Thankful Tuesday

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp is a book I have read recently and a book that has significantly impacted me and hopefully will eventually change me... (it is hard to change life long ingrained attitudes!) I will write more about the book and what it is about another day, but for now, a short synopsis and some giving thanks. The main idea from this author is to experience the true joy that God wants us to have, we have to CONTINUALLY give thanks... That when we focus on all the "gifts" God has given us and gives us daily, we can then let go of the sadness, stress, and stuff that ultimately gets us nowhere. This author hits it hard too, she has been through some stuff that would not make it easy to be giving thanks. So that is it about the book for now, I would highly recommend it and will review it fully in my next post. But as a tired momma who needs to go to bed,I want to list some things I am thankful to God for this past week.. 1. Putting on pjs and washing my face after a long day 2. Watching Evan, Isaac, and Solon run around the park, just 3 lil boys without a care in the world 3. Friends who sacrificially bring a meal/food to help our family out 4. Movie night in the basement with smiling excited kids 5. A hot sweaty 4 mile much needed prayer run 6. My Titus girls 7. A church family giving abundantly to a missionary family leaving our church 8. Looking forward to my kids being in my cousins wedding 9. Playing words with Friends with my mom 10. Ev saying to me while hugging his sister, "I love her." 11. My dishwasher! 12. A great GI doc for my lil girl 13. Making the bed 14. Coffee ( can I list this several times?) :) 15. Hosting the Wilson's, missionaries from Hungary who have blessed us more than they can imagine 16. Watching Esti and Eliza Wilson dance ballet in our living room to classical music never having taken lessons 17. Eating a catered lunch from Panera via my pastors wife Judie with her, PJ, and some missionaries while kids napped! 18. Blue skies 19. Giving sandals to Ev's lil buddy Isaac and seeing his face light up when we gave them to him 20. Being encouraged and blessed by Zsofi Wilson during some one on one time while kids are sleeping That is it for now but more lists to come! It was fun to think about all the good gifts God has given me just in the past week, this list doesn't even cover it. Sure, there have been some stressful and hard things on there too but that is the point, why focus on those? I feel more at peace than I have all week after sitting down and really counting my blessings.. Try it, you may just feel better too! Thanks to the book for this idea and to my friend Erin who is also counting her blessings on her blog. James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.