I am thankful to the Lord, my God, for:
December 31, 2023
- the last day of another year. It had its ups and downs (and a tornado!) but we survived and thrived in God's grace. We are thankful for all the Lord's blessings, for His love, for Jesus Christ, for our family, for the challenges that taught us, and are praying for a happy and healthy new year. Goodbye 2023 - Hello 2024!
December 24, 2023
- fourth Sunday of Advent: Love
- the birth of our Savior
- prophecy
- family and love
- our 3rd annual trip to the Safari Lights at the OKC Zoo
December 17, 2023
- third Sunday of Advent: Joy
- planting more daffodil bulbs
- rain
- Christmas cards from far away friends and family
- accomplishments
December 10, 2023
- family birthdays
- second Sunday of Advent: Peace
- dinner with family
- experiments
- positive outlook/attitude
December 3, 2023
- church services in spite of the power outage
- first Sunday of Advent: Hope
- a candle in the dark
- the privilege of intercessory prayer
- our family
Earlier this year...
- car defrosters that work well
- neighbors
- family
- Thanksgiving
- Jesus
- Student of the Month (our grandson)
- an open door
- rain
- seed garlic
- new acquaintances and old friends
- beautiful fall weather
- my warm knit coat
- new garden gloves
- figuring out a new tech thing
- finishing the Bible-in-a-year
- lunch with friends
- homegrown sweet potatoes
- blankets on the bed
- bringing out the "fall wardrobe"
- cute boots
- rain!
- my warm coat, because the weather suddenly turned COLD
- being able to mulch the strawberry plants between rainstorms
- a last monarch butterfly on the zinnias
- buttoning up the garden for the winter (still need to plant garlic though)
- another family birthday, and a family baptism
- eating breakfast out
- warm chocolate chip cookies
- family photos
- an afternoon nap
- sharing extra strawberry runners with a neighbor
- talking on the phone with our granddaughter
- photos of our dogs in their younger years (kind of bittersweet)
- an overnight low of 40° F!
- family birthdays
- a day out with the Chief
- Friday night dinner with the kids
- butterflies and zinnias
- a cool fall day, so wonderful!
- remembering my mother on her earthly birthday
- our son and daughters and their spouses
- our grandchildren
- visiting with neighbors
- sharing seeds with a friend
- October, my favorite month of the year and all those family birthdays!
- the last ripe cantaloupe from the garden
- the antics of our puppy, Simon
- the quiet companionship of our older dog
- visiting with friends
- a nap on a rainy day
- the 100th week of the year
- gift wrapping paper with grid lines on the back
- lunch with my former coworkers
- phone calls and texts from family
- one last handful of ripe cherry tomatoes
- our very first delicious homegrown cantaloupe, from a volunteer plant
- Grandparents Day
- a change in the weather
- harvesting carrots with our grandson
- better internet
- lunch with family
- hummingbirds and monarch butterflies
- September, the beginning of fall
- movie date
- meeting a deadline
- harvesting seeds for next year
- a break from 100° temperatures
- dinner with family
- a favorite recipe
- return to non-summer routines
- the first cantaloupe is soooo close to being ripe
- our oldest grandson's birthday
- first days at school and our granddaughter returning to college
- the hottest day of summer, because now it will get cooler
- harvesting seeds from cucumbers and marigolds
- catching up with friends I haven't seen for awhile
- our grandson's phone call about his first day of kindergarten
- finally finishing our fences damaged by the April tornado
- harvesting chamomile and calendula flowers
- several canteloupe melons on the volunteer vines
- rain in August
- cooler weather and a thunderstorm
- the smell of fresh-cut basil
- tiny butterflies on the flowers in the garden
- zinnias, just for fun
- friendship
- our great-grandson's phone call when he lost a tooth
- spotting a bumblebee on the borage flowers
- discovering that one of the volunteer tomato plants is a slicing tomato instead of a small variety
- air conditioning
- God's grace and mercy, new each morning
- worshipping together
- our grandson helping me pick cherry tomatoes
- daily harvest from the crazy productive cucumber vines
- watching our solar fountain in the water trough
- saved by grace
- a good night's sleep after a good day's work
- harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers
- catching a toad and moving him to safety in the garden
- my hydrangea in bloom (I thought the puppy killed it last summer)
- our oldest child's birthday
- continuing rain in July
- the zinnias nearly ready to bloom
- getting to know our neighbors
- a couple whose dog was lost two months ago have been reunited with him
- a butterfly inside the house
- freedom of speech, to travel where and when we wish, to worship
- early morning worship service
- the smell of freshly mowed grass
- all the flowers in my garden
- the onion and garlic harvest
- that our apple tree, broken in half by the tornado, continues to thrive. We replanted it yesterday.
