Grateful for it all…

I’m sure most of you that have been on any kind of mission trip or even just a great vacation or other kind of trip know what it’s like to come home and have a horrible week after you get back!! We’ve had a rough week around here…I’m not sure if it’s because my kids had a few weeks off of their regular routine or what…but they were wild monkeys! 🙂 I always struggle coming home from trips with the heartbroken feeling of the way so many people are living with also trying to get back to “real life” at home…it’s a battle within my heart.

So, to be honest, I didn’t feel like doing a Gratitude post. I thought to myself that no one else would care if I didn’t post it, I will just skip a week. But that is right where the enemy wants me to stay!!

The enemy doesn’t want me to realize that I don’t type up these thankful lists for YOU, I do it for God and I do it for me. You see, being thankful – even in the midst of a hard week – is good for ME. God knows that being thankful can change my whole outlook, but the enemy would rather me wallow in my own self pity.

So, today, I’m choosing to be thankful. I’m choosing to count my blessings even though I’m not “feeling” particularly thankful for my week. 🙂 I’m choosing to remember that God is good all the time. All.the.time.

And, have you noticed I am hitting my 1,000th gift this week?!! Awesome!! God is so good!! How like God to choose this week, a bad week in my book, to remind me that He has blessed me time and time (and 1,000 times) again. And again.

This week I am thankful for…

beautiful fall weather

cooler temperatures (while in Belize I can state for a fact that I have never sweated so much in my entire life! ha!)

an understanding husband who comes home from work to find a distraught wife and just picks right up and takes over without batting an eye

spending Sunday with my extended family

my grandparents celebrating 65 years of marriage!!

mommy pride as I see my beautiful children in the midst of a big family gathering

getting a LOT done in the girls room!!

ordering a new Shower Curtain (sooooo pretty!, I love it!)

pulling out the pumpkins and fall leaves to decorate for fall!

yummy smelling candles

a very good school week (despite my kids bad behavior, we did get in a full week of school and got a lot accomplished each day!)

our first little co-op with 2 other families for science and spanish – fun times! It is going to be a great year!

laughter

finding a few good deals on clothes for my kids this fall/winter

lots of hummingbirds visiting our feeder!!

nature walks (even if they end in tears, at least we got outside together, right? ha!)

hope – truly, where would we be without hope? Hope for a better tomorrow, hope for an eternity with my Savior face to face, hope.

remembering Belize, and praying that I don’t forget

finding out that one of my all time favorite bloggers has a new book coming out, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are…I can’t wait to read it!! God has used her, though I’ve never met her, in huge ways in my life. She was why I started this Gratitude List to begin with!! 🙂 Thank you, Ann.

#983 ~ 1,001