check out the FREEbies!

Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honour,
and power, and might,
be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
(Revelation 7:12)

Y'all are going to think I'm putzing out of this 30 days of thanks, but yesterday's computer time I spent with getting 100 FREE photo cards to go with our Christmas letter (er, um, which is to be written at some point hopefully still in 2009...) I'll give you links in a minute.

And today! We were out the door before 8 am in some seriously dense fog (!) to deliver the big kids to a youth group activity, then on to a big town for some marathon-style shopping with a couple of my littler girls. Home again to strip the turkey that had been in the oven all morning and then some (on time-bake so he was just right... even an hour and a half after the oven shut off). Then back to pick up big kids, take a really quick tour of house progress (without camera! :p), then a quick (ha) stop at the local outlet... and home again to try to get supper on the table before the Cinderella hour of 7pm... ((are you out of breath yet?!))




SO, I am **very** thankful for safety for all of us this morning in the fog. The big kids traveled away from church for their activity. And the girls and I just kept shopping until the sun started shining ;-) And since I really don't like NASCAR-ing up and down the interstate, I'm just plain thankful to be home again.

I'm thankful my husband's brother could join us for supper - a sneak preview of next week's Thanksgiving dinner. Oh, and that dinner WILL be at our house next week =) Flexibility is good. I'm thankful for good friends we can make plans with -- and be free to change those plans up a bit -- and still get together for some great food and fellowship.



I'm also thankful for emails that say my orders of FREE photo cards have already been shipped! Okay, I promised you links... Let's first give credit to my real-life friend Sarah who blogged about this awesome deal(s). And really it's SeeHere who's giving these photo cards away! Keeping the Kingdom First and Freebies 4 Mom both obtained coupon codes from See Here for 50 free photocards, so if you place two orders for 50 using each coupon code, you end up with 100 free photocards!!! The kicker is you need to get it done by November 30! And See Here will also give you 100 free 4x6 prints just for registering with them. Cool.

come, ye thankful people, come--

...Raise the song of harvest home:
All is safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin.
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:
Come to God's own temple, come--
Raise the song of harvest home.

~ Henry Alford

Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness.

Psalm 65:11

I am extremely thankful to say that my husband is D.O.N.E. with harvest! He was home for lunch with us at noon. He took me with him on some errands this afternoon. And soon he will be home for supper and an evening at home with us!

From the first bright light of morning,
To the last warm glow of dusk;
Ev'ry breath we take is sacred,
For it is God's gift to us.

~Claire Cloninger

we gather together

...to ask the Lord's blessing...

This verse makes me smile...

Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. (I Sam. 25:18)

You have to imagine Abigail gathering this h>u>g>e> pile of food in a hurry.


Does this also make anyone else think of Thanksgiving Dinner??

She [and her daughters] cooked a twenty-pound turkey, a pound of cranberry sauce, six pounds of apple sauce, ten pounds of mashed potatoes, ten pounds of praline sweet potatoes, two pies, honey butter, whole wheat rolls, sweet corn, green bean casserole, ... {and thought, What am I forgetting?!}

I love Thanksgiving Dinner. I especially love having it here at home with lots of friends gathered with us for a day of feasting and fellowship. My folks are often gone or helping with the community dinner when they are here, so we've gotten in the tradition of having extended-family Thanksgiving another day (this year it was Oct. 31!) ...which leaves our Thankgiving Day open for inviting friends who don't have family nearby. We have been so busy this fall, we haven't made any plans for who to invite... and a few weeks ago I even had the thought (prayer?) that maybe we could GO to someone else's house for dinner :o And guess what?! Today a friend called to invite us to THEIR house =)

Yes!

2-for-1

Instead of blogging yesterday, I spent my free time with my Bible and this book:

• I am thankful for this book that I picked up off a book sale for ten cents.
• I needed a quick nap as well, but ran out of time because 15 minutes just isn't enough when I use this book - I'm thankful I decided to read first. I have missed too many opportunities for quiet time lately.
• In spite of my lack of sleep, the Lord was good to allow my eyes to remain watchful as I drove to church last night for the ladies' meeting and home again...
• ...with NO deer sighted this time!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the devos I read was called "Your True Motivation," based on Matthew 19:27-20:16.

