If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.Romans 10:9 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.John 3:16
I am thankful for God's Word. I'm currently reading in the Psalms and enjoying them. I was looking through for a verse to share today and I found this one that I have highlighted at some point.
Psalm 9:10 "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you." I know He will never abandon me and that brings such peace.
I'm thankful for:
my husband
my girls
my grandson
my sister
my brother
my mother-in-law
my church family
my dog
my home (we woke up to another fresh layer of snow this morning-which makes me so happy that we have a warm place to live)
There are so many, many more things that I am thankful for. Most of all my Savior and Lord.
Today I am thankful for our neighbor. Actually, all of our neighbors are great. I think we're the oldest of all our direct neighbors. I know there are older ones further up the road, but our direct neighbors on both sides and across the street I believe are younger than us. So many times one or the other have helped us or at least offered to help. They have always treated us very good. But this week the man that lives right across the street from us was a major help to us.
With all the snow we had Sunday and Monday (9 1/2 inches) we were definitely snowed in. When it finally stopped snowing and I noticed he was out across the street cleaning (with a snow blower) his drive, I finally decided to go try to shovel us out. I knew I was going to have to do it just a bit at a time and rest and then continue. Hubby can no longer do that kind of physical labor but we needed to be able to get out sooner or later. Hubby was worried about me doing it because I had gotten a report last year that I have a heart murmur and that probably sometime in the next 6-8 years I would have to have my aortic valve replaced (my mom had the same thing). So he was inside praying that God would watch over me or send someone to do the drive for us.
The neighbor next door was shoveling his drive when I came out and we talked for a few minutes. I started shoveling and I heard someone yell. I looked up and saw Tom across the street in his garage and he told me to stop shoveling. He said he'd be right over to do our drive. Within 5-10 minutes God had answered hubby's prayer and the neighbor did an excellent job for us. I tried to give him gas money, but he refused it. I thanked him over and over. He was just so kind and did such a good job. I am so thankful for our neighbors!
* The beginning of a new year which seems like a good time for a fresh start. I know God's mercies are new every morning and we can always start fresh any time, but the new year just seems like a perfect time to make sure all is good between me and the Lord and to remind myself how much He loves me and all that He does for me.
Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
* Bible reading for 2025 - My plan is to read the complete Bible in chronological order. I think it's been about 2-3 years since I've read the whole Bible through. I really want to do that this year and I love to read it chronologically. So we'll see how it goes. How are you reading the Bible this year?
* Hubby preached a really good sermon Sunday he entitled, "A Place Called Wit's End." Here's a pre-recorded version of that sermon. I am so thankful for the truth He teaches us each week.
* Cousins. I love my family and I hope us cousins in this picture and the others we have in this area will be able to get together a little more often in 2025.
I plan on being intentionally thankful and to continue with these Thankful Thursday posts for 2025. I want to always remember to be thankful for all the Lord has done for me like the song below says,
Count Your Many Blessings
1. When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
(Refrain)
2. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.
(Refrain)
3. When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
(Refrain)
4. So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.
(Refrain)
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
That's all I'll list for today. So what are you thankful for? I would love to know.
As I sit writing this post it is late Christmas evening. It's been a good day. Here are some things I am thankful for this week and they are in no particular order.
Jesus. I think so often I forget how much He has done for me. He left the splendor of heaven to become a human and to die for my sins. And now I am reconciled to God and will get to spend eternity with Him and with all the saved! What a gift!!!
Our Lucy! Sometimes this little one can aggravate the fire out of me. But mostly she gives me joy and comfort and lots of laughter.
My dishwasher just chimed to signal the cycle is done. I am very thankful for my dishwasher and feel so blessed to not have to wash dishes by hand all the time. We bought a new one this year and I am very pleased with it. It washes better than any one I've had before. Sometimes it's the simple things that bring the most joy.
My family, of course. We had lunch with my mother-in-law on Christmas. We spoke, texted, and/or Marco Polo'd with both girls on Christmas. Texted with my brother and talked with my sister. I sent bunches of texts of Merry Christmas out this morning and have been receiving many back throughout the whole day. Oh and of course, my grandson, Colton! He is a treasure!
Christmas Presents were fun this year. I got a favorite candle and can't wait to burn it. Plans are to do that in my little office at church after the new year starts. I also got a book and a new 40 oz mug that I love. Those were from my girls. I bought several things for myself in the past week and hubby bought a new i-pad and accessories for himself for Christmas.
