Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Day 42

It's milestone celebration day!  Yep, we hit 4,500 reasons first thing this morning.  Congratulations everyone!  How fun to celebrate a milestone after yesterday's celebration post!  Each day we get closer and closer to our 10,000 reasons.  Thank you for faithfully joining me on this quest for 10,000 reasons to give thanks.  God is changing me through this experiment... and I hope He's changing you too.  Here's a picture of our Thankfulness Tree.  My three year old hung the ornament on today (it's on the bottom left branch.)



When it comes to cleaning, I'm not a big fan.  Don't get me wrong... I do enjoy a clean house.  But dusting just seems to move the dust around so it can settle again somewhere else.  I tend to get a bit frustrated when I dust and 5 minutes later it has returned... maybe I need some new cleaning tools... 

On Saturday morning, I had a goal... to get my entire house cleaned before we left for Cincinnati.  I knocked out part of the house on Friday, so I just had a few rooms left.  The boys were playing nicely together upstairs, and my hubby was out, so I decided to try something new... clean to the sound of praise and worship music.  And then, I got even more crazy... I cranked it up and sang along... loudly.  It actually made cleaning more enjoyable. 

And now for the funny part... my seven year old came downstairs to inform me that he heard me singing through the furnace vent in his room.  You see, there's a furnace vent in the living room where I was cleaning and his room is right above it.  I was surprised, and I have to admit, a little embarrassed, because I thought my concert was for an audience of one.  Glad my son got to enjoy it too. 

On Saturday, I was "... singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in my heart to God" (Colossians 3:16) and it was fun.  I was jamming to 10,000 Reasons (I know you're surprised by this one), Forever Reign and One Thing Remains... my three favorite worship songs.  These songs touch me and that ignites the gratitude in my heart.  But I'm not always singing songs with gratitude.  I'm guilty of going through the motions on Sundays... can anyone else relate?  But wow, when I'm singing with gratitude, it's such a powerful way to experience God and I think He gets so much joy from our thankful heart songs.  And the cool thing about singing with gratitude is that it turned my mundane dusting task into something enjoyable.  Who knew that thankfulness could make cleaning more fun?  Thanksgiving is such a powerful tool... it's a mind transformer, a smile maker, a circumstance changer... the list could go on and on.  If fact, I wonder what names you would add to the list...

So let's practice "being thankful" (Colossians 3:15) and "singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts" (Colossians 3:16).  Watch out... there could soon be praise and worship concerts all over the place. 

Tonight, I am thankful for...

1.  My hubby who works and provides for our family so I can stay home with our boys
2.  The sound of the furnace kicking on after a chilly night
3.  Electricity that keeps our house warm
4.  Alarm that wakes me up
5.  Automatic car starter so the car can heat up while I'm inside - what a clever invention!
6.  Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax Granola Bars
7.  Learning that I had the wrong date for my son's class party... thank you, God, for the parent who asked the question BEFORE Friday
8.  What God Wants for Christmas
9.  Building a present tower with my three year old and watching his delight as it crashed to the ground
10.  Sunshine warming my house
11.  Blankets
12.  Amazing neighbors and friends who watched my boys tonight
13.  Learning about all the different angles of thankfulness in the Bible
14.  The adventure of following scripture trails and what you can learn from them
15.  Rotini pasta
16.  Chatting with friends
17.  Appetizers
18.  God doing immeasurably more this week with weekday child care... so faithful for each event
19.  Listening to my son read the Bible
20.  Giving gifts

Here's to 10,000 reasons... Only  5,378 to go...

