Find refreshment for your heart, home and life
It was Saturday afternoon and I drove into the city to the local rehabilitation center. Two church members are there recovering and I was going to visit and remind them of our love for them and prayers on their behalf. After spending time with both patients, I walked out into the sun-filled day, very aware of the blessing of using my two legs to Continue reading “Cultivating a Thankful Heart”
I’m planning on hosting Thanksgiving for my family this year. I’m not going all out with decorations and table decor, but I want it to be special, memorable and fun.
I also want it to be stress-free as possible! For that reason this week I plan on getting some things done ahead of time. Here’s this week’s list:
Let me share some of my ideas with you, in case you could use a little inspiration, too!
Why not try a little un-traditional color combo?
Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year? What could you be working on now so you’ll be less stressed when the holiday arrives?
With love from my country kitchen,
“Give me ten!” might be yelled out by a drill Sargent who is expecting his soldier to drop to the ground and give him ten push-ups. I’m not yelling a command to you, but I’d like to give you a suggestion that I heard recently.
“Give me ten” by thinking of ten things for which you thank God. Can you hold up your ten fingers and give thanks to the Lord on this Thanksgiving for Ten things He’s given you? Some might ramble off five or six pretty quickly, but then begin to slow down and have to really think to find the other four or five.
Here was my list this morning:
In your prayer time on Thanksgiving day, why not open your fingers while in prayer and find those ten things for which you are most grateful? Remember God gets the praise – He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift!
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
Perhaps around your dinner table even the little ones can open their hands and give praise to God for ten things as they point to each finger! We are so blessed! Let’s count them one by one!
Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!
See you next week!
With a grateful heart,
I’m sitting here on this November day warming myself by the fire beside me and shaking my head in disbelief that Thanksgiving is just two weeks away. I glance over at the corner of my desk and spot a little picture that has been printed and clipped from years ago. I set it there on my desk at the beginning of the month, just because it’s a memory from nearly 25 Thanksgiving’s ago that is one of my all-time favorites!
My girls were piled up on the love seat with a warm afghan over their laps because they were dealing with a stomach bug. We all got it. It was no fun. It kept us home from the big family Thanksgiving dinner with my family, but look at those smiles! They weren’t happy because they were sick, I think the joy came from us being forced into the most simple of holiday celebrations ever.
I don’t know if you’re hosting or planning on being a guest for Thanksgiving, but can I remind you that most of the time the things we enjoy most are the simple things? Just as most children play more with the paper from birthday gifts than the the gifts themselves, we don’t need bigger to make it better! The truth is that simple is better.
So this year, instead of worrying about having the most spectacular tablescape and centerpiece, a million sides to accompany the turkey, a perfectly decorated and cleaned home, and everyone doing just what you wanted them to do, stop and ask yourself how you could simplify things.
And of course, we have to include some Indians and pilgrim decorations!
Who knows? You just might end up with a photo that you pull out every year to remind you of the most memorable and special Thanksgiving you ever had!
Do you have special memories of a holiday that got changed due to uncontrollable circumstances? I’d love to hear about it!
Refresh your holiday by remembering that Simple is better!
Just in time for Thanksgiving, I’m bringing you the ultimate of pumpkin recipes! How about a Pumpkin Whoopie Pie?! If you’re not familiar with whoopie pies, my definition of them would be, two cake-like cookies with a cream filling in-between. Chocolate and white cream are popular, but when I was at The Wilds of New England in September, a sweet young woman made these pies for all the ladies’ dessert!!! I begged asked her if she would share her recipe, and she sweetly obliged! Continue reading “Pumpkin Monday Returns!”
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