Searching For Gratitude

It's been a hard week this week for several people I know. One woman I don't know wrote me just to let me know she is really struggling and asked me to pray for her. Another friend told me she lost her job. Just like that. Another friend said that she is writing a book and the words just weren't coming. Another friend's mom was admitted to the hospital. And finally another friend emailed me yesterday just to tell me that she was having a really bad day and was very discouraged.

When my friend and I chatted yesterday about her really bad day I confessed that I was having a really bad day too. We found out yesterday that our van has to have a new transmission. It will cost $1500. Right here at Christmas. I wasn't happy. I went around feeling like the sky was falling. The economy has definitely affected us and it feels like the financial security we worked so hard to obtain is fast giving way.

My friend commented that she knows she needs to be more grateful. She said that she is concentrating on being more grateful-- especially at this time of year. I told her that I knew I needed to do the same. So I issued both of us a challenge right then. I told her that she and I were going to search out the things we could be grateful for and then send each other an email with what we found at the end of every day between now and Thanksgiving.

So that's what we're going to do. Instead of dwelling on the bad, we are going to search for the good. And instead of just devoting one day to being thankful we are going to spend this next week focus on gratitude, documenting it and then sharing it. I am excited about this challenge and glad to have a friend who will join me in this crazy plan. Thanks for being a good sport Melissa!

And finally this is a great post on being grateful.

Christmas Ebook Excerpt

From The Trenches of Motherhood has posted a review and excerpt from my Christmas ebook. This excerpt is on saving money at Christmas. I am sure that's a subject that all of us are thinking about this year! Check it out at http://thetrenchesofmotherhood.blogspot.com/

One Week Countdown...

Have you made your Thanksgiving plans yet? It's just a week away!

At our event on Tuesday night, a woman asked me if I was going to be able to go somewhere and relax for Thanksgiving. With a big smile I told her, "Oh no, I am having Thanksgiving lunch at my house and then we are hosting a dessert open house that night. It will be a busy day!"

She shook her head. "Just what you need! More stress!"

The truth is, I am looking forward to this Thanksgiving more than ever. It will be a day to just focus on my family and not on my to-do list.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the foods, the attitude of only focusing on what we are thankful for and not on the gifts like we will be doing in a month. There is a sense of anticipation in the air of Christmas coming... but the stress hasn't hit yet and there is just pure excitement. We eat pumpkin spice donuts from Krispy Kreme for breakfast. We watch the Macy's parade. Then it's time for football and feasting. When the meal is over and the kitchen swept clean, I put my feet up for a couple of hours and savor the sale ads, deciding if there's anything worth getting up at 4 or 5 am for. (Usually I decide no!) Then I put pies in the oven, light some candles, and we open our doors for guests. For the next several hours people come and go, eating and talking. The noise is deafening at times, the environment crazy and crowded. It's Thanksgiving at our house and I wouldn't change a thing.

The other day I saw a sale ad for a complete Thanksgiving feast from the grocery store and chuckled to myself. My husband still talks about the year his mom did that when he was a kid. In her defense she was a busy working mom and didn't have time to put on a big production. But Curt never forgot it. He practically wrote it into our vows: "To love, honor, and cook Thanksgiving dinner." It's a big deal to him so I have tackled the turkey and learned how to make a delicious sweet potato casserole and all the other stuff that goes with making a feast he looks forward to all year.

If cooking Thanksgiving intimidates you, I thought I would share some resources that I have found to help out. First, in my ebook A Recipe For Christmas Joy, I have a complete holiday meal with all the recipes I personally use. So you might want to check that out. I give several ways I have used to make a turkey... including how to cook a turkey breast that is frozen. So if you forget to thaw your turkey, you have a backup method! Voila! Crisis avoided!