10 comments:

  1. I am thankful for
    1.Getting up out of bed when I didn't want to.
    2.Getting a lot of my house cleaned.
    3.Atley taking a long nap so I could clean.
    4.Getting to take a nap befor dinner.
    5.Not having to cook because I was tired.
    6.Being finished with all my Christmas shopping.
    7.Getting my christmas cards.
    8.Getting all my Christmas cards addressed.
    9.Going to bed.
    Gina

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  2. I am thankful for...
    1. Sharing stories with friends
    2. Salted caramel hot chocolate
    3. A friend that loves to bake and blessed my family with an awesome derby pie
    4. Time with God over sugar plum spice tea
    5. Getting a couple of things accomplished
    6. Enchiladas for dinner
    7. A daughter who started out having a rough day but turned it around eventually
    8. A husband who lives working with middle school boys
    9. A refrigerator to keep things cold, Ben if we can't get the light inside to work
    10. Chatting with a dear friend about grace

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  3. I am thankful that:
    The number of people in my life who build me up, love me, and respect me are a much greater number than the people in my life who try and tear me down.
    Everyday is new.
    GOD never changes.
    as spiritual maturity develops so does emotional maturity.
    There is still fun to be had in this world.
    Strength,Perseverance, contentment and Acceptance are possible with GOD's help !!!

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  4. I am thankful for:
    1. getting lots of Christmas goodies made today.
    2. spending time with a great friend.
    3. having a great convo w/ a friend about kids & husbands.
    4. my cake student who loves me like her own family.
    5. my cake student's mom who is a barrel of fun and so spry at age 91.
    6. finding the ribbon I need for a cake order.
    7. getting lots of cake baked off for orders this weekend.
    8. knowing God has things under control even though I want to break into a panic because a customer hasn't given me cake flavors for an order this weekend.
    9. my husband being off tomorrow instead of at the firehouse.
    10. my mom getting to move to a new nursing home closer to Dad so he doesn't have to travel as far to see her.
    11. the cold weather that has put me further into the Christmas mode.
    12. being home in time to do devos w/ kids before bed.
    13. my husband being able to attend our daughter's performance at school.
    14. my daughter having the courage to sing and do the motions in her program...a first for her this time.
    15. fun Christmas earrings a friend gave me today.
    16. fresh greenery for decorations...reminds me of my Mom.
    17. sharing childhood memories with a friend.
    18. my daughter letting us keep her new TobyMac CD in the car so we can listen to it while out and about. Makes carpool time more enjoyable jamming to the MacDaddy.
    19. one more week of school and then having my kids home for two weeks. Can't wait!!!!
    20. using a plunger and having it work...no sewage spillage here today!

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  5. Thankful for...
    1. God allowing us to experience compassion for others
    2. 4 year old Christmas concerts
    3. My 4 year old's grin while he sang all the words and nailed all the motions
    4. Thank you cards
    5. My sister taking time out of her schedule to visit today
    6. Grilled cheese sandwiches
    7. Sweet tea - a southern girl to the end
    8. The smell of cookies baking
    9. Unique Christmas sodas to try with the family
    10. Cameras and video cameras - what a blessing to capture memories that would be too easily forgotten
    11. How great my brother-in-law and husband fit into our family
    12. My bright red coat
    13. Getting to catch up with an old friend
    14. Online shopping with FREE shipping
    15. God listening to our prayers
    Meredith B.

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  6. I am thankful for
    1. going out for a fun lunch with my mom today
    2. warm apple cider
    3. getting new library books
    4. going to see a great orchestra concert
    5. the peace and joy that God gives!

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  7. I am thankful for:
    1. a restful night's sleep
    2. God's holiness
    3. God's love for us
    4. having great conversation and lunch with my daughter
    5. orthodontists
    6. God's timing and scheduling worked out in my life today
    7. feeling well enough to attend a wonderful orchestra concert this evening

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  8. AmandaL .
    I'm thankful for chicken wings.
    I'm thankful for Christmas music.
    I'm thankful for a dear friend.
    I'm thankful for psalm38.
    I'm thankful for psalm 39.

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  9. I am thankful ...
    1) for the morning praise, worship and quiet time at the Iron Bell/Glory Barn
    2) for the opportunity to get together w/sweet friends whose sons are in C-Group with my son.
    3) for all my son's hard work in school and the great grades he has persevered to keep. Will be happy when finals are over next Friday.
    4) for my daughter's great grades her first semester of college (did not mention her hard work because she said it was an easy class schedule:)
    5) that everyone in our family is healthy (Praying my son does not get sick - he has 5 comprehensive finals next week, a project due & is pretty run down)

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  10. 1. Daily Devotionals
    2. Bible memory verses
    3. Hard core workouts
    4. the simple things in life
    5. Advances in technology

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