30 Days of Thanksgiving – Days 25-30 – Top 5 Wrap Up
I totally recognize how behind I am in writing this post. We are well three whole days into December! But it is never too late to reflect and remember days of Thanksgiving. As I said before, life is meant to be lived. Writing about life can be very beneficial, but there is nothing to write if you spend it in front of a computer screen or piece of paper. Some may disagree, but I, personally, can’t spend forever writing in my journal in the morning or typing in my blog in the evening. Well, maybe I could, but my conviction tells me to go out, be active, and love others. So, I apologize for the delay, but I do always try to finish what I’ve started, even if it is a little late… Here we go!
Day 25 – I may have mentioned them already, but I am so thankful for my brothers and their wives/girlfriend. I learned so very much from watching my brothers as I grew up. First, it was learning from their mistakes and trying not to mimic those things when I was younger. I know sometimes they wonder how on earth I got the personality I did, but they need to take more credit for how I turned out. But now, they enlighten me still by just being who they are; whether it is giving me a different “city-life” perspective, a role-model for parenting, or the best example of a changed life. So, it was very pleasant to spend lots of time with them over the course of the holiday!
Day 26 – I am thankful for my bridesmaids. As much as getting married is supposed to be about making a commitment to your spouse, Brad and I viewed as an opportunity to show Christ to our guests and have a great experience with the friends in our bridal party. Having all the girl friends who have stood by me, encouraged me, and put up with me for years upon years was the delight of the whole preparation and wedding party process. So, when opportunities arise to spend time with any of them, and best when it’s ALL nine of them (that rarely happens), I try to take it. After thanksgiving, several of my oldest friends and I came to together with our families at a playground. It was such a delight! I have this hope: the Lord will give opportunity after opportunity to taste this kind of unity in the future.
Day 27 – Most people would be discontent when their usually 2 hour 45 minute drive turns into 3 1/2 hours (plus deciding to stop for lunch because of the traffic). There were several accidents we had to work our way around as we headed home after Thanksgiving; traffic was dragging, and we definitely weren’t going to be home any quicker. Brad and I, we do not mind this time at all because it means we have no excuse but to enjoy each other’s company in the car. Calvin handles it well, also, up until a point. So, as we creep along with everybody else on the road, Brad and I hold hands and continue talking – we still haven’t run out of things to talk about. Sometimes, we just sit still together, but we never grow impatient. The Lord has given us that time in the car to just “be” and it’s a wonderful gift.
Day 28 – There is someone very specific in my life that I am truly thankful for, my mother. I have never met someone with a servant’s heart like hers. She continuously just gives and gives and gives of herself to everyone around her, and it is because she knows the love of Christ so very well in her life. I’m forever grateful that the Lord gave her to me as my prime example of mothering. I feel so privileged to have called her “mom” all my life and had her watchful eye on me year-by-year. I pray to inherit many of her qualities as I continue growing into being a mom myself.
Day 29 – I am super-grateful to the Lord for personal, clean, quiet spaces. The reason I am recognizing this is because I lost mine for a week, this week. My personal space was cluttered, disorganized, and well, not useful. This is the main reason I am only just getting to this post. I never know how it happens, but my space just gets overrun by random “stuff” as time goes by. When I don’t have that space, I don’t have a place to get things done and have to move several things to find other necessary things. Let’s just say, it does nothing for my spiritual, emotional, or mental attitude for as long as it is in that state. It is one of those things I take for granted when it works. Now, I recognize its worth and thank the Lord for providing me with a quiet, personal space in my home. He knows I need it.
Day 30 – As this season of thanksgiving comes to a close, I am most certainly grateful for so many more things. But on this particular day, I was truly indebted to the Lord once again for His unending grace. Sometimes, I get a little unmotivated in life. Usually, it’s when Brad goes back to work after a good length of time off, and this time, I’m totally pregnant and emotional. I have a hard time getting my priorities straight and have no desire to be sociable at all. Even then, God comes beside me eventually and picks me up. He lays it on my heart to find my reality in His Word, not my feelings. If I leaned on my own feelings, I’d ignore my duty to Calvin and curl up and sleep for days. Leaning on God’s understanding, I remember I can do all things through God who strengthens me and that his power is made perfect in weakness (somehow… it’s amazing!). I have this assurance: God will always give me the wisdom and strength to do the good works He has already prepared in advance for me to do. And he knows, I sometimes need a break to just be reminded of who He is in the big picture.
So, that is that. Thirty days of thanksgiving. It was a blast! I hated the days that I didn’t get a chance to write about something good going on each moment. What shall we do for December?
The ABC Life 