I can't believe four months have flown by since I last posted! And in that post I expressed a desire to get back to writing and posting more often. Then, life happened! The scripture really is true, we are blind to what awaits us tomorrow. We can make plans, the Bible says, but it's God who directs our steps. The months have flown by filled with plans, appointments and events written in the calendar squares of my planner. Unexpected events and the needs of others around me fill in some of the empty spaces. Happy times, hard times, ordinary days filled with repetitious tasks, each one is spr ..read more

We are already halfway through January 2024 and I'm just now sitting down to post the last of 2023's gratitude journal posts. God is so good and so kind and so faithful-way beyond anything we could earn or deserve. There is no way I could thank Him enough for His watchful and affectionate and steadfast care for us, our family, our extended families and our church family. The discipline of writing down at least three things that I'm thankful for each day doesn't even scratch the surface of His many, many kindnesses and blessings to me, to us. This week some old blog posts of mine popped up ..read more

I should change the title of these gratitude posts from Weekly Gratitude Post to Monthly Gratitude Post. How in the world did I ever used to post on my blog not just every week but several times a week? November zoomed by. We were blessed to be able to spend time with all three of our daughters and all of our grandchildren, (Technically, I didn't get to spend time with our oldest grandson, but my husband was able to make a quick trip to watch him play in one of his college football games.) Anyway, I'm especially thankful for the time we had with our family. We won't be w ..read more

It's November, the month of Thanksgiving! I love the Thanksgiving holiday and the way that it reminds us to express our gratitude. However, gratitude is an attitude that should be fostered as a lifestyle. We should express gratitude to the people God has placed in our life but above all we should be mindful to give thanks to God, "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:36  I'm posting all the rest of October's gratitude journal entries today. This month I will be giving thanks every day of the month ..read more

Oh my goodness! I used to be so faithful to post my gratitude list every Monday. Now it's often weeks in between postings. When I let this space become more quiet in order to devote more of my time and attention to what God was asking me to do in our church and in my "in real life" relationships, He took me up on it! But I also recognize that there is still time that I waste that I could use to do more writing and posting. In the past fourteen years I've counted and kept record of over 17,000 things for which I give God thanks. I've filled many little journals with each day's date and ..read more

We were able to spend four days at the little cabin on the Umpqua River last week. Our youngest daughter's in-laws own the cabin and graciously allow us to use it. If you read my last gratitude post you know that this has not been an easy summer. More big changes with the out of state move of our oldest daughter and her family. Then there's the never ending road construction happening behind and next to our house. The mess! The noise! The devastation to our yard! Add on top of that all of the usual busyness of ministry life and boy did I need a few days of peace and quiet and rest. It ..read more

The noise begins at six thirty a.m. It's the rumble of heavy equipment getting into place for the day's work that will begin within the hour. The road behind our house and the street next to our house have been torn up all summer long due to a big reconstruction project. In the end, it should reduce the speed and the noise of the traffic on the road behind our house, but in the meanwhile its been quite miserable this summer-loud, dusty and ugly. Access to part of our yard and the temporary disablement of our sprinkler system was part of the county construction agreement. Our yard ..read more

The original plan was to fly to the east coast for two weeks to visit our kids who live in Florida and celebrate our grandson's sixth birthday and then to drive to South Carolina to attend our oldest grandson's high school graduation and then celebrate our youngest grandson's third birthday. Shortly before we left, our soon to be six year old grandson Facetimed me and asked me to stay in Florida for an extra week. And so I did! We had a fantastic time! After all of the  celebrations and then five nights at a condo at the beach with our east coast kids and grands my ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more