Giving Thanks

Good morning, All. Hope your week end was great. Our big news is KARSON LOST HER FIRST TOOTH AT SCHOOL FRIDAY! Oh, she looks adorable with her little missing bottom tooth if I do say so myself. She was beyond excited. Of course, I have included pictures below. She so wanted to lose it before kindergarten let out for the summer. Today is her last full day, so she barely made it.

Just wanted to send out a quick blog this morning. I have several verses I want to share. First, Psalm 118: 1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” For today, and as many days as you want, let’s set a timer either on our cell phones, kitchen clocks, work clocks, etc. for every hour, or if you want to be really ambitious, every thirty minutes. When the timer goes, off, take a minute to thank God specifically for some blessings in your life. You may even want to write them down. Many of you know about my gratitude journal, but for those who don’t, since January 1, I have been keeping a gratitude journal. Every day I write the date and then at least one, but usually more, blessings I’m thankful for. I try to be pretty specific. Some examples are: on 3/16, I thanked God for memories of eating at a place called Katherine’s Kitchen with my mom, grandmother, and sister when I was growing up. On April 27, I thanked God for Karson being really obedient when I asked her to clean up. On May 4, I thanked him for Connor “diving” under water to get his diving sticks, which meant him just sticking his little head under. This book has become a priceless treasure to me, and when I look back at it, I am AMAZED by all the blessings God gives me everyday. I would strongly recommend you try out the gratitude journal. You wouldn’t have to write in it every day; you could modify it to fit your lifestyle, but the point is not skipping over God’s blessings and taking them for granted. Another verse I wanted to share today is Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” In our world, it seems like we live by the “nothing is ever enough; give me, give me, give me” mentality. We are surrounded by the media pushing “more, more, more”. This is sad because, unfortunately, when we are constantly wanting”more,” we miss what we already have right in front of us…things as simple as a cool breeze just at the right time or a big smile from one of our children. Something to keep in mind is that the world will leave you empty no matter how much you attain. True peace is only found in filling yourself with God and finding your identity in Him.

I have to give a shout out to one of my best friends, Hannah. She introduced me to a book (almost a year ago) called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I highly recommend this book. It truly changed my life in the areas of being content and thankful. It isn’t necessarily an easy read, but for me, it was well worth the effort.

Love to all!

PS – Go set your timersJ.



Here is the little snaggle tooth; unfortunately there is a pink glare, but you get the idea.



Here she is opening her letter from the toth fairy.



Counting her tooth fairy money...