Thanks be to God for His Gift!

Christmas Eve is tomorrow! My blog has been quiet since last weekend because my life has been full!  I have been savoring these pre-Christmas moments. Monday came and went, the day I usually post my weekly gratitude list, but instead I chose a day of much needed rest after a wonderful church leadership dinner at our house the night before.  And then each day that followed I chose something other than to sit down and write a blog post-quiet moments in the wee hours sipping my coffee and reading my Advent devotional, baking cookies with my daughters and more baking alone to share with family and friends, finally getting the last of the Christmas cards in the mail, daily walks to compensate for the goodies I ate, running pre-Christmas errands with my husband, taking the grandkids for our annual evening of looking at Christmas lights, a grandkid sleepover, an early Christmas gathering with our whole family since two of our children will be celebrating with their in-laws this year.  Other than our church Christmas Eve breakfast and service, this weekend and Christmas day will be more quiet and low key than the busyness of the days preceding.  That, of course, is bittersweet.  

After Christmas, my husband and I are going to the beach for a few days, so I will be taking time away from blogging to enjoy time with him.  With that said, I want to catch up on my gratitude list here before "going quiet" for a wee bit longer.

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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)

#10,537-#10,576

12-11-17-

-the smell of cranberry cinnamon bread baking

-Christmas cards and letters arriving in our mail

-watching our youngest grandson while our kids were at their company dinner

12-12-17-

-God's mercy for my occasionally scatterbrained ways-

(I thought I lost something important-looked for it for almost an hour when it was sitting on my nightstand the whole time)

-God's provision via an insurance reimbursement

-a sweet evening together after running errands in prep for a busy weekend

12-13-17-

-two big pre-Christmas to-dos on my list done today!

-three year old grandson and his babysitter, (our unofficially adopted granddaughter), stopping by for a visit

-a husband who is content with leftovers for dinner

12-14-17-

-the God Who loves-Who reached down to us through Jesus

-God's sweet nearness to me this holiday season

-praying together 

12-15-17-

-Isaiah 53

-a sweet morning with my guy

-my favorite tomato basil soup for lunch

-watching Polar Express and nibbling on popcorn with my three year old grandson-

(while Papa and the rest of his family went to see the new Star Wars together)

12-16-17-

-getting all of the prep for tomorrow's church leadership dinner done

-a hot bubble bath after a busy day

-the wonderful feeling of clean sheets on the bed

12-17-17-

-lunch with the grands after church

-a great evening with our church leaders

-the safe arrival of our dear brother from Ghana, who is spending the holidays here

-our middle daughter and son-in-law's seventeenth anniversary

12-18-17-

-my oldest grandson "hanging out" at our house this morning

-working on our annual family Christmas letter and reminiscing about God's goodness this year

-going to bed early after a busy weekend

12-19-17-

-the last of the cards finally in the mail

-baking "eights", (Kringla), with my girls-and all six of the grands hanging out together while we baked

-heart to heart conversations

12-20-17-

-noticing that the angel prophesied not only of Jesus' birth but of His future reign in Luke 1

-a sweet, peaceful time of baking cookies and listening to Christmas music

-running the last of the Christmas errands with my husband

12-21-17-

-a beautiful foggy, icy morning-the first day of winter!

-a fun evening of driving to look at Christmas lights with our grandkids

-reading the Christmas story with the grandkids that spent the night 

12-22-17-

-our early family Christmas celebration, (since two of our daughters will be with in-laws this year)

-our grandkids thrilled with snuggly blankets instead of traditional stocking stuffers

-my husband reading His annual Christmas blessing 

and our dear Ghanian brother's prayer over our family

-our whole family together

-my hub's helping with clean up after everyone went home

My prayer is that you will have a blessed Christmas and that the nearness of God's presence will be evident to you-especially those of you that are facing difficulties during this time. I pray that your New Year will find you in the center of God's good, acceptable and perfect will and lavished with His love and blessings.

still following,