This year I've had to be really conscious of gratitude and thanks. I constantly have to remind myself which is why this quote is on my email signature:
Here are a few things big and small I'm thankful for this November:
1) My hair has finally grown out to my preferred style:
2) I reached RWA Pro status, meaning I am serious about this writing thing and lived through rejection letters:
3) Lawboy graduated and has been sworn in as a lawyer. We are still praying for a permanent job for him but are thankful he passed the Bar and is past the stress of school.
4) My dad could have easily died in his sleep but, thanks to his wife and a new pacemaker, he is back to hiking in the mountains at the age of 84! Isn't he cute?
5) Speaking of hiking, my gratitude overflows that this guy of mine is back to hiking. Two strokes of the very rare kind since January, skin cancer surgery, and a bad appendix (yes, appendix removal can actually be scheduled and not an emergency) requiring surgery next week have honed my ability to see the good in everything. And yes, he was able to hike down into this canyon and then back up!
I have lots of other reasons to be especially thankful but these are a few of the major ones. Maybe you can see why I am all about Thanksgiving this year.
So, what are you especially thankful for this year? Has it been easy to be full of gratitude or have you had to work at it? What will you do to keep the focus on Thanksgiving during November?
this has been a mixed year for me but I'm thankful I've managed to pretty much get everything I want to keep from my parents' house and 2 friends helped me with this - I couldn't have done it without them. Friends also helped me with my townhome with some cleaning and it's still for from where I want/need it to be but it's so much better since they said they'd help (seriously have furniture stacked everywhere from my parents' house...) and mostly I'm thankful I've been in my church for a year. I went a long time without attending church and didn't realize how much I'd missed it. I think I started going to this church last year close to World Communion Sunday and All Saints Sunday and we just celebrated both recently so it's been a year! I haven't been able to go every week but I've kept with it and am happy to find Bible study and Alpha class and a Sunday School class with a group that eats out after 2nd service...just been nice. I'm also happy to be back with the church denomination I was raised in -United Methodist- I was so bored for all the years as kid I was forced to go..enjoyed a non-denominational for a while - but I didn't realize how the church had changed(or maybe I'd just been in one that wasn't like this one...) I still miss the praise and worshp of the non-denominational but otherwise I'm content :-) It's been one of the greatest joys of my life this past year - I feel more centered overall.
ReplyDeletenot about to hike a canyon...
thanksgiving seems to get shoved aside between the big moneymaking holidays of halloween and Christmas...I've never really cared for the traditional foods but I have to work this year if the plant stays open.
Susanna
Susanna, I'm so happy to see this!!! What a beautiful post, and I'm not hiking anything either, so you and I can agree on that!
DeleteGood for you! I've watched this year as you seem to have taken control of what you could in your life, and that's such a blessing! None of us get to control it all but you've forged ahead in a lot of ways. God bless you!!!!
Those are fabulous things to be thankful for. Being full of joy and peace thanks to a good worship community is such a gift.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful 365 days a year and I thank my God and his mercy for that. A lovely post, Julie. Your dad is too cool.
ReplyDeleteHe is indeed. And Thanksgiving is a year round thing for sure. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.
DeleteI'm so happy for all the good things that have come your way when it's clear that there were some pretty dark hours.
ReplyDeleteAs for myself, I'm thankful that the doctor has given my mother a clean bill of health. At 87, after several cancers and other health issues, she's battled past some big obstacles. I'm grateful that my children are both in good jobs that they love. My sister retired and is enjoying her new lifestyle and that's very nice, and my husband and I are both in good health. I've lost 24 pounds this year and feel younger than I am. Plus, I just got word that the rights to a book that has been out of print since 2006 are reverting to me, so I can make it available again as an ebook, which is fun.
Thanksgiving often sneaks up on me, and I often don't give it enough thought. Thank you for reminding me of the importance of acknowledging the positive things life has sent my way. I think I really needed that.
Myrna what a great bunch of things! And I love, love, love your name!
DeleteRuth, thank you!
DeleteOh, what a wonderful list, Myrna! Let's hear it for healthy and happy family! And a big whoot for reversion rights. I can't wait to download!
DeleteWow -- definitely lots to be thankful for, Julie. A tough year, but praise-filled one too. And I agree with Tina, your dad is way cool.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for online friendships and the incredible learning experiences I get from the various blogs I follow.
Thankful to the nth degree for my daughter helping me totally rearrange the furniture in my wee little house a few months ago. Every room makes my heart sing now and I didn't spend a penny. Funny, because I had the strongest urge to get it done (I have a hard time living in chaos and it was chaotic), but I was working and so tired after work I barely noticed. Starting this week though I'm on a two month long disability leave from work so it's me in my little house pretty much 24/7 so I'm beyond thankful that everything is organized and cozy and so welcoming.
