As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.




Saturday, November 30, 2019

{30 Days of Thankfulness} Day 30


It is hard to know how to end these 30 days . . . because thankfulness should never end really.  There is ALWAYS something to thank the Lord for! His mercies are new every morning!




I am thankful for sweet time spent with family.

It was good to gather with my dear ones on Thanksgiving Day. We missed my parents greatly, as my dad was under the weather and my mom stayed at home with him. We had no extended family or other guests this year, so it was "just the twenty of us." (Andrew is amused when we say that. 😄)

"Just the twenty of us" sang together on Thanksgiving evening. Here is one of our songs:



I am thankful for my new iPhone. 

Yes, I am joining the 21st century and I am looking forward to learning how to use the camera and posting more frequently on Instagram and who knows what else. I can also record videos (like the one above), although I don't want my family to be afraid to see my get my phone out. 


I am thankful that we had a long visit from Kati. 

It has done my heart good to have her here for these thirteen days! Kati was able to come early while Andrew was on a business trip and working, so we had some extra time with her. We enjoyed  that thoroughly. Kati is such an easy person to be with. (Don't you think that's a good thing to say about a person?)

She and Andrew leave for home early tomorrow and I am trying hard not to be sad. (Christmas decorating and a busy week will help.) 



I am thankful for leftovers. 

Really! I love leftovers . . . especially Thanksgiving leftovers, (That's one of the benefits of hosting Thanksgiving dinner.) Tonight we had turkey pot pie and we also used up all of the smidges of Thanksgiving dinner. A few Brussels sprouts. The rest of the stuffing. Some mashed potatoes. Bekah made our quick cranberry conserve and we were good to go.

Oh, and leftover dessert is good too! 





This evening (and always), I am thankful for His amazing grace!
 

I am amazed that He reached down and shined the light of the Gospel on me!
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die. 





Thank you, friends, for joining me on this 30-day journey of thankfulness! It has been a pleasure to share my "gratefuls" with you . . . and to hear some of yours! 





28 comments:

  1. Thank you so much, Cheryl, for this lovely month of giving thanks for all good gifts that He brings our way. I've enjoyed sharing these moments with you.

    Wishing you a good week ahead...
    Brenda xox

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    1. Thank you so much for joining me, Brenda! It is always good to give Him thanks! Happy first week of December to you!

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  2. Have enjoyed reading yours and others giving of thanks. Blessings, Sharon D.

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  3. I've really enjoyed your thankful posts very much, Cheryl. Your musical family is certainly talented and uses those gifts in praise of the Lord. Such lovely voices and gifted musicians. Kati and Andrew look so happy. That is wonderful you have had such a long satisfying visit with her. Your pumpkin pie with whipped cream looks delicious.
    I do hope your father is feeling better. I'm sure your parents were not happy to miss Thanksgiving at your home.

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    1. I am so glad that you joined me in this month of thanks! And, as always, I thank you for your kind words!

      My dad is feeling better, thank you. Yes, I am sure that they missed being with us as much as we missed being with them.

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  4. I've enjoyed your posts over the past month! Thank you for posting and for the video of one of my favorite songs!

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    1. Thank you for following along, Jan!

      That is a wonderful song, isn't it? What a message!

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  5. Your heart is full and you have blessed your readers mightily. The house is going to feel empty after your easy to be with Kati and Andrew have gone home. Say, doesn’t he get an extended time off for the Christmas holidays? I know that they are spending Christmas with his family, but later?

    So sorry that your dad was under the weather. Hope that he feels better soon. Your mother is a loving, good wife.

    I really enjoyed hearing the music and loved watching the baby watch her uncle playing. I think that Auntie Kati was enjoying that as well.

    A blessed December to you all!

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    1. Vee, my heart is even more full (is "more full" possible?) to think that my readers have been blessed by my musings! 💓 Thank you for all of your kind words, here and over the past month!

      Bekah and I are amused every single time we watch Judah in this video. He dearly wanted to close that open guitar case, but you can hear Brian in the background saying his name in a warning not to do so. Then when Judah accidentally bumped into the case and closed it, we laughed as he turned his head first toward the case, then toward Brian because he knew he wasn't supposed to close it! And, yes, Kati and Andrew were amused at the scene too! Gotta love toddlers!

      A blessed December to you too, friend!

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    2. Judah! Good heavens, I got that mixed up. Thank you for explaining the scene. One can see the gears turning watching closely.

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    3. (No big deal!)

      Toddler-watching is so much fun!

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  6. Such a wonderful month of thanksgiving. I’ve enjoyed it with you.

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    1. Thank you, Deanna! So good to have you along!

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  7. Thank you for sharing your thankful thoughts this past month.
    I enjoyed your family singing together and what a wonderful song. We are waiting for our redeemer.

