Thanksgiving

I suppose I should finish my days of thanks :) Today I am thankful for Thanksgiving dinner with my family (so much good food!) and for Thanksgiving desserts with Paul's family (also a lot of good food!). I am thankful that we can have a good time with both of our families, and really enjoy being with them. Also Paul's brother and his wife were in town from California, so that was a special thanks! They are an awesome couple. Finally for today I am thankful that we were able to go see the new Muppet movie with some of Paul's family for his brother's birthday - it was a ridiculous movie (what else would you expect from Muppets?), but funny and a bit nostalgic, although I'm too young to have much of the nostalgia part.

 For this year, I am incredibly thankful that Paul asked me to marry him way back in January, and that we were married in May. Being his wife is one of the most wonderful things ever - I am loving what I have gotten to experience and learn so far, and I am looking forward to all the years that are hopefully before us! I am also deeply thankful for everything God has been doing in my heart, will, and mind; I don't know if this is objectively observable from the outside, but it seems to me that this year I have really gotten to know God more deeply and genuinely, and that He has been working on me quite a bit. I've been learning how to process and cope with a lot of different situations and emotions that have been difficult for me in the past, and I've also been learning a lot about how to serve others and really care about them. My desires both to know God and to love others have increased over the year, anyway. Hopefully those desires translate into real action and change, and don't just simmer inside my heart until they gradually turn lukewarm.

Anyway, good night and Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Sixth day of thanks!

Today I am thankful for successful completion of my digital design project (I'm so glad it's over before Thanksgiving!) and also for the short amount of time it took to do the demonstrations for it, which gave me the chance to go to my sister's vocal recital. I am thankful that I have such musically talented siblings, and I am also thankful that since they are both in college their performances are usually free so I can go hear them quite frequently :)

I am also thankful that I had a lot of down time at work today and was able to begin Advent preparations! I am really looking forward to Advent this year and am trying to create a good collection of Bible passages to accompany each day, so that I won't be left struggling over the specifics when I am ready each night to celebrate and remember and hope. In addition, while we're on the topic of Advent, I am very thankful for the wreath and candles that my mom gave to me last year, and I'm excited about being able to set them up on Sunday.

God is so consistently and wonderfully good!

The fifth day of thanks!

Today it is late and the day was long but there is so much to be thankful for that I couldn't let it go without a post!

I am thankful for warm showers in the morning and leftover French Toast for breakfast. And I am extra thankful for my wonderful husband who drove me to work this morning when I was tired and running late!

I am thankful for time to finish my circuit simulations for my final design project today, and also thankful for a little bit of time snatched to work on my secret for Paul while I was waiting for him to come pick me up :)

I am thankful for the chance to go to my brother's percussion ensemble concert tonight and hear some awesome music (featuring him rather prominently, which was especially fun for me!) and then go out for frozen yogurt with my family :) I have such a fun family and I love being able to spend time with them.

Ok, this isn't the most exciting post because I'm tired and not thinking very creatively, but just as a small rabbit trail I think this whole concept of intentionally remembering things to be thankful for each day is a good way to help encourage happiness in my heart. Maybe VeggieTales had it right when they said, "A thankful heart is a happy heart!" Instead of focusing on what I don't have, or what is bothering me, or what I'm struggling with, I get to let my mind dwell on all these good things that I do have, and I believe that is a good habit to be in.

Third and Fourth Thankful Days!

So I missed posting yesterday but the reason is one of the things I'm thankful for! I got to spend most of the afternoon and evening with my family, planning for Thanksgiving dinner, working on my secret project for Paul, eating good food (we brought Paul along for that part :) ), listening to my brother and sister make good music, playing piano myself, and just overall having a great time. I really am thankful that God placed me into such a wonderful family, and that I've been able to have really close friendships with my brother and sister, and that I was able to have a special and unexpected day with them yesterday. There's something about being human that gives one a sort of longing for a community and a home, I think - we were designed to give and receive love in relationship, like God does in Himself and with His creation, and it is not good for us to be alone.

Today, I am thankful for a church that preaches the gospel, and that refuses to let a week go by without reminding me to fix my eyes upon Christ and walk in faith by grace. It can be easy to drift through life trying to be a good and decent person, forgetting the incredible grace of God that both raises us from the depths of our sin and calls us to a life of obedience. We do good and expect to be rewarded by God, or stumble and fear punishment from God, forgetting that Jesus has already borne the punishment and promises us an eternal reward based on His righteousness rather than our own. Like our pastor said this morning, God isn't Santa Claus! He doesn't keep a list of which of His children are naughty and which are nice, and dole out blessings and hardships accordingly. He gives us blessings abundantly beyond what we deserve or could ever have earned, and at the same time He promises that we will experience suffering. The key to understanding is to remember that the reason behind both the good things and the bad lies within God Himself. Reality is not centered around you or me, but around God, and so sometimes things happen that wouldn't make sense to take place in a man-centered world. Anyway, I will stop here before I go too far tangentially down the random courses of my thoughts, and simply say that I am so very thankful for a God that interacts with me on the basis of His love and grace rather than on the basis of my righteousness and merit!

Second Day of Thanks

Today I am thankful for the beauty of the world! Driving home from work the sky was filled with such a wonderful sunset - not grandiose and spectacular, but gentle and soft, pinks and blues and purples resting on every horizon. It felt as though the sky was almost close enough to touch, as though it were drawing near like the blanket you pull around yourself just before you drift off to sleep.

When I think about how every night there is another sunset, different from every other one that came before it, I am in awe of the God who crafted them. He didn't form the world merely so that it would function effectively; He designed it so that in the very act of performing those essential functions it would radiate with beauty and wonder.

So in addition to being thankful for all the beauty that fills creation, I am also thankful that our God is one who could and would create in the way that He did! He is truly wonderful - more beautiful than we can fully comprehend - and it is His beauty and wonder that is reflected in the world that He made.

First Day of Thanks

For the week leading up to Thanksgiving, I thought it would be really neat to take some time each day to remember some of the blessings I have, for which I am very grateful! It can be so easy for me to focus on the problems in my life (especially now when school is busy and the holidays, with all their corresponding obligations and expectations, are looming near), but in reality I have so much to be thankful for, and focusing on those things is a wonderful way to cultivate contentment and joy in my heart.


Today I am thankful for...

...a warm bed to wake up in and the chance to start off my day with a hot shower!

...a husband who is home with me (instead of deployed, for example) and lets me snuggle up next to him in the morning when I wake up and don't want to get out of bed yet

...a job with flexible hours that allows me to take classes part-time and gives us an income to live on

...all the kids at Awana on Wednesday night! Working with those kids is one of the highlights of my week :)

...delicious perfect pomegranates from my parents' tree

...the special berries that my husband got for me on Tuesday! Berries in November - crazy, right? Only in Arizona, I guess :)

...a Bible of my own, in my heart language, and the ability to read it and draw closer to God through it.

...amazing grace that never lets me go!