Thankful that I discovered a new physiotherapy group that specializes in neurology. They actually think that my condition can be improved! That was a God thing for sure.
Thankful that I still get paid 90% of my salary while I am off.
Thankful for authors and their books that get me through the tough times -- especially during the dead of night when pain can be oh so distracting.
Thankful for sunshine today after five days in a row of heavy overcast skies.
I could go on...but I'll spare you.
Wow, so much good stuff and even your down time is filled with good stuff. ManO and I are thinking about the room rearrangement stuff as well. So glad it works! Blessings on you during your leave.
DeleteKav, I'm glad you've been given hope of improvement!
DeleteI love this post, Julie! You DO have a lot to be thankful for!
ReplyDeleteWe started reclaiming Thanksgiving in our family years ago - probably close to twenty - when we realized our young children were bouncing from Halloween to Christmas without a thought to what their friends were all calling "turkey day."
So from Labor Day to the 4th Thursday in November, we celebrate the harvest season, and thanksgiving has become part of our 365 vocabulary. I've always said that if there's a holiday that's going to be overlooked in that last rush to Christmas, it isn't going to be Thanksgiving!
Because there's just too much to be thankful for to miss the blessing of giving thanks.
I could list the many, many things I'm thankful for, but that's another blog post - and it probably will be :)
Amen. And I am looking forward to your post too. I started decorating for Thanksgiving thanks to my grandfather's turkey candy bowl and the retail creep of Christmas. My Thanksgivings are full of memories of my mom and I wasn't about to give those up.
DeleteI love starting Christmas stories early with my little ones and getting things done here to get ready to make even a 'simpler" Christmas a great holiday season. I don't think we forget Thanksgiving at all, but I do think the Canadians planned a better date for Thanksgiving. Late November is a month past most harvest up here, and two months past half of it. The Canadian late October time makes more sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI think of gratitude as being how we live 24/7/365. We all have our own ways of doing it, but I find that if I work more on "Make My Life an Alleluia", I don't have to worry as much about a time/month/day to be grateful. Mother Teresa set such a good example of that, smile more, complain less.
That's the kind of thankfulness I like to cling to. It makes me feel closer to God no matter what church I'm in, friend I'm with, or where I'm headed.
Living in the giving of today, everyday.
Julie your dad is about the cutest thing ever. Stinkin' adorable!
I'm going to have to tell Dad he has a fan club.
DeleteAnd it is so true. If I had focused on waiting until November to be thankful, I would be in sad shape right now. People have looked at me funny all year because I would break the news of the latest crisis and then immediately mention the blessings involved. It isn't denial of the bad but recognizing the good that comes when you trust in God to hold you up.
Add me to your dad's fan group! :)
DeleteYour post made me realize I really have a lot to be thankful for as well. We suffered terrible loss this past year, but we gained so much. BTW, I like your hair now, and I liked it short. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteNikki, I know you have had your trials in the midst of much joy. It's great to be able to see the joy.
DeleteAnd thanks about the hair. ManO has finally gotten used to it.
What a lovely post, Julie. You are a very thankful person in your everyday life, which is wonderful. And you have such beautiful life with so many things to be thankful for. I love your email signature. It really says it all. And dare I admit that I went Christmas shopping this morning? Off to the races.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be shopping for grandkidlets in the near future but I have already done the "what have they put out to decorate with" scoping of stores and remembered I have decluttered. Sigh.
DeleteThis year more than any has taught me to be thankful even though that signature from Melody Beattie has been one of my mantras for years.
I ordered a stocking stuffer today!
DeleteJulie, I agree! Every year I feel I have to fight for Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm thankful for our 50th annual ham and egg supper at the church tonight! (I posted about it this time last year.)
Wow, that is a big undertaking. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
DeleteFYI, the turkey napkins are already sold out in stores. All Christmas down here.
Missy, I LOVED that post. I actually send that link to people when they ask about Southern food. It wasn't just ham and eggs... with was ham and eggs the Southern way.
DeleteCountry ham and grits with red eye gravy! And biscuits with homemade apple jelly and scrambled eggs. I'm a happy camper this evening. :)
DeleteI am grateful for all of the support love and friendship I have received as I've reached for a long cherished dream. We are keeping Thanksgiving relatively small again this year, but when people look to me to be the one to recreate the holiday, instead of my mother, I'm happy to be able to do it. And I think my mother bought enough turkey napkins to last several lifetimes....:)
ReplyDeleteBless you and bless your mom, Piper! What a year you've had.
DeleteLovely post, Julie. Your hair style looks beautiful on you both ways! I'm kinda the same way about Thanksgiving as I am birthdays and New Year's. Why not treat every day as special? But, I do love Thanksgiving, and being surrounded by family, even all the noise and chaos that comes with it. Blessings on your holiday, my friend!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And I hadn't thought about New Year's but it is so true! Every day is a gift! Blessings back at you.
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