I first saw this Giving Thanks Challenge at
Ruthi's. My article was already written but I had not posted it here yet. Now, my Thanksgiving article along with my Giving Thanks List, up to date and I will be back to it daily.
A time for harvesting more than wheat…
harvest your blessings and thanksgivings my friend,
may they be there for you tomorrow and thereafter
and celebrate! Celebrate what the Earth has given….
It is impossible for me to approach November and to write a single word without mention of Thanksgiving. A time for family, memories and stating our appreciation for the people and things we are most grateful. A time for harvest and celebrating what the earth has given us. It is a time that we remember to thank God for so many blessings, of the past year, while we prepare for the winter and the New Year ahead.
Every year it feels a bit more difficult to celebrate. It feels like trials and tribulations have been a fact of every day life now for four and a half years or better. Struggle is coming second nature and maybe I am learning how to deal with it. To have a reason for celebration is something I surely seek and will not pass up a chance to be on my bended knee in both a pleading for mercy and a gracious thank you for all that I know my life is fully and richly blessed with.
My celebrations come with hope that our Country will be wise. Our nation is filled with people who are diverse, some accepting and some not very understanding at all. My prayer would be for more of a compromise of everyone with one another. My family and I will celebrate Thanksgiving by sitting around a table that is filled with our favorite dishes and maybe a football game with some sangria and desert. The holiday traditions and dinners have become smaller over the years. This will be another year I will not see my daughter as she serves her Country. My husband and I usually do our celebrating alone, just us two. It has been that way especially so since our daughter left home.
We will be thankful to have our table though, even with all the marks of moving and other scratches from things forgotten about. My table shakes a little sometimes. It is not, nor ever has it been a magnificent piece of furniture. I do love to spread out dough on it when making a pie or cookies. We have often talked about replacing it or building a snack bar and getting rid of the table completely. At first, the thought might seem reasonable and I might flirt with the notion. Then, I think of how I would miss my not so perfect, but every bit charming little table. And it does have a leaf I can stick in the middle if we would ever need too. Right now, with its four chairs covered in the olive green material that I did myself this past summer, it is just right for us.
The food that we will set on that table will be prepared with every bit of love that was ever felt in this family. Our thoughts will be of loved ones passed on. (I will almost swear that my dear great aunt will be right behind me with her hand on my shoulder as I prepare the dishes that she also prepared so many years ago. My pie dough has improved greatly with her spirit’s direction, I can assure you.) We will probably discuss the ones that we no longer see and wonder why life has turned as it has. We will praise God for our daughter who is always on our minds and in our hearts. She has been our greatest blessing, our greatest joy.
We will say an extra thank you this year for the place we lay our heads. Our home may not be finished just as we would like it to be, but it is a fine home built with my husband’s two strong hands. I am personally very thankful for him, and to him. He has accomplished so much that so many told him was simply impossible, including myself. His strengths, determination and abilities have shown another side to him that makes me cherish him even more.
We will be thankful to have one another. We will break bread together, a meal prepared with heart, and our prayers sent to heaven for God’s ears. Our grace will include our thanks for our Freedom and the prices that have been paid by all. We will pray for those less fortunate and ask that my husband and I will be blessed to have another sweet year together. We know that the coming year ahead may bring to us turmoil, debt, goodbyes, illness, worry, fear, needless arguments and what ever else this crazy life has to offer. However, when Thanksgiving rolls around next year, we will do the same…. We will always continue to search our hearts and souls, finding all the good in life to praise God for the blessings that have been poured over us.
...........My Giving Thanks List for The Giving Thanks Challenge...........
Day 1 - I am giving thanks for my daughter. She is an amazing woman and I am so proud of her. She is my greatest success.
Day 2 - I am giving thanks for my husband. He is the love of my life.
Day 3 - I am giving thanks for my husband's job. He was out of work for over a year due to his company's down sizing.
Day 4 - I am giving thanks for our '92 Chevy truck. It is a 5 speed with 3 working gears but it gets my husband to work and he hauls our water with it.
Day 5 - I am giving thanks for our home. It is not finished yet. We have so much to do. We have a roof over our heads, it's cozy, warm and feels like home.
Day 6 - I am giving thanks for my health.
Day 7 - I am giving thanks for my computer.
