Our country gets a lot of bad press lately both from within and without.  Unfortunately much of it deserved.  But when you compare where I live with the rest of the world, it just puts things into perspective.  

We fear our economy crashing and losing our present way of living.  Many people in other countries fear for their life from their government.  

We may have to pay higher premiums on our health insurance thanks to the goof ball health care law just enacted in our country.  People in other countries die on the sidewalks outside the hospital because they don't have the money they need up front to receive care.

We complain about the price of food.  Many people in other countries would just like to have food available to buy.

We don't like the price of gasoline, but in reality it is much higher in many other places in the world.

Now don't get me wrong.  I don't like our president or his policies or the people he has around him making policy.  They are bad for America, not Biblical, and just plain stupid.  I would like to keep more of my money.  But we really have no reason to complain until we have reached the depth of poverty and despair experienced by a lot of the rest of the world.  

Take time to be grateful for what is right and good in your life.  Vote according to Biblical values to keep them that way.  Take time today to thank God that you are blessed.

As I was laying in bed this morning, I started to think about how good it feels to have my feet actually in the bed.  That may sound silly to some of you but to a tall person, that means something.  My hubby and I are not small people.  He is 6'0".  I am 5'12".  (Yes, I know they are the same thing but because my husband has to win at everything, I do this to preserve his male ego.)  Five feet twelve inches just sounds shorter than 6 feet.  

When we got married we slept in a double bed.  As the years and our weight progressed, that bed got smaller and smaller.  What made it worse was that it also had a foot board that stuck up higher than the mattress.  I am a tummy sleeper so I would wake up many a morning with my feet on top of the foot board hanging out the end of the bed and cold as ice!  Then when the kids came along, they would all want to pack into our bed and frankly, there just wasn't room for us.  I would often slip (or fall) out of bed and get in one of their beds to sleep.  One day, one of them spoke some real wisdom.  As we lay in bed with 3 toddlers one of them said "You need to get a bigger bed.  This one isn't big enough for all of us!"  It was then that dreams of a king sized bed were birthed in my mind's eye.  

It took me a while to convince my husband.  We tentatively made plans to use our tax return money to buy one.  Then a missions opportunity came up and my king sized bed transported my husband and daughter to the Philippines.  I laughed about it especially with the missionaries that they went to help.  A couple of months after they returned from their trip, we got a check in the mail for $1000.00 from a couple who had been part of our campus ministry.  The memo simply said "King sized bed".  My husband still wasn't totally sold on the idea of such a huge bed, but because I had suffered almost a year longer than we thought I would have to, he relented and we bought one.  It would fit all four kids, paper, felt markers and a doodling book on a lazy Saturday morning.  It accommodated my oldest daughter and several of her teenage friends who would just come into our room, flop down on the bed and chat with me.  It has enough room that hubby, I and a big hairy golden retriever can sleep comfortably without the dog laying on my head and without having her tail in my mouth all night long.  It can handle multiple loads of folder clothing.  It makes a great wrestling mat for 4 kids and a Dad who often says now that it was one of the best purchases we ever made.  Secretly I think that the reason I like it so much is that it's one of the only things my husband will admit he was wrong about. LOL  

This morning when I awoke and felt the mattress firmly under my toasty warm feet, I just said a prayer for that couple who gave us our first king mattress.  Then I stretched my foot out to see how much extra room there was at the end of the bed and I was thankful, so thankful for king sized beds.

You may think this silly and not so spiritual, but if you take all the "little" blessings in life and lump them all together, that equates to one big ball of thankfulness and a merry heart.

When in life you come to the end of yourself, the end of your wisdom, the end of your strength, the end of your endurance, the end of what you think you can bear, God speaks a quickening word.  He rarely preaches a whole sermon.  He sees how much of Sunday's sermon we get every week.  He doesn't need to say much.  Just one Word can do it.  He may say "Peace."  He may say "It is well."   He may say "You can do all things through Me, for I will strengthen you."   But every word he speaks is quickening, life giving, and perfect.   He's never late.  He always speaks just what you need to hear when you need to hear it.  

I do love this little guy and am so thankful for him!  Even when he's sick and can't go to church.  Even when I have to chase him around the house with a tissue saying "let Mimi wipe, let Mimi wipe" every time he sneezes.  Even though he made me read "Green Eggs and Ham" 12 times in two days.  Even though he made me lean over the tub and blow bubbles in very questionable bath water.  

