Thanksgiving List A - Z

A- aunties, autumn, angels, air conditioning, adoption

B- babies, beaches, Bible, bathes, baseball,

C- car, Costco, clearance racks, cousins, cell phone, camera, church, cuddling

D- dresses, doggies, dishwasher, doctors, dentists, dancing

E- email, exercise, ebay, eyes

F- family, friends, freedom, flip flops, facebook, flowers, feet

G- garlic fries, Goodwill, gum

H- house, hope, hugs, hands, happiness, heat

I- ice cream, imagination, Imitrex,

J- jammies, jokes, jewelry, joy

K- kids, koolaid, kisses, knitting

L- laptop, light, lollypops, laughter, lip gloss, love

M- music, microwaves, mercy, make-up, movies

N- neighbors, nieces & nephews, nail polish

O- onion rings, ocean, oatmeal cookies

P- parents, pumpkin pie, prayer, purses, pepto

Q- quiet, quality time, quotes, Q-tips, quilts

R- rain boots, remote control, romance, relaxing, raspberries, Ryan Reynolds (hehe, jk)

S- sisters, Splenda, slippers, soccer, sunshine, silliness, Starbucks, soldiers,

T- texting, tea, thrift stores, teeth, toys, tacos, toilets

U- umbrella's, USA, unity

V- vitamins, vacation, veggies, vacuum, vanilla

W- washer machine, wisdom, water, weekends

X- Xanax

Y- yogurt, yard sales, yoga

Z- ziplock baggies, zoo

The Value of Time

To realize
The value of a sister/brother
Ask someone
Who doesn't have one.

To realize
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realize
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year:
Ask a student who
Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize
The value of one month:
Ask a mother
Who has given birth to
A premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
The value of one minute:
Ask a person
Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one second:
Ask a person
Who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when
You can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:

LOSE ONE.

The Whale

In case you missed a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.
And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

A New Year Blessing

May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,
and by making you anxious to be there to help.
God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

Thanksgiving 2010

I really wanted to get my Thanksgiving list posted last week but the storm that hit Kitsap county left me without power most of the week. Better late than never, right?

What a year this has been for me. It was my first year on my own as a single/working mom. It's been rough at times, but God continues to meet our needs and shower us with His bountiful blessings.

So many things to be thankful for:

The ABC's of Thanksgiving

Although things are not perfect

Because of trial or pain

Continue in thanksgiving

Do not allow your lips to complain.

Even when times are hard—

Fierce winds are bound to blow—

God is forever able;

Hold on to what you know.

Imagine life without His love.

Joy would cease to be.

Keep thanking Him for the things

Love imparts to thee.

Move out of "Camp Despair."

No weapon that is known

On earth can yield the power

Praise can do alone.

Quit living in the past;

Redeem the time at hand.

Start every day with worship.

Thanksgiving is God’s command!

Until we see him coming

Victorious in the sky,

We'll run the race with gratitude,

Xalting the Lord most high.

Yes, there will be times good and bad,

but . . .

Zion awaits where no one is ever sad.

Bitterness vs. Love

Bitterness imprisons life... love releases it.
Bitterness paralyzes life... love empowers it.
Bitterness sours life... love sweetens it.
Bitterness sickens life... love heals it.
Bitterness blinds life... love anoints it's eyes.