Day 8 - I am giving thanks for the telephone service. We lived here for over 7 months without a phone. Since this was a new residence, it was very difficult getting our services started. Dial up is slow, but it is all I have and I am so thankful to have this phone line and it provides my internet.
Day 9 - I am giving thanks for Ruthi :) she is great and she is how I found this challenge.
Day 10 - I am giving thanks for the beloved pets in my life now and the ones that have passed on. Each of them have given so much to me.
Day 11 - I am giving thanks for our military members and their families. Past and present, dead and alive, active and non-active, and to those MIA.
Day 12 - I am giving thanks for the food in my kitchen.
Day 13 - I am giving thanks for my cooking skills and my ability to prepare meals that we love to eat.
Day 14 - I am giving thanks for my eyes and my sight that I can see the world, the beauty, the colors.
Day 15 - I am giving thanks for the water we have. We have to haul it here to our home and it is very precious to us. When you start from scratch, and there are no city hook ups, every little thing becomes such an important achievement.
Day 16 - I am giving thanks for the dead wood we have at our disposal. We are burning it for our source of heat.
Day 17 - I am giving thanks for my mother in law. She gave birth to my husband.
Day 18 - I am giving thanks for my parents.
Day 19 - I am giving thanks for my memories and that I am able to remember the good times of my life.
Day 20 - I am giving thanks for my digital camera. It was bought years ago as a present for our daughter and she has moved on replacing her technology. It has served me very well. I have captured so many wonderful pictures with it.
Day 21 - I am giving thanks for my PSP (Paint Shop Pro) It is an older version psp 6 to be exact and I have had it for years, but I do not know what in the world I would do without it. And, with the economy as it is, if I did not already have it, I would not be able to get it right now.
Day 22 - I am giving thanks for Rain. And, today I am giving even more thanks that it is only rain and not snow.
Day 23 - I am giving thanks for my Kitchen. It was not very long ago that all we had was four walls, roof and a floor. We lived here for sometime without any dividing walls what so ever. So every little nook and corner is cherished and adored. I still need more storage and counter space, but I just love my kitchen.
Day 24 - I am giving thanks for the animal shelters. We have rescued several fur babies over the years. Today I have two beautiful cats that are so good to me and I am grateful for the opportunity to give them a home.
Day 25 - I am giving thanks for our Thanksgiving dinner. Money is tight and having all our favorite dishes seems like a miracle.
Day 26 - I am giving thanks for my big mixing bowl. It belonged to my great-aunt and she used it constantly to prepare everything she made from scratch. It is the biggest bowl I have ever seen and I am certain it would be difficult to replace and not even mentioning the sentimental value
Day 27 - I am giving thanks for the birds that visit us regularly and sing their beautiful songs. Last year we would get every bit of 20 cardinals in our small woods, hanging in the trees. It was the most impressive thing and just wonderful. I think it is very unusual because normally cardinals are very territorial and maybe only a male and female will claim an area. This was really awesome to see. I hope they come back like that this December too.
Day 28 - I am giving thanks for the radio. Music gets me motivated and keeps my spirits up. And right now especially I am thankful that Sirius Radio is free for us from November 18 - December 1 it is free. We can hardly pick up anything here, but maybe one station that comes and goes. Thanks to the satellite radio , we can listen to absolutely anything that we want.
Day 29 - I am giving thanks for my books. It is not a good time for me to be purchasing a lot of new titles but I am fortunate to already have a large collection. Some I still have to read and that is exciting! There are many that I enjoy reading again and again, and I think that is exciting too!
Day 30 - I am giving thanks for this past year. A lot has changed and for the better. Good or bad, every day is a gift and in this past year I think I have learned that more than ever. So now I look forward and hope that I continue to apply what lessons I have learned.
The earlier part of the day I spent cooking and preparing our meal. While going back and forth from my kitchen, I was writing, visiting online friends and reading their works. -I am filled with much more than what food will give to me today.
The earlier part of the day I spent cooking and preparing our meal. While going back and forth from my kitchen, I was writing, visiting online friends and reading their works. -I am filled with much more than what food will give to me today.
Hidden Truths by Brenda Youngerman
Sorrowed Souls by Brenda Youngerman
Priavate Scars by Brenda Youngerman
Public Lies by Brenda Youngerman
Restored Hope by Brenda Youngerman