I do love this little guy and am so thankful for him.  Especially because he is family.  Especially because he is spontaneous with his acts of affection and love.  They are always a welcome gesture.  Especially because he can cuddle better than anyone I know (sorry, honey, but he's giving you a run for your money).  Especially because God gave him to us to love and nurture and SPOIL! (insert Grandparent giggles here.)  

I do love this little guy!

I may have already dedicated a post to my husband this month, but quite honestly he just keeps giving me more things to be thankful for.  Through this whole experience of my grandson's birth and subsequent transfer to a NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit to driving almost everyday over an hour one way and then spending a large portion of the time we are at the hospital to sitting in a waiting room, to taking the whole family out to eat time and time again to get them out of the hospital and to help remind them that this is temporary, to the prayers, strength and support he provided through the whole ordeal, well...he just deserves another day where someone expresses how special he really is.

In the last decade or two, Ronald McDonald has gotten a lot of bad press.  He's been blamed for the obesity problem in the US.  He's been blamed for luring kids into his restaurant with toys so that he can poison them with trans-fats.  He's been accused of being greedy, scary, and almost satanic.  

I would just like to say that Ronald McDonald is not responsible for the obesity problem in America.  He does not cast a spell that compels people to his restaurant.  He does not forcibly set up diversions in the road and force people to drive into the drive thru where they must buy something in order to proceed.  As far as I can tell, McDonald's has bent over backwards to change their food, to offer healthy choices (now there's a big word for you ChOICES!), and to keep their food reasonably priced and tasting good.  I call that smart business.  

With all the bad that is said about McDonalds, there at least one thing that they do right!  And it's BIG!  They give money for the building of Ronald McDonald houses on or near hospital campuses.  These houses provide rooms, food, privacy, a place to rest, be with family, and not worry for families that have children in the hospital.  There's no motel bills, gas bills from running back and forth, eating hospital food-the price of which is enough to cause cardiac arrest, and no being separated from family during a time that already causes enough stress as it is.  It is absolutely FREE and operated by volunteers.  

Since I spent 3 months there, and my daughter just spent a week there, I am very thankful for Ronald McDonald.

These two lovely ladies are family friends.  They are both teachers at a daycare and deal with little kids every day.  When my daughter got close to her due date and was trying to figure out how her 2 year old would be taken care of when she went into labor and was hospitalized, these two didn't hesitate to volunteer.  They even took time off work and were glad to do it.  They are two of the most giving people I know, but they are quiet about it.  No grandstanding, just the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing kind of giving.  And my grandson had the time of his life. And we were truly blessed.  I pray that God would bless them way more than they have blessed us.    

I have decided that having two friends like this in life is way better than a party barge full of people that claim to be friends but are never available when you need help.  They are truly a gift! And we love them!

You're probably thinking "what a weird thing to be thankful for."  Not really!  This week I went 42 hours without sleep.  Oh I tried to sleep where I was, but because I was at the hospital, there was nowhere to lay down.  So I found what looked to be a comfortable chair and closed my eyes.  I managed a 10 minute nap.  In 42 hours, I had 10 minutes of sleep.  It wasn't deep sleep, nor probably very productive sleep.  In fact, it didn't feel like I had slept at all.  When I finally got home and could crawl into bed, I think I was snoring before my head hit the pillow.  It felt so good to sleep lying down.  Sleeping sitting up just doesn't do itl  You may sleep but you wake up with cramps, aches, pains and feeling like you just aren't rested.  

I've decided that living without Christ is much like sleeping sitting up.  It just doesn't accomplish what you hope that it will.  You end up never resting because true rest is only found IN Christ.  You have aches and pains, traumas and tragedies, no matter what you do, it still just feels like you slept sitting up.  I suggest laying your heart before the foot of the cross and receiving the peace and rest that only Christ can give.  Imagine how good that will feel after years of disrupted sleep!

Today was special.  It was 11-12-13.  A good day for my grandson to be born.  My daughter had to be induced so we all calmly went to the hospital to start the labor process.   Before the pain got too bad, she opted for an epidural.  Since she was on pitocin, the epidural wouldn't slow her labor at all, so why not?  It was finally time to push.  She pushed and pushed and pushed.   Nothing.  She pushed and pushed and pushed some more.  Nothing.  She got discouraged with the pushing and I saw her eyes fill with tears.  "I'm just no good at pushing", she said.  Nonsense.  She pushed one kid out already.  Something must be wrong!  She pushed and pushed and pushed some more. Nothing.  I felt her body just give up and saw that her pushes were half-hearted at best.  The nurse just kept saying push harder, push harder.  