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. (Matthew 19:29)

Mrs. Barnes writes, "Many times in our religious life we think God will punish us if we don't serve Him rather than being truly motivated by a pure desire to serve Him." (page 50)
Hmmm, think on that one a while. Am I motivated by fear, selfish ambition, or love?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And as I was thumbing through the book to find my page, I found one called "Choose to Be Thankful." That sounded appropriate! But what caught my attention was this paragraph (page 106):

In Galatians 5:22 we read a list of Christian characteristics that are universally known as the "fruit of the Spirit." They are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Being thankful is not on this list. Evidently to be thankful comes about by choice. We choose to be thankful. Have you made that choice today?

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Wherefore be ye not unwise,

but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;

but be filled with the Spirit;

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Giving thanks always for all things

unto God and the Father

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:15-21

Yes, it does say Monday, November 16 above since I started to post last night, but My Hero came home at 9:30 so I quit and left the computer for him! This IS Tuesday's post as a two-for-one special. =)

family time

..specifically with My Hero =) I got to sit right beside him for a couple hours at church (the kids like to sit by him too, ya know). Then after lunch I went with him while he did some cattle chores and looked over the house project. Now it's a little Packer football (sorta pathetic, but oh well) before we head off to church again.

We are oh so ready for corn harvest to be done this week! But thankful for this good day together!

(photo by The Artist)

sabbath rest

I am thankful it is Saturday night. Tim thought they would finish 'early' tonight ~ before 8pm? I am thankful that his alarm won't be going off tomorrow morning at 5:15am. I have enjoyed our early morning conversations this week, but I am so ready to sleep past 6 again!

I accomplished some kitchen work today... lots of those free pears made into yummy pear bread. I assigned some able-bodied assistants to chop up 6# of Jonathan apples for future applesauce (thinking Thanksgiving dinner prep here!) - we put them in ziplocs and freeze ... then we have easy sauce to enjoy. And their price was a blessing as well - the grocery store had them $1.13/3# bag yesterday (Fri the 13th sale :p) - and they're nice! =) They also had store brand turkeys for $.40/pound -- so you could say I have 'dinner in the freezer'... ha. I need to decide when I'm going to cook one for Thanksgiving dinner - something else to do ahead so we can all enjoy the Day a bit better!

Tomorrow's dinner is also underway - roast in the crockpot tonight, so it will be perfectly tender in another 18 hours. Veggies chopped for a quick saute. Sunday afternoons are too short for us, so the quicker dinner is on the table, the more likely my Hero can have a much-needed nap.

And tonight's easy supper is ready -- with a late dessert planned/prepared by Miss MusicBox to hopefully enjoy with her dad!

Good night, y'all! and enjoy your Sunday worshiping the King of Kings!

crazy kids

Tonight the boys espec were heckling the video we were attempting to watch (A Dog of Flanders)...mixed reviews here. It is something that has sat on the shelf since I picked it up on a book sale a long while ago. Now Miss MusicBox is pounding out some hymns on the piano, so hopefully they will find some sweeter thoughts to dream. (Most of my younger ones were aghast at the obvious 'bad guys' in the film.)


There has been plenty of goofiness going on around here lately. Last night at supper, the 'conversation' turned into a spoof of a commercial for using Mrs. Butterworth's for hair dye or gel or something. (?) The Cattleman was the favorite actor since he's my little Dep man =)




I should explain that they've listened to some old radio dramas complete with goofy commercials (I think that's the inspiration anyway) I don't do them justice trying to describe the silliness. But I think their dad is in for some entertainment if they can get an act together before Sunday afternoon. I think we should have named this boy Ham. At least he's the one that gets his picture taken while hamming it up!

Today I'm thankful for laughter =)