Gratitude

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Blog Challenge #4: Thankful Thing

One of our class distinctives is cultivating a community of thankfulness.

Psalm 9:1  “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

We praise the Lord often, plus we intentionally pause for gratitude regularly during Bible time and each Friday at our closing meeting.  Our thankful hearts have much to praise Him for in the summer as well, right?

Colossians 2:6-7  “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

This week’s challenge is to share something you are thankful for this summer.  Write it on your blog, or send an e-mail to Miss Blessing.  Let everything that has breath, PRAISE THE LORD!

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The grateful thought that I would like to share is what a tremendous gift the life of my niece Audrey is to me.  Her 17th birthday was this weekend.  Her giant birthday surprise was a family weekend at Camp Spearhead, one of her favorite places.

They decorated her cabin door for her birthday . . . .

. . . . and even their table in the dining room!

She got to do the zip line!

She had a gorgeous cake.

Thank you, Lord, for the people you place in our lives.  You fill our hearts with so much love, and we are thankful.

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Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

Hopefully, many of you used this Gratitude Scavenger Hunt while you were on your family walk today.  I thought about these things during my snow brain break and then in the late morning when I was out delivering a meal to a church family for a walking brain break.

1.  I do love to look at snow, and I enjoy the humor of New Hampshire in the springtime, swirling a bit of snow around from time to time.

5.  Something that makes me happy is my rocking chair on my porch.  I love to whistle to the birds, read books, pray, watch the sunrise, and so much more right on my own doorstep.

15.  Something in the morning that I enjoy is looking east at the sunrise from my cozy Bible reading chair.  In the summer, I watch the sunrise while I swim at Highland Lake just up the road, and that is spectacular.  I want to start every day praising the Lord with gigantic praises!

4.  Something I thought someone else would enjoy is one of the covered bridges in our town.  I love white birch trees, so I stopped to savor this view on my little windy walk.

12.  Something that is unique to me is that we have a marvelous rail trail all the way through our town, which is perfect for biking, hiking, and more.  Doesn’t it just make you want to wander?

3.  I love bright colors, especially green, blue, yellow, and pink.  Today had them all with the deep green pine trees against the cornflower blue sky combined with spring flowers brightening up the brown.  I saw my first blooming forsythia of the year today on my outing, and the pops of yellow seemed to shout for joy.

 

My heart is filled with gratitude today, and my walks gave me an opportunity to whisper my thanks to my Father.  How about you?

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Grange Dictionaries

Every year the Upper Valley Grange in Norwich generously donates dictionaries to all the third graders in the area.  Our MVCS third graders are thrilled with their brand new dictionaries.  Thank you, Doris Roberts and all the Upper Valley Grangers!

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Thankful Hearts

One of our room parents, Mrs. Crane, shared the greatest thankfulness idea with us.  You spiral your thankful things around a pumpkin and then use it as the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving table!  We spent a Bible class reading together many, many verses from the Bible on being thankful, and we sang our hearts out as well.  Each day we have been adding to our thankful pumpkins.  Give thanks with a grateful heart!

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Fall Joy

After days and days of cloudy, rainy weather, the sun burst through.  We trotted outdoors for a sunshiny morning meeting to celebrate!  Mr. Ralph was also using the opportunity to clear leaves, and we joined in to give him a hand.  All in all, it was twenty minutes of pure New England fall joy!

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Missing Them Already

So summer cleaning is always bittersweet for me.  I love the big housekeeping that brings a lovely, fresh start to each fall, but I miss the children so very much.  Here are a few peeks at today . . .

I keep a file of “keep forever” notes to look through when I need a shot of encouragement, and here’s one I’m adding in today.  “Your joy level is so high you could touch the sky.”  Seriously, these young people are irresistible!

So then I’m cleaning in the hall, taking down the ivy from the coat hooks, and there are hilarious surprises that I never knew the kids had put there.

A tiny frog, . . .

. . . and one of our rock climbing geckos!  I laughed out loud.  My kids delight me every day, even when they aren’t actually here!

Finally, this surprise made my day!  We had school tour visitors, and it was just what I needed.  My heart is full.