Then came the shift change.  In came Nurse Dawn.  "Hi, my name is Dawn.  I'll be your nurse.  I'm not here to labor with you, you've done that enough.  I'm here to deliver this baby.  I know what I'm doing and if you'll do what I say, you'll have this baby in no time."  She could have only said it better if she had come in the room with her hand in the air yelling "charge!"  She checked my daughter and said "this baby is posterior.   No wonder he won't budge.  You're just pushing him against your pelvic bone.  Young lady, she said, you have more than enough room to deliver this baby, and I don't think he's small, but once he is turned, when you push, he is going to come shooting out there.  i only ask one thing.  If the doctor tells you to not push, don't.  Do we have a deal?"  I saw my daughter's eyes brighten and a slight smile cross her lips.  

After putting her in several yoga looking positions for 4 contractions, and a few contractions in positions I can't even begin to explain,  my daughter pushed and sure enough that kid came shooting out.  All that twisting and turning made no sense to me, but it worked.  After the baby was whisked away to take care of some problems he had at birth, this women kept going.  All I can say is that Teddy Roosevelt would have welcomed her at San Juan Hill!  

I recalled a similar experience I had when delivering this very child 27 years before.  I was in a similar situation.  The shift changed and in charged Nurse Anne.  She said, "my name is Anne and I'm going to be your nurse.   Now I want you out of this bed!  Bend over and make your back as parallel with the floor as you can.  When the contraction comes I want you to jump up and down."  I remember mumbling something about jungle medicine but I was too scared of her to do anything other than what she had instructed me to do, and within seconds of laying me back on the bed after 3 contractions, my daughter was born.  I was sure she must be ex-military and I was convinced she didn't like me but she led the charge and I followed and we won!  Turns out that Nurse Dawn had probably been under Nurse Anne for several years before Anne moved on to midwifery and I wondered if we hadn't benefited from Nurse Anne's experience twice, in two generations.  In both cases, wisdom and experience led the charge and prevailed.  

Both times, it made no sense to either of us why we had to go through contractions in funny positions, but because we listened and took their advice, my daughter and grandson entered the world.  Both those women were into having babies quickly and with as little work as possible and they knew what they were talking about.   It was a reminder to me of how valuable another person's wisdom and experience is and how important it is to listen and follow what they say.  It will save you a lot of time, effort, and pain.

I laughed a lot today.  There was just a lot of funny things to laugh at.  Or maybe it's because I read over 120 pages of dry, wordy and sometimes ridiculous "required reading" for my new job and felt like my brain was going to explode! Or maybe it was because it soon became evident that it was a caffeine-Pepsi kind of day.  (I am still trying to figure out why they put the milk on the bottom row and the Pepsi on the top row of the vending machine!  It explains why so many people in my office have "sticky keys!"  I mean those Pepsi bottles hit the bottom of that machine like an huge asteroid hitting earth! On the other hand, the first thing people do when they take the milk out of the vending machine is shake it up!  Go figure!)  


Honestly, my work has a standard operating procedure for EVERYTHING!  When I got the one explaining keeping office and kitchen spaces clean (they actually had instructions on how to clean a sink-step by step just in case you are a beginner), I started looking to see if there was one telling me how to use the "fragrance free" bathroom.  (Seriously folks, no bathroom anywhere on this planet is fragrance free!)  And when we had a fruit fly problem in the Customer Service kitchen, the emails flew around the building faster than the fruit flies!  LOL!   And I just have to ask, does anyone else have a "refrigerator purge" reminder pop up on their calendar EVERY Thursday at 4:30 pm?  Anyway, as if reading how to use software I haven't even seen yet is not a waste of my time and their money isn't enough, they have to have a written procedure for everything, including how to sit at your desk.  

The evacuation plans were especially funny.  Adjacent to our manufacturing building is a building used for social events and for exercising.  In case of a fire we are to go into west parking lot, lick our fingers and figure out which way the wind is blowing.  If it is blowing towards the exercise building, we should proceed to the east side of the building and stand in the parking lot which also houses several nitrogen and hydrogen tanks!  REALLY????  What if the wind shifts and takes the fire with it??  It just made me chuckle...and shudder... at the same time.


