What I'm Thankful For - Part Two

I'm thankful for memory. Especially when I get to a room and can't remember why I walked in there. Then, it hits me...and I think, "Whew, glad I remembered that."
I'm thankful Maggie will stare at me until I feed her in the moments when I don't remember.
I'm thankful for the people who have invested in my life when it offered them nothing much in return.
I'm thankful for those three hours dinners with my best friend and no lack of conversation.
I'm thankful that Leo decided to open a restaurant and make chicken wings.
I'm thankful for a season that makes us pause to remember what we're thankful for.
I'm thankful for the woman who created cute socks to sleep in.
I'm thankful for those days when the weather is so perfect that you have to drive around with the sunroof opened and the windows rolled down.
I'm thankful for the Gamecocks.
I'm thankful for people who found their words worth writing down and time in my day to read their books.
I'm thankful for travel size Lysol.





I'm thankful that Jack's back. (Well at least he was last night for two hours and will be back for good in January.)
I'm thankful for makeup.








I'm thankful for Cromer's who makes the best boiled peanuts.








I'm thankful laughter, the kind that you feel in your gut and experience in your soul.
I'm thankful for tears that come right before healing takes place.
I'm thankful for people who are willing to be morticians, because Lord knows I would never do it!
I'm thankful every time I hear Maggie snore because that means she's still alive. (She's 14 on Christmas Eve...)
I'm thankful that Sophie doesn't care when baby Georgia pulls her hair.
I'm thankful that Georgia can laugh now because it is the most wonderful sound in the world...
I'm thankful for long car trips because it gives me time to catch up with old friends, listen to books on tape and sing to the top of my lungs.
I'm thankful for old friends who have known you since you were little and can reminisce with you about the "remember when..."
I'm thankful for my older brother who didn't mind taking me to school when he was a senior and I was a freshman. (So not cool...)
I'm thankful for my baby brother who I now like.
I'm thankful for my sister-in-laws who don't mind listening to me talk and both know how to make me laugh.
I'm thankful for my niece Hannah who is beautiful and so grown up.
I'm thankful for my niece Lauren who is compassionate and precious.
I'm thankful for my niece Abigail who does the best Elvis impersonation and whose voice I love to hear on the other end of the line.
I'm thankful for Jake who brought some testosterone to all that estrogen and whose smile can melt my heart.
I'm thankful for my mom who is a lady of grace and character, kindness and strength.
I'm thankful for my dad who is loving, funny and available.
And I'm thankful for my Heavenly Father who has fathered me this past season of my life in a way I've never been fathered before. Loved me to a depth of soul I didn't know existed inside of me. And healed me in a way there were days I didn't believe existed.
May each of us take time to remember all that we have to be thankful for. And may we take the time to tell those closest to us just what they mean to us. So, please know how thankful I am for you...

Happy Thanksgiving
Denise

What I'm Thankful For

Since Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, I wondered if we could spend them thinking about things we are thankful for. The idea came to me the other morning lying in bed with the cloud over my head about as gray as the cloud that loomed outside. I knew why it was there. It was that lovely week of PMS when all women take one moment to tell Eve how much they wish they could slap her. I'd ask for forgiveness when I was through, but I have to say there is a brief moment each month that it takes all I have to not despise the woman.

But as I was lying there I gave myself a task. Keep your eyes open for things to be grateful for. No complaining for the next two weeks. Only talking about what your thankful for. Now, granted this has been a year and a half of noticing all the beautiful places God has moved in my life in even a more real way than in years past, but this truly cognizant approach to my day had me quite amazed at all I saw. Here's my list for this past week. I challenge you to do the same this week and share with us what you noticed...

