The practice of giving thanks...

Staying present to God's presence is easy in the early morning as I sit in my cozy chair in our kitchen nook, sipping my morning coffee, Bible and journal spread out before me.  The house is quiet, the sun, just barely peeking over the horizon in the east, is shining through the open window blinds.  God seems near as I read, journal, pray. 

When I leave my quiet time and the day fills up with things to do, interruptions come my way, or the phone rings with people needing my time and attention, it's easy to lose the sense of God's nearness and the peace I felt that morning.  The practice of counting my blessings, of noticing what God is doing in my everyday life, of writing it down, the practice of giving thanks, helps me to see and to know that He is always there, always evident, always present.

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Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#8919-#8947

9-12-16-

-a sweet time of prayer

-lots of texts from our youngest daughter who's in Scotland on vacation with her husband

-our youngest grandson came over for breakfast

-back to school photos

-this beautiful day

-the hub's favorite dinner

-help for my back spasm

-a lovely evening walk

-a good day's end

9-13-16-

-facetiming with my daughter

-God's help painting my front door, 

(seriously, I'm a terrible painter and I had to pray through this task!)

-another beautiful evening walk

9-14-16-

-talking on the phone with my friend while on my walk

-a good writing time after a season of writer's block

-a sweet photo call from my friend who's in Tennessee

-an unexpected trip to town with my husband

9-15-16-

-giving away things that I don't need anymore

-God helping me to comfort someone who's grieving

-Thursday evening, our Friday night since Friday is our day off

9-16-16-

-studying the book of Philippians with Word Writers

-lunch out with my hubs at the restaurant that has my favorite soup!

-having fun with the Trivial Pursuit cards they left had on the tables

-a relaxing evening-him watching the game, me reading a good book

9-17-16-

-a cozy rainy day

-babysitting our two youngest granddaughters

(this one had fun trying on my cheap reading glasses)

-homemade chicken and rice soup for dinner

9-18-16-

-His body broken for me, His blood shed for me

-going to lunch and to town after church with my friend

-God's good work in this day

still following,