Then there was my boss who when getting ready to go home was searching for her keys and said "I always find my keys the very last place I look!"   In my caffeine induced high, I burst out laughing and said "Did you hear what you just said."  She repeated it!  I laughed even harder and said, "of course they are because once you find the keys, you stop looking!"  

There was the look on the faces of two of my co-workers when I told them about my first interaction with the CEO of the company.  I mean after all, isn't he almost like a god?  I was busy working at my computer (thank God I wasn't looking at Pinterest, which, by the way, we are allowed to do when things are slow, but I'm so glad that I was actually working on learning a new software program.)  He snuck up to  my cubicle door and just stood there.  My back is always to the door when I'm working so I didn't see him.  How long he stood there, I don't know.  But he welcomed me to the company but never told me his name, which I thought was very rude or arrogant or strange.  He just assumed that I (and everyone I guess) knew who he was.  To tell you the truth, if I had not been perusing the company directory, I wouldn't have known it was him and probably would have asked him his name and what he does at the company! That's my SOP when meeting someone there that I haven't met yet.  LOL!  It really crossed my mind to say it anyway, just to be ornery but I decided not to.  The first question he asked me was "are you intimidated yet?"  And I'm like What??????  What kind of a question is that?  Did he mean am I intimidated by him or the many facets of my new job?  Since most Customer Service Reps are under the impression that he really doesn't know what all we do in our department, I had to assume he was asking if I was intimidated by him.  So I just smiled and told him "I don't get intimidated."  Well, it's the truth!  Back to my co-workers.  They just stood there in disbelief that I had said that to him.  It's just my way.

To top it all off there was my husband's face at Barnes and Noble as he described how much he hates getting those stupid Facebook game requests.  I thought he was going to explode and when I laughed out loud at his face, he was a little taken aback, which then made his face crinkle up on the side like it does when he smiles and that made me laugh even more.  I love his crinkles! And the fact that he takes me to Barnes and Noble for a ginger cookie and cinnamon tea!  He even dumpster dived for boxes so that we can play musical cubicles at work.  They are shifting everyone to new cubicles.  I'm just happy that I'm not in the cloffice!

I've noticed since becoming a Christian that I'm able to laugh at a lot more things...even at myself.  And that feels good!  It's a gift from Him to me!  Thank you Lord for laughter!

Today I'm just having trouble picking one thing to be thankful for.  I'm thankful for good preaching, the presence of God, fellowship with other believers, family, new life (and no, grandson #2 has not been born yet-we're still waiting), fall days, the awesome sense of the love of God, the Word of God, and so so so much more.  

I love that God is good!  He wouldn't have to be.  He really has no reason to be good, except that He is...good...all the time.  He's not moody.  He never changes.  He is constant.  He is good!  And He's my God.  

I know that I have busted on people's concept of busyness in the past.  I made a decision long ago to not look at "busy" times as busy because the word "busy" just has too many negative connotations.  I have chosen to look at those times as "full".  Fullness is a good word.  For instance, after dinner last night, I had a sense of fullness that was very satisfying.  There had certainly been fullness in the hours after work when I was working diligently to prepare the food that now filled my tummy and gave me this feeling of satisfaction.  There was fullness in our living room as the whole family (minus one) was packed in the living room to celebrate my son-in-laws 30th birthday.  Toys were everywhere.  My grandson was using up every space that wasn't occupied by something else to run and play.  The room was full of the sounds of the basketball game (go Duke!), mini conversations, the dog barking, and the clicking of the computer keys as I sat and researched for an article I'm writing.  When something is full, we feel the need to stuff it fuller.  I stuff the garbage bags as full as possible before taking them to the can.  When I go to the thrift store on "Fill a bag for $5.00 day), I stuff it as full as I can get it.  When I go to the orchard and they give me a 1/2 bushel bag to fill, I stuff that bag with as many apples as possible until it's completely full!  

I have goals for my life.  Some are long term.  Some are short term.  Some of the short term goals will also contribute to my long term goals.  Some won't necessarily.  I'm finding that goals are good.  They keep me focused and moving in the right direction.  There can be many distractions along the way that would pull me momentarily away from the activities I are doing to see my goals come to pass thus just increasing the time it will takemes to meet those goals and adding discouragement when I don't seem to be getting any closer to meeting them.  

In discussing my Christian faith through the years, I've been told numerous times "if Christianity works for you, that's fine but I don't need a crutch."  Of course, the insinuation here is that they are somehow a stronger or better person than I am.  A crutch...hmmmm.    What is a crutch?  According to Merriam-Webster, it is a "forked support."

