father! The Gift of Salvation!
A whole copy of the Bible that is accurate!  The Fellowship of other Christians!  A wonderful Pastor and his family!  Clean, healthy food!  The opportunity I had to be homeschooled!  The ability to see, hear, touch, smell and taste!  That I was taught to read, write and study!  Ok, lets get closer to home here at the blog.....Computers, websites, blogs, meeting kindred spirits online, email, the internet, photographs, etc.

God is so good! This past fall my sister and volunteered at a Christian Camp in our neck of the woods and we made some wonderful friends or built even better relationships then we had already had.  One of my favorite memories from this fall was on the last night we got together (there are several people who work the camp, but six of us specifically had gotten close.)  We were sitting around a campfire late at night talking, roasting marshmallows, heating up chocolate and making s'mores and just talking.  How many people are able to do something like that....sure I can think of a lot who can, but there are even more who can't.  I think of the people who live in cities. They don't have the opportunity to build a warm fire, see the beautiful sparks, smell that wood smoke, roast those marshmallows and make s'mores.  Many of them don't have likeminded, Christian friends who encourage and uplift them.

I could go on and on....as I think most of us could.  What are you thankful for?  It would be so cool to have each person who reads this post to leave a comment and write down and LEAST ONE thing they are thankful for.  Your comments are always a blessing for us the authors but also to the rest of the reader as well :) - Another thing to be thankful for :} 

everyday adventures

A pebble, tumbling across a concrete path, goes before them, like a tapping herald. But the ones it foretells don't keep to the path for long; the wide field that stretches on either side is far more interesting. And so they go to explore it instead, spreading across in twos or threes.

Some make for the playground that juts from the ground not too far ahead, colored red, white, and blue as if Captain America's outfit had been stretched across it. One or two head for a few trees that cling to life in the rocky soil of the Texas plains. A few more simply find a place of almost-shade and sit down, studying the ants that clamber through the dirt, or trying to scrabble together enough sticks, bits of bark, and plastic detitrus to cobble together a rough hut that, in an imaginary world, is a home to tiny beings that look quite a lot like humans.

In the midst of this rifling through the close mysteries of creation, one discovers a big blue beetle, all shiny shell and knobby legs, queerly crooked and gangly, a glimpse at an alien world in the midst of a human one. There is a momentary shock at the sight of it, as instinct takes over until the one considers for a moment and scoots back a bit, watching as the alien shuffles into its new home. It shuffles right back out again, working its way up the trunk of the tree that the house rests against, but the alien is a good addition to the pretend world built up around the house, and so he becomes the tenant.

Another, one of those who found their way to the playground, has discovered a friend. Together, the two are chasing one another across a metal bridge become a castle's drawbridge, waving sticks that are transformed into swords possessed of magical abilities. But in the next breath, they are hunters in a jungle, chasing after a dread creature that casts terror into every villager within a hundred miles. Another blink, and they are aliens, swaying their way across earth to tear apart a city hastily constructed with a few scuffs of a sneaker in the gravel on the ground.

And in their imagination, all of them are great adventurers.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. - C. S. Lewis