Feeling very blessed this evening before heading for bed. What are you thankful for this evening? Thanks for visiting. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night,
Today, I am thankful for hearing from both of my girls this morning and that they and their families are safe. God was so good to us and I praise Him for their safety. We have other family members and so far the ones we've heard from are okay. I've also read posts from so many of you that have made it through safely. So today, I am thankful that God took care of you overnight. I know you may find that you have property damages or no electric, but you have your life and I'm thankful for that this morning. I will keep praying for the rest of your needs.
From GoodReads: "Lena Stevens has lived through more than her share of troubles. After losing her mother and father when she was young, Lena learned that every kindness came with obligation. Now a widow with a small child, Lena has lost the one thing she had left: her house. She has no desire to be a burden on her neighbor, even if the man was foolish enough to promise her late husband to watch out for her. But when propriety demands a marriage, Lena makes Anker vow to annul it come spring.
Anker has longed for a wife--but not like this. A forced marriage. A pretend marriage. HeH will do what he must to protect Lena and Charlie throughout the winter. But as days stretch into months, his admiration for the spirited young woman begins to turn to something else. Something more...
Anker and Lena both had their reasons for wanting a temporary marriage. But when spring arrives, will they regret their vow to end the union?"
"The Homesteader's Sweetheart" by Lacy Williams
From Goodreads: "Homesteader Jonas White is a single father to a passel of orphaned boys--and the tiny girl whose birth changed his life and got him banished from the only home he'd ever known.
Penny Castlerock is the daughter of a wealthy banker. Far out of Jonas's reach. And the only person in the small Wyoming town who knows his secret. When a sinister threat chases Penny out of town and to the refuge of Jonas's ranch, she finds herself completely out of her element on the isolated, rustic homestead. And drawn to the handsome rancher and his patchwork family.
*single dad raising orphans *matchmaking kids *from different worlds *heroine on the run"
"An Amish Heart Awakens" by Ruth Troyer
From GoodReads. "After tragedy strikes, Lydia Miller returns to her Amish roots, seeking comfort in the simplicity of her former life. But when her young son, David, befriends the aloof and brooding farmer Jacob Fisher, Lydia finds herself drawn into a relationship she never expected.
Jacob, scarred by his own past, slowly begins to thaw as Lydia and David bring light into his life.
Together, they must confront old wounds and decide whether they are willing to embrace the possibility of new love.
Will their shared sorrows lead to healing and a chance at happiness?"
I enjoyed all three of these books. Christian Romance is my favorite genre to read..
I accidently left my computer at church yesterday, so I didn't have it here to make a Thankful Thursday post. I picked it up today and am just now taking time to write a post. I'm going to make a combo post of Thanks and Friday Photos. I only have four photos and they are from this morning's walk with Lucy. We walked around 8:00am and the temperature was 61 degrees which was just about perfect.
Lucy walking up the hill towards the east.
She was pretty much a slowpoke this morning, but that's okay, cause I'm pretty slow too. Some days it seems she wants to smell every blade of grass. lol
The moon was still out
Here's a close up
I am so thankful for beautiful mornings when I get to walk. And of course I'm always thankful when I wake up on this side of the dirt to have another day to enjoy all of God's beautiful creations. What are you thankful for?
It's a favorite to have another one ready to work next.
Another favorite is shopping with my sister. That's what we did this morning. We went to a school supply store so I could buy some things for the bulletin board in the lobby of church. I got some really cool things for fall. Then we went to Sam's and I got more than I really planned, but so fun. Next was Hobby Lobby where I bought another jigsaw puzzle at half price which I'll save until closer to Christmas.
Another favorite was finishing a book last night (see in my sidebar) and having another set up and ready to start reading hopefully later this evening.
Thanks for visiting. What are you thankful for and what are some of your favorite things.
I try on most Thursdays to make a post of things I am thankful for. I believe it’s important to be intentional about giving thanks to the Lord, because He is worthy. So, here are a few of the things I’m thinking about and giving praise to God for.
Music - I love many different kinds of music and I’m so thankful for the joy it brings to me and that we can use music to honor and praise Him.
Laughter - I love to laugh and I love to hear others laugh. A good belly laugh can sure add a lot of joy to my day.
Bible Study - Our fall Bible Study started Tuesday. It was so good seeing all these ladies again and having some new ones join us too. We’re studying Luke using this study by Lisa Harper.
Skies - I love beautiful sun rises and sunsets. I love night skies and day skies. I love seeing all the beautiful skies that God gives us. I don’t know how anyone can look up at the sky and then believe there is no God.
Family and Friends - I am so grateful for my immediate family and my extended family, my church family, my friends and my blogging friends. I feel so blessed having all these in my life.