My response to them then is "if Christ is a crutch, then break both my legs!"   

Life is cyclic.  We are made out of dust.  To dust we return.  Trees produce leaves in the spring that die in the fall, only to start the whole process over again in the spring.  Even people run in cycles in their emotions and actions.  In our society, we prefer to think in terms of lines-moving ahead, moving up, moving on, never to return.

For the first time in 27 years, I am working full time away from home.  I work with such nice folks.  Unfortunately they do not know Christ.  Oh, some go to church, but they don't have a personal walk with God.  They don't know that His promises are "yes and amen" to the righteous, so they go through life being positive, nice people.  But as I observe them I realize that none of them have a deep seated peace.  Things come that knock them off center and they tend to either be a yo-yo emotionally or they keep all their fear deep inside so that no one will notice.  And for most of them, they soothe their moods and emotions with alcohol.   I've heard many of them talk themselves out of worry, but I know they are still worrying.  

Knowing Christ gives me peace, in every situation, through every storm.   No matter what is going on in my life, I have peace in knowing that God is there, He is aware, he is on my side, and His limitless power is at my disposal.  Who wouldn't be thankful for that?  

Sundays are my favorite day.  I look forward to them all week.  For most of the people I work with, Sundays are just another day of the weekend.  Probably for most of them, it's one that they sleep off hangovers with, which means they miss the significance of Sunday all together!

For me, Sunday is special day.  I get up way early.   I read and pray.  I worship in the shower.  I do my hair, put on make up, and wear my best clothes.  I don't do this to impress others.  I do it as a sign that this day is a special occasion.  You see, I'm going to a very special place-God's house. I'm meeting with very special people-my family.   

Sundays are not significant because I decided to make them that way.  They are significant for me because God made them that way for me.  When he found me, washed away my sins, put His Spirit inside me, declared me justified, and laid my punishment on His own precious Son, that made me significant to Him.  Therefore, because He counts me significant, then I must be!  Sundays are the day when I acknowledge that significance in worship, thanksgiving and praise-the offering I take to God's house as a small token of my gratitude.  That is a very special privilege!  I am thankful that I have a significant day in every week.  

It's Saturday!  Why am I thankful for Saturdays?

• I can sleep in past daybreak, all snuggled under the covers listening to the slow deep breathing of the most amazing man in the world.
• I usually get a romantic breakfast at Sheetz on the way to the gun range
• The house smells of clean, fresh laundry
• I can leisurely cook meals instead of hurry up or crockpot meals  
• Football games
• Saturdays are usually a work day but they feel more relaxed because I usually am working on something I want to work on.
• Almost every Saturday my grandson comes over.  I love hearing "Mimi, go park?  OKAY!"  "Mimi, see Wiggles on the pooter (computer)? OKAY!"  "Later Gator!" (when he leaves to go home).  I'm really thankful that he seems to have figured out that Mimi is OKAY afterall.  He's still a BIGGER Pappy fan, but that's okay.  So am I!
• It's the day before the day of rest, the day of worship, the day of fellowship.
• It's the day the Lord has made and I am rejoicing and being glad in it.

I thought that for the first day of 30 Days of Thankfulness, I would write about the person that I am the most thankful for the most of the time.  You guessed it...my hubby!  I just think that my hubby is the bomb...because HE IS!  He is a constant in my life.  I'm thankful for him everyday but today he just seemed to shine.  He had a free lunch for the first time since school started, so he came, picked me up at work and took me to lunch.  After work, he decided that I had worked enough for one day and deserved a night off, so he loaded up the whole family plus the pregnant one and her family and took us all out to dinner.  When we came home he snagged me for some snuggles--now before your minds go too far the wrong way, snuggles are what we do every evening when I get home from work where we sit or lay on the bed and he holds me REAL tight as we giggle, and snuggle and talk about our day, without any children or the dog...well, sometimes the dog is there--just a reconnecting point after being apart all day. It's my most favorite time of the day-everyday!  (Texting is wonderful but snuggles are better!)   He just has a way of communicating his love for me in a way I understand and just as I often marvel at God's love for me when I think of who He is and what I am, I do the same when I consider my husband's love for me, what kind of man he is and what I am.  It must that he and Christ are a lot alike.  Yes, I'm sure that's what it is.  I feel doubly blessed!