Just fyi-- I most always cook a turkey breast. If we are having a big crowd (like this year) I cook two. We prefer white meat so the other parts are just wasted anyway. And cooking a turkey breast is much simpler. My advice: look for ways like this to diminish the stress of the meal and focus on the fun. I even have a recipe that is so simple and yummy that I will share. Put a (thawed) turkey breast in your crockpot. Mix a can of cranberry sauce, a packet of onion soup mix, and a can of water in a bowl with a whisk. Pour it over the turkey breast and cook it all day. This is falling-off-the-bone good. Add a few simple favorites-- some green beans, some corn, some sweet potato casserole and some Sister Schubert's Parker House Rolls and you got yourself a great meal! Ok, you can add some stuffing/dressing if you must. :) The main thing is, don't stress yourself out. Here's another great option for cooking your turkey in the crockpot.

If you are planning to cook the whole bird, my friend Charlie has created a very funny and informative turkey tutorial video on her blog. Charlie has a wonderful sense of humor and that comes through in this video. Just the name of her blog makes me laugh! If you are someone who wants to watch something before you do it, check out this video.

And if you want something to keep the kids busy on Wednesday while you are prepping your meal, let them make these cute Turkey centerpieces. These look like something even this craft-challenged mom could do!

Whatever you are doing, spend some time today thinking through ways you can plan a great Thanksgiving. Maybe it's time to start a new tradition. Maybe you need to sit down and make out your grocery list and get your coupons and sale ads in order so you can get the best deals. Maybe you need to start now, a week ahead of time, focusing on all you have to be thankful for-- instead of saving it just for the one day. Maybe there's someone on your heart that God is nudging you to invite over for Thanksgiving. Our family is hosting two girls who are far from their families this Thanksgiving and can't get home. So we are serving as a substitute family for them and are so excited about it! Listen to those nudgings in the days to come.

I would love to hear what your favorite traditions are or if you are trying something new this year. Maybe you'll help our family discover something new to incorporate into our thanksgiving!

Event Update

The event at Calvary Baptist last night went great. Thanks to those of you who were praying! Their God Encounters monthly events are a blessing to many women. If you live in the Winston-Salem, NC area, be sure and check out their website, as this is something that would be great fun to attend on a regular basis!

I snapped a few pictures I thought I would share...

This is me and my second cousin (? not sure how all that works) Andrea. Her mom and my grandmother were sisters. It was so neat to see her there and talk about family memories.

(from left) me, Luann Prater from P31, Curt and Robin Bass

Luann helped with the book table, prayed for us and was just her usual lovely self. Be sure and check out her weekly radio show, Encouragement Cafe.
Robin and I used to attend church together years ago. She moved to Winston Salem a few years back but we were able to reconnect last night. She brought pictures of homeschool events we did together and Curt had a good time laughing at my hairdo's and large glasses I wore in the 90's. Thanks honey! I was, incidentally, pregnant in most of the pictures.

Finally, this is me and Mary, the coordinator I worked with to arrange the event. She and Alysia, her co-coordinator, work so hard to pull these monthly events off. They have such a heart for women and are true prayer warriors, as is their entire prayer team. They were so great to work with and made the experience fun. We were blessed by our time at Calvary Baptist and won't soon forget it. Thanks ladies for making it possible!

Turning My Pouting To Praise

This morning I sat down with my Bible and journal to start my day. But instead of coming to God with praise, I came to Him with my list of grievances. "Lord, I am stressed." "Lord, I am overwhelmed." "Lord I am nervous." I carried on like this for awhile, writing it all down and generally sounding a lot like the Israelites probably did. And you might recall how great that turned out.

So I was doing my Bible study and ended up in Hebrews. Specifically Hebrews 10:35-36. This is what it says:

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to
persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he
has promised.

I noticed that I had written a date in the margin. I do that when a verse really ministers to me. Sometimes I can go back and say, "Oh that was when my son was in the hospital." "That was when my grandfather died." But this one I couldn't figure out at first. What was going on in July of 03? Like most mothers, I figured out how old my kids were at that point (it's the timeline of my life...). It dawned on me that that was the summer I committed to write a book and enter into this world of ministry. I can still remember calling my friend Lysa and saying with confidence, "I am going to do this. I am going to stop saying 'someday.'" Right around the time I placed that phone call, I marked that passage.