So, what’s something you are thankful for today? I’d love to know. Thanks for visiting here.
* God is always with us - He doesn't always take us out of our problems, but He always will walk through them with us. (How do people live this life without Him)
* Day trip we took yesterday to a small area of Amish stores and some residents. We went to a General Store and a Bakery. I bought some cheese, ham, butter, yellow tomatoes, chia seeds, and whoopie pies. It's been quite awhile since I've had a whoopie pie and it was delicious!
* On this same trip, we saw the cutest thing. As we were heading back towards home, we were behind a school bus. They stopped, and as we were watching, about 7-8 little dogs came running down the driveway towards the bus and the child getting off. They were the cutest little things and they just looked so happy running toward their child. This scene just made us all so happy. Puppies are the best and I'm so thankful for ours too.
* My new yarn winder. I ripped out the afghan I was making and rather than winding them in balls, I instead used the yarn winder. It's actually kind of fun and it is so fast and easy. I'm also using it to wind up my partial skeins of yarn, so I can neaten up my yarn stash storage shelves. This is good because, it's fun, it's helping me to get the restart on my afghan, plus it's helping me with cleaning up my craft room.
* Always my family, friends, and you, my blogging friends.
So what are you thankful for this week? I would love to hear about it. Thanks for visiting.
Good morning. It's another beautiful day that God has given us and I want to give Him thanks:
*For Lucy who woke me up this morning to take her out. So I cleaned up enough to go take a walk around the neighborhood. I love when I can talk myself into getting my exercise done first thing. Things I'm thankful for during my walk:
*The beautiful sunshine and wonderful temperatures which were around 50 this morning.
*Listening to the birds singing and seeing the squirrels running around and waving and saying hi to people that are heading out to work for the day.
*Talking to God about things as they come to mind.
*Coming in when we were done walking and finding out hubby had made some plans for us for the day as we are not going to the church.
*He's also researching some documentaries for us to watch. We both enjoy a good documentary.
*Blessings He gives us every day.
*Health - even though not perfect, we are good.
*Air to breath
*A husband who loves me just as I am.
*A dog who loves me just as I am.
*Food to eat.
*And many more blessings each day.
*And I am most thankful for my God who loves me just as I am, but is also helping me to grow and learn to be more like Jesus. I've got a long way to go, but I believe I am farther along in the process than I was a year ago.
Thank you friends, for visiting and I hope each of you take a moment to give thanks to God today too.
I'm writing this on Wednesday evening. I'm thankful that hubby and I are planning to take a drive tomorrow to Plain City, OH. First of all, I love having a day together to do something we both enjoy. I'm so looking forward to being together for the driving and we'll be driving through many farm fields and small towns. I hoping to get some pictures too. Our plan is to eat at an Amish style restaurant...food is awesome. Then they have some shops and a bakery connected to them. I'm sure I'll take a run through and see if there is anything I need (lol). After that, I'm hoping to stop at a farmer's market close by and then we may stop at Young's Dairy Farm (they have some cute goats that are always fun to watch and photograph) and we might even get an ice cream. They have some of the best ice cream. After that I'm sure we'll mosey the rest of the way home.
We'll see if all this really happens. But whether or not it does, I'm thankful to be spending the day with my hubby.
It's been several weeks since I've written a Thankful Thursday post. Here are some things I'm thinking of this morning that I am thankful for.
*Beautiful Weather: The last couple of days we've had a little bit of cooler weather and I think it's going to be even better this weekend. I've been a little lazy lately about walking. Part of the reason, is the heat, but mostly just my laziness. But we did it today (me and Lucy) and I'm so glad that we did. I always feel so much better when I just do it!
My favorite flowers (morning glory) We saw these this morning on our walk.
*Family: I'm so grateful for my husband and my girls and my grandson and our extended family also. Each one of them are so very special to me.
*Church: Our church family is very special to me too. We have some really great prayer warriors who are so faithful to pray for each other. This means the world to me.
*Scripture: One of my favorites right now is Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." When I'm getting upset and fearful about hard situations, Jesus is bringing this scripture to mind and it certainly helps me to calm down and trust Him. I'm not perfect at this, but I'm getting better. The other night I was starting to get upset about something a family member is going through. Tracy and I were watching TV (well actually I was worrying and starting to feel fearful), I asked hubby to stop the show and asked Him to pray right then for me to calm down. He did and more importantly, God did help me. We went back to watch the show and I was calmer and I even slept really well that night. Thank you God for proving your word and your promises will never fail.
I'll stop here and ask you, What are you thankful for today?
