Season of Thanks

There are many things that I am so very thankful for as we enter into the season to be grateful.  Just yesterday I was reminded of the how precious life is and how much there is to be grateful for when a little boy disappeared from the school where my daughter attends school.  The entire community came out to search with police, teachers, administrators and hundreds of people from the community.  Late last night he was found in a field right by our house.   He was safe and unharmed, but ran away because his Mom’s parental rights were terminated yesterday. …

Thoughts From Beneath the Tree

I was sitting beneath my beautiful Christmas tree last night, looking at all of the pictures of my kids and little ornaments that represent all kinds of holidays, years, milestones in our lives. And all of a sudden I was struck by the abundance of Christmas and how it flies in the face of the current trend of “frugality”. Everywhere I look and read people are scaling back, cutting back, and trying to figure out how to give less. And though I absolutely applaud being purposeful with your money, there is something so empty in this approach to Christmas. They …

Thanksgiving prayer

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! My dear brother and his wife and kids are in town for the holiday, and so I am out for the week. But I pray that you and your families have a wonderful time together and may the Lord remind you in this season of how much you have to be thankful for. “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” ~H.U. Westermayer “The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, …

The Gift of Gratitude

It is not a fun thing to take a child shopping when all they do is whine and cry and want everything. I have friends who never shop with their children because of this phenomenon. My son Noah used to do the same thing. He loves toys and getting surprises (as most kids do). Well, we had reached the point where shopping with him had become a complete nightmare, until my husband and I came up with a plan. We call it “A day to buy something.” We started a star chart and let Noah (and now Ava) earn stars …