Being Thankful

As Christians, we have a lot to be thankful for each and every day of the year. Right now I'm enjoying a quiet morning blogging and drinking my favorite hot beverage (coffee!!) after spending some time with our Lord. I am very thankful that the boys are still asleep after quite a stretch of being awake at 4:00 A.M.!! Although, I did have to put Little Boy back to bed at 12:30 this morning. It seems Big Boy thought it was time to get up, and had turned the bedroom light on before climbing back into his bed. I could hear Little Boy talking up a storm and when I opened my eyes I saw that they had their light on. Thinking I had over slept, I looked at the clock. "Oh no you don't." I said out loud to myself. When I got to their room, Big Boy was back in his bed, almost asleep. Little Boy, on the other hand, was sitting in the midst of a massive pile of books on the floor, "reading" to himself! I tucked him back in and turned off the light. A few minutes after I went back to bed I could hear the sound of board books being piled up. Back to the boys room. Little Boy was back out of bed, frantically throwing all the books he could find into his bed. In the dark. I couldn't help but laugh! "No, no, Liam. It's night, night time." I tucked him in again and that was the last I've heard so far...

So, on with being thankful. This is the first year of having Thanksgiving at our house. I just haven't been able to ''pull out all the stops" as far as decor goes. And at this point, Christmas is around the corner so not much sense in going all out this late in the game. This makes two years since I've deliberately taken the time to formally decorate for Fall. I had planned to the week after Labor Day but those weeks were crazy go-go! Of course the last time I decorated for Fall, I had less people making messes to clean up after, less laundry to do, less food to cook and so on. But, I wouldn't change things now for the world.💙 I am glad to have the dirty laundry, mess and dishes that I do, because it means I have little people and a husband to love.
     Anyway, here is some of what I did:

My brother gave me a beautiful pumpkin. I painted it white and wrote "We are thankful for:" on it. The idea is to have everyone take a Sharpie on Thanksgiving and write something that they are thankful for on the pumpkin. I think I saw this idea on Pinterest.

 This is on our front door. I made a few more in the house.One above the range in the shape of a plug/cord that says "Thank you for electricity" and one like a big drop of water by the sink "Thank you for fresh, clean water." and so on. This idea came from my Aunt Jane.

 This is our centerpiece. Our Thanksgiving bouquet. No joke. I'd heard a story on Christian radio last Fall about people buying rose stems without the roses for Thanksgiving. They would label each of the thorny stems with a hard experience in life which they thank God for. It is a visual reminder to be thankful not just for the roses, but also the thorns. God uses hard circumstances in our lives to sanctify us, grow our faith and to draw us closer to Him. "The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts." Proverbs 17:3  These aren't rose stems, they are blackberry canes. But, I think the same idea applies. Being thankful for the thorns, not just the berries, LOL. Darlin' and I started this new tradition last year, and it is one we want to continue through the years. We take turns labeling each cane, until they each have an experience labeled on them. We've written things like health issues, job loss, financial difficulty, miscarriage, things of that nature.  We haven't labeled this one yet but we will tonight.

Those are just some ideas of what we are doing here at Felicity Farm. I would love to hear your ideas and traditions. Leave me a comment about them if you have the time. I hope to ''see'' you soon. I'm not sure what the next few days are going to hold, but I'm sure they will be busy, busy. I hope to get back to blogging soon though.😊 Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Don't forget to be thankful every day!