I stared down at the date and calculated how long it had been since I wrote that. More than six years. I stared at the word "persevere" and knew that, when I marked that verse, I had no idea how long my journey would take. And then I realized that I had just spent the bulk of my time with God bemoaning the fruition of my writing and ministry dreams. I was complaining about my deadline for the novel and whining about the speaking commitments I have coming up. As I re-read those verses I had marked long ago, God got my attention. He had given me what He had promised, opening doors of writing and speaking that were only dreams 6 years ago. My perseverance had paid off.

And how did I react? By pouting about it.

I know. It makes no sense. Why would I do that? Instead of pouting, I should be praising. Instead of sulking, I should be savoring. Instead of regretting, I should be rejoicing. I clearly needed an attitude adjustment. Sitting there this morning, my journaling changed. I started thanking God for the opportunities He has given me. I determined that, from now on I am going to move forward with an attitude of praise. I am not going to worry about what lies ahead. I am not going to whine to God about all that's on my plate. I am going to celebrate where He has me... and how far He has brought me. I am going to trust that none of what's happening comes as a surprise to Him, and that He will supply my needs like manna-- just enough of what I need for that day. No more, no less.

Today my assignment is to prepare to speak tonight. I am going to stand back and watch Him show up. I am going to remember the opening lines of those verses, "So do not throw away your confidence." And remember that my confidence is not in myself, but in Him.

Scripture For Sunday

Philippians 3:8-9a, "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him."

How do we "consider everything a loss"? We hold onto everything in this life loosely. Nothing becomes more important than following hard after Him, than wanting and trusting His will for our lives. I heard recently that the best prayer we can pray is "Whatever Lord." We open our hands and let Him take things out and put things in according to His plan. When those things aren't what we want, we find a way to accept that. Not because we understand but because we trust that He is indeed working all things together for our good. (Romans 8:28) We look past the hardship to the glory that He will receive in the process. We say to Him: You are enough. Everything else is rubbish. And in the process we find abundant life, freedom, and grace. Priceless treasures we can't obtain any other way but through knowing Him.

Novel Update: What I Am Learning

During this time of editing my novel, I am learning quite a bit. I am learning that I don't know nuttin bout writin no novel. I am learning that I have a lot to learn and that, chances are, I will never stop learning no matter how long I keep at this. I am learning that the difference between wanting to quit and actually quitting is just a phone call or email from a friend saying, "You can do it!" I am learning that I don't have to have the answers. I can pray and ask God for them and He will supply what I need, when I need it. It might be encouragement, information, or that perfect word or idea that has been eluding me. I am learning that writing this novel is the hardest thing I have ever done. It is taking so much more out of me than I anticipated. And yet, I am seeing God at work in a whole new way. In another post I will share two specific things He has done recently. But for today I just wanted to say that, when this book comes out and you hold it in your hands (I hope you will want to hold it in your hands!), remember this: I can't take not one ounce of credit. Other than showing up, I did very little. God used His wisdom and His people to accomplish this book through me, in spite of me.

I have learned that most of all.

The Christmas Binder

The other day I broached the subject of planning for the holidays-- from Thanksgiving all the way through New Year's. Here's an article by my friend Molly Gold about how to plan for any guests you might be expecting: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752967

And below are some good links I found on how to create a Christmas binder to help me stay organized. You might remember last year I made one of these, and I have been thinking I need to get it back out and revamp it for this year. I figured in all my researching, I could share what I found with you! I hope these links inspire you to start thinking about organizing your holidays.

http://amongstlovelythings.blogspot.com/2009/11/adventchristmas-notebook.html

http://christmasplanner.com/

http://www.thathomesite.com/forums/load/organ/msg0914395412957.html?6

http://www.controllingmychaos.com/2008/11/christmas-organized.html

http://www.christmasorganizing.com/node/9

http://tonsofsons.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/wfmw-christmas-plannernotebook/

http://familyfun.go.com/printables/anns-amazing-holiday-planner-703975/

http://www.organizingyourway.net/printables/christmas-planner-printables

http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2008/11/holiday-planning-notebook.html