    Loved the photo of Kati and Andrew and the message on her shirt. ;-)

    Have a lovely and blessed Christmas season ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Thank you, Lorraine, for coming along throughout the month! I love that song too . . . such a powerful message of hope!

      Kati was wearing that sweet shirt on the day that we picked her up at the airport and it warmed my heart!

      A blessed Christmas season to you too, Lorraine!

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  8. I'm back to catching up on Blogs while I've been away with my family in Florida. It is so wonderful to visit with family and cherish these times. Thank you for sharing photos and stories of your loved ones. Such joy and thankfulness in so many little things!

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    1. I'm sure you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your dear ones in Florida! Thanks for joining me on this journey of thankfulness!

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  9. Love that song, and reading your list of things you are thankful for.
    Sounds like you had a beautiful Thanksgiving.
    Reading your words, "just the 20 of us," gave me a chuckle, because to me, 20 sounds like quite a crowd.

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    1. We did have a lovely Thanksgiving! I think 20 sounds like a crowd to most people, but around here, it's the happy norm! 😊

      Thank you for joining me this month!

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  10. A wonderful Thanksgiving. Sorry your dear folks were at home instead of with you. How very sweet to have the extended time with Kati while her beloved was working. It's fun to see how our son in laws get used to a tribe instead of just a few gathered at the table. I know my Dear had a lot to get used to with my huge family, too. Happy Christmas decorating to you!

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    1. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving! Yes, I am sure it takes some getting used to when you are all of a sudden part of a big family! For us, it grew gradually . . . one person at a time. But for them . . . BAM! 😃

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  11. Oh! Cheryl, I went back and read all of your Thanksgiving posts, what a blessing it was for me! Katie is glowing as a new Mom to be, Your home always shines with so much love, thankfulness, and kindness!
    If our children and family are happy and content, then we are!
    Thank you for sharing, I always leave smiling, inspired and motivated.
    Blessings,
    Sue

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    1. Sue, how I appreciate all of your kind words! Thank you for taking the time to read all of those Thanksgiving posts! It is always humbling to me when someone says that they are blessed by my meager efforts. All is grace!

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  12. WOW!!!! Y'all sound wonderful!!!!!!!! Love that Kati and Andrew got to be with you and I think that is a very special and wonderful quality that someone is easy to be with <3!!! I love left over pumpkin pie for breakfast, NUMMY!!!!!!! Such a beautiful gathering!! Praise God!!!

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    1. You are so kind! We all love to sing! Yes, it was a thrill to have Kati and Andrew here . . . and I soaked up this time, knowing that their Christmas will be spent with Andrew's family. (It's okay. Really. But I will definitely miss my girl. How about your kids who just got married? Will you see them at Christmas? Do they live near you?)

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    2. Hey Cheryl, My children and their families do live close. We have encouraged them to develop their own traditions for their families. Thinking this was a good idea....well one set wants to stay home Christmas Day, the other wants us all to be together Christmas Day!!! YIKES!!! I am not sure how it will all play out. We have 3 of our children's birthdays between the 19th and Jan 2nd. It all get REAL crazy. I am doin birthday gatherings and tellin them our door is open whenever they want to come. Girl, I dunno. Logistics gets more complicated the more we grow. We did not get to be together Thanksgiving cuz of a crazy bunch of sickness in our home (pneumonia and strep included), I grieved hard over this. We have a brand new (6 weeks) grand baby ,so in no way did we want to risk her gettin sick. So all that is to say. We offered freedom, in that freedom came...a little um....diversity of ideas. Its all good. I miss terribly the simplicity of our old Christmas days (stay in pj's all day). I reckon with growth comes growth (me stretching by God's grace to new, I am not always a fan of new routines :-P ). I know this is prolly WAY more than an answer!!!! Lord bless your time together. Praise God for time together, whenever it may be. Time is such a precious gift <3!!!!

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    3. Tammy, I totally get it!! I am sorry your Thanksgiving was filled with sickness and I understand the grieving. I hope that your Christmas was merry and that you were able to flourish in your new normal . . . which changes all. the. time. We were thrilled to have all of our children here for Thanksgiving! What a gift! But, we knew that at Christmas it would not be the same. Two of the four were with the other families. Totally understandable. Totally fine. But you still miss them!!

      My son and his family lived far away from us for eight years and it was so hard because we saw them very infrequently. But I learned during that time to cherish those who are here and not be focused on who is not here. (I hope that is coming across the way I mean it. I don't mean that I didn't cherish Ryan and family! Just that I could not let the fact that they were not here cause me to focus on missing them . . . and not focus on the ones who were here. I still don't know if I'm saying that clearly . . .)

      As you say, time is such a precious gift!!

      (Thanks for giving your "WAY more than an answer," Tammy! I probably gave "WAY more than an answer" back, but that's what I do.)

      (And . . . sorry it took me so long to move this comment from my "awaiting moderation" file! It's been a busy time!)

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