- volunteer tomato bushes covered with green tomatoes
- the first ripe cherry tomato: an orange sungold
- the songbird that makes a joyful noise to the Lord every single morning
- air conditioning!
- an M&M ice cream sandwich cookie from the dollar store, just because
- my husband, the Chief, father of our children
- my dad, my greatest example and my cheerleader
- my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior
- my son and my sons-in-law, the fathers of our grandchildren
- spending time with family
- evenings spent playing games and talking
- inside jokes
- our puppy Simon's first birthday
- a good spring shower
- family visiting from out of state
- laughter and love
- a family birthday
- our new roof!
- finding a tomato plant growing in the lawn, that had survived the tornado and grew where it landed
- great news from my eye specialist
- a celebratory chocolate milkshake
- volunteer tomato plants and pods on the peas
- the end of our grandchildren's school year
- our granddaughter home from college
- a squirrel under our neighbor's bird feeder, the first one I've seen since the tornado
- robins and cardinals
- phone calls from family
- bees on the dandelions and other weedy flowers
- discovering that my hydrangeas and rosebush are growing back after the puppy ate them last year
- lunch with my brother and nephew
- attending a beautiful vocal concert
- our power restored!
- figuring out how to deal with our altered reality after the tornado
- much-needed rain, even though it made life more difficult
- our family and pets came through the tornado without incident or injury
- our house was relatively untouched, just a little bit of roof damage
- volunteers, neighbors, family and friends who helped us clean up the debris
- our son and daughter-in-law who have helped out so much: hot food, labor, and allowing us to use their shower!
- blogger-friends who have picked up the slack for me this week
- the Chief's successful surgery
- help from our kids
- beautiful spring weather
- uneventful driving in the Big City
- alternate routes!
- Resurrection Sunday, commemorating Jesus Christ's resurrection
- our granddaughter's birthday
- that our son can change a tire in record time
- getting the raised beds ready for this year's garden
- bird-chirping weather
- hardening off the seedlings
- just one more week until our average last frost date
- no frost in our 10-day forecast
- quiet mornings of prayer
- mowing the lawn for the first time this year, and adding to the compost pile
- lots of rain, maybe our drought is over?
- an afternoon in the 80's
- a date for the Chief's surgery
- Simon wagging his little Corgi tail
- good neighbors
- dogsitting our grandpuppy for the weekend
- supporting family and friends in prayer
- our warm and cozy home in this cold spell
- mourning doves at the bird feeder
- opportunities
- daffodil blooms
- perennial plants in our yard and garden returning to life
- seedlings growing in the kitchen
- a 79° day
- breakfast out with hubby
- looking after my eye health
- visiting with our kids and grandson
- a game of Scrabble
- rest
- flower buds on the Bradford pear trees around town
February
- a glimmer of hope for the Chief's medical situation
- finishing up a big project
- seedings in the kitchen
- leaf buds on the lilacs and the apple tree
- ever-increasing daylight as we approach spring
- more rain to chase the drought away
- a warm February
- planting seeds indoors and watching them sprout
- flower stalk on the amaryllis my grandson gave me for Christmas last year
- lunch with a friend
- more family birthdays
- a new opportunity
- a gorgeous Saturday
- cleaning out the little greenhouse
- playing in the garden
- a warm and cozy home during the ice storm
- not having to go anywhere during the ice storm!
- spending Sunday afternoon with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson
- watching the dogs play in the snow and ice
- a sunny day and all the ice and snow have melted away
January
- spending a day with our kids and grandson
- family game night
- later sunsets
- no puppy "oops" this week
- opportunities
- a little bit of rain, and more in the forecast
- planting onions and starting sweet potato slips
- birthday cards in the mail
- the opportunity to help a stranger
- homemade chili for dinner
- planning the garden layout and planting dates
- finding new growth at the bottom of the bee balm and yarrow plants
- buds on the lilac bushes that were attacked by bugs last summer
- the onion plants I ordered months ago have arrived!
- familiar hymns
- going out for breakfast, something we rarely do but really enjoy
- beginning a new Bible reading plan
- a sunny winter afternoon
- finding another yarrow plant growing wild in our lawn
- the blessings of 2022
- health and happiness
- mercy and forgiveness
- our family
- the first anniversary of my retirement
Silver Sundays
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