I'm thankful that I still PMS, because the alternative isn't that appealing at my age.
I'm thankful that the new lines around my eyes this year came from laughing.
I'm thankful for three hour car rides with friends who aren't afraid to be honest, vulnerable and don't mind that I have to go to the bathroom every hundred miles.
I'm thankful that babies smell so good and don't care if you make a fool out of yourself.
I'm thankful that my dogs are just as excited to see me after five minutes as they are after five days.
I'm thankful for strangers who risk becoming your friend.
I'm thankful for people who take their creativity and write songs that I can sing to the top of my lungs in my car.
I'm thankful for the homemade biscuits and peach preserves at Loveless Cafe.
I'm thankful for my precious neighbor Jane who thinks of me every time she bakes something.
I'm thankful for my sister-in-laws who call me just to talk.
I'm thankful that five people call me Aunt Niecy.
I'm thankful that someone thought the iPhone would be a good idea.
I'm thankful that my mom and dad are still living and have stayed together even during the difficult times.
I'm thankful that everyday I get to do what I love.
I'm thankful for fall and how God shows off what an artist he is.
I'm thankful for the old friends I've reconnected with on Facebook.
I'm thankful that no matter what I've been through God still finds me usable.
I'm thankful for socks that match my pj's to keep my feet from getting cold.
I'm thankful that death, divorce, and sickness don't have the final word over a life.
I'm thankful that there is a season to celebrate just a few reasons why I'm thankful.
And I'm thankful for people like you to share this amazing journey with.

Praying for a President

As I watched President elect Obama give his speech in Grant Park after being elected President of the United States I watched as the tears rolled down the faces of so many there in attendance. I let mine fall as well; the historical achievement and statement of how far we have come would not be lost on me. The other thing that won’t be lost on me is my responsibility regarding this new President.

In my daily study I was reading I Timothy 2:1, 2 the day after the election. “First of all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men. For kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility, that [outwardly] we may pass a quiet and undisturbed life [and inwardly] a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way.” (Amplified version)

No matter whom you voted for, the responsibility for each of us is the same. We have the responsibility to intercede for our new President. It would be more than redundant to say no President has faced tougher times. But it clearly exemplifies the great need for direction, wisdom and grace that our new President will need, so that we may “pass a quiet and undisturbed life and a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way.”

May God continue to turn our hearts toward Him and may we never forget how far we’ve come from the days when entire groups of people were relegated to balconies at movie theaters, back seats in buses and back pews in churches. May our words be kind after a season of divisiveness. We may not agree on all issues, but we can agree that we have each one been formed in the image of God and we can celebrate the huge stamp on history that last Tuesday left. On January 20th one President will leave the post and another will enter it. May the wisdom of God rest on that White House. May the grace of God lead our outgoing President in the remaining days and our incoming President in the days to come.

To Subscribe To Blog

If you'd like to subscribe to this blog please enter your e-mail in the "Email Subscriptions" in the column on the right.

The Prayer

Lord,
Forgive us when we've held onto our money tighter than we've held to your hand.
Forgive us when we've let the hands of caring for the hurting, the hungry, the homeless fall to the government instead of the church.
Forgive us when we've fought harder to protect the lives of animals more than the lives of children.
Forgive us when we've allowed tolerance to become a word that means accepting sin.
Forgive us when we've rebuffed those who are bound by their sin, instead of lovingly and tirelessly walking with them to freedom.
Forgive us when we've held onto our religious traditions at the cost of valuing souls.
Forgive us when we've let our liberties turn into the very things that now hold us in bondage.
Forgive us when we've removed your name from our schools and then cursed you claiming you didn't protect our children.
Forgive us when we've accepted handouts from the government and our bodies were able to work for our own provision.
Forgive us when we've found you as the inconvenience in this world when we have been called to be foreigners and strangers in it.
Forgive us when we've allowed others to define our truth instead of the One who is the Truth.
Forgive us when we've lived our lives as if they were upside down. Calling that which is wrong, right. Calling that which is a lie, truth.
Forgive us when we haven't gone the extra mile, haven't fought the good fight, or haven't kept the faith.
Forgive us when we've gotten tired in the well doing.
Forgive us we pray.
And as we pray this prayer, may we now hear from you and may you heal our land.
We're in desperate need of healing.
We're divided as never before.
Broken as few have ever seen.
Desperate as we may never be again.
Basically Lord, we're in the perfect position for You. Hear the prayers of your people.
Forgive us.
Heal us.
Save us.
This is our prayer. And you the only one might enough to save.