1. The Olympics kick off this coming weekend. Will you be watching? Hopefully I'll get to watch some of it, If you could watch just one event in person, which one would you choose? Ladies' Gymnastics - I would like to see Simone Biles.
2. Have you ever been to Paris? No Is this a city you'd like to visit? Not really. What's your favorite 'French thing'? I have no idea.
3. Macaron, creme brulee, chocolate soufle, mille feuille, or an eclair...your favorite French patisserie from the ones listed? Eclair
4. July 24th is National Cousins Day...do you have many cousins? Yes, I have lots of them. Are you close to them? Some yes...Love them all, but don't get to see a lot of them very often. Will you see any of your cousins on July 24th? No, I didn't.
5. Last time you went somewhere that felt like 'everyone and his cousin' was there? Probably a graduation party a few weeks ago. Here are a group of the cousins who were there. These are some of the cousins from my mom's side of the family.
6. Insert your own random thought here. Adding my Thankful Thursday post here.
I am thankful for:
* Visit with daughter: We had so much fun for those few days.
* Bible Study: Just finished the 2nd Bible Study with my daughter. "Gospel on the Ground" by Kristi McClelland. I'm thankful for the chance to actually do the last 2 videos in person. We actually have one more discussion to go to completely finish it.
* Crocheting: I've been enjoying crocheting a lot lately. I'm working on a pink baby blanket.
* Cooler Weather: We've had a short time of a little cooler weather and I've loved that.
* Crown: Finally got my crown finished and it feels pretty good. I hope I'm finished for awhile with seeing the dentist.
That's all I'll list for now. Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a wonderful day.
*Our new stove/oven delivered and installed last Thursday.
*Our new dishwasher is supposed to be delivered and installed today.
*The Bible Study my daughter and I are doing together - Kristi McClelland's Gospel on the Ground.
I was thankful for the Starbuck drink too. lol
*I'm thankful to be blogging again. The break was good for me as I was just feeling overwhelmed. Then while I was on break hubby became ill. We're still not sure what was wrong, but he was pretty sick for a bit. He's much better now and is almost back to where he was before he got sick.
*I missed you all and I'm happy to be back again and catching up on your lives. I am very thankful for each one of you.
* Our Ladies' Bible Study was finished last night and I believe we all enjoyed it a lot. In fact, they want our fall study to be by the same author/speaker and I plan to accommodate them.
* Kelli gave me a Bible study for Mother's Day. It is Kristi McClelland's "The Gospel on the Ground". We plan to start it next week.
* I had my annual mammogram appointment yesterday and all is well. It's been 8 years now and I am so blessed.
* We've had some really beautiful weather...I'm enjoying the sunshine and even the rain. Temperatures haven't been too bad, but I'm pretty sure summer is here to stay and it will be getting hotter and hotter...
* That's why I'm very thankful for air conditioning. lol
So tell me what you are thankful for. I'd love to know.
* Our Crochet Group - The ladies I meet with are Christians and I learn so much when we are together. We talk together as we crochet and I feel that I can call them friends and even more we are sisters in Christ.
* Another Day - I'm always glad to awake to a new day and find that I am well and still alive. Today is an absolutely beautiful day outside with blue skies and temperatures that are very pleasant.
* Family - All my family, including my husband, girls, sons-in-law, grandson, siblings, mother-in-law, brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, cousins, nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles. I feel so blessed.
* Unexpected Gift - One day this past week, we were in line at Burger King to get a couple of Diet Cokes. When we got to the window to pay, someone in front of us had already paid for us. What a sweet blessing it gave us.
* Another Gift - I received this beautiful bouquet of roses from a friend at church. These are roses she grows herself. Red, orange and yellow. She brought them to me Sunday morning and I have been enjoying them very much.
I'll stop here for today. I am so thankful for all God's many blessings on me. Thanks for visiting here and I hope you are having a wonderful day.
*Quiet Morning - we've just been relaxing. I've watched some of the show, "The Baxters". I read these books by Karen Kingsbury a few years ago. I also made up some fresh hummingbird sugar water and will clean and change out the feeders later today.
*Enjoying looking out the back door and watching the birds play. Saw a cardinal couple up close on the porch. Lucy is sitting at the door watching all the activity too.
*God kept us safe Tuesday night during the storm and tornado warnings and even the sirens going off.
*It's a good day, and it always is, when I start it out with God. Unfortunately, I don't always remember to do that first.
*I'm also thankful for my blogging friends.
That's all I'll list for now. I'll be linking up with Jennifer here. So, what are you thankful for today? You can respond in my comments, or write your own post and link up with Jennifer.
