Weekly Gratitude Journal

Wow! It's been four weeks since my last gratitude post! Of course, I've still been writing at least three things I'm thankful for each day in my gratitude journal, but I didn't post them here yet because we were out of town for three weeks and I purposely left my computer at home.

The first week that we were gone was our annual grandkid trip to the little cabin on the Umpqua River. We had such a wonderful time! Only five out of eight of the grandkids could come. The two oldest grandkids have jobs and activities and couldn't get the time off. Our youngest grandbaby is only three months old and so, of course, he still needs to stay home with mama. But, we really enjoyed our time with the five "middle" grands. We came home for one day to repack and then left for two weeks of vacation the day after that. We went to South Carolina, where our middle daughter and her husband own some properties. They are there now taking care of things and seeing my son-in-law's family. We stayed in their farmhouse with them for a few days, then my husband and I took off on our own for a week to spend some time in a condo on the beach, then to drive south and explore Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. When we got back from Savannah we rejoined our family at a rented beach house in North Myrtle Beach until it was time for us to come home.

With that said, this post is going to be long, but to me, it's important that I give God public praise and thanks for His faithful care and abundant blessings. Life definitely has highs and lows, but never, never, never has God stopped caring for us and blessing us. Oh, how thankful I am for that!

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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)

#13,582-#13,665

8-10-2020-

-the fun of creativity 

-our silly grandson

-my David Austin rose heavy with blooms

8-11-2020-

-texts from my cousin in Maine

-a day of cooking and baking prep for our annual grandkid cabin time

-praying God's Word back to Him

8-12-2020-

-a fun time spent with a friend

-a walk in the evening with my youngest granddaughter who gets to spend the night

-and our oldest granddaughter stopping by

8-13-2020-

-my oldest (living) sister's birthday-I thank God for my big sister who thought I was her tenth birthday gift as I was born eleven days before her tenth birthday 

and who I have always been able to turn to and to count on

-God's help when hard things happen that we don't understand

-seeing God's transformation in people's lives happening

-a sweet time of prayer together

8-14-2020-

-Friday date day

-our favorite summer lunch spot

-oldest granddaughter staying with us for the night

8-15-2020-

-a sweet time of prayer on my walk

-God's help with my long to-do list 

-writing ideas that I know come from God

8-16-2020-

-God's sweet presence 

-our helpful, caring nephew

-a safe trip to the cabin with the grands

-kayaking with the grands

8-17-2020-

-my nephew was able to fix my dryer for free when a part came loose

-"the cousins"-the way our grandkids love one another-

-Papa playing in the river with the grandkids

8-18-2020-

-morning hugs and kisses from our grandkids

-wlldflowers and blackberries picked by little hands

-a beautiful afternoon playing at the beach

8-19-2020-

-one last swim before we pack up and go home

-tired grandkids falling asleep on the drive

-all of us making it home safely-another great grandkid getaway in the books

8-20-2020-

-one day at home before we leave again

-having lunch with our friends from Missouri

-trusting You God, with everything at home and church, while we are on vacation

8-21-2020-

-a safe, uneventful flight

-homemade peach ice cream from a little roadside market

-getting to stay at the kid's farmhouse with them

8-22-2020-

-morning quiet time on the porch of the farmhouse

-a walk with my grandson and God's protection when we saw a cottonmouth snake!

-a seafood supper at a fun lakeside restaurant followed by peach cobbler topped with ice cream!

 8-23-2020-

-a text from my friend

-listening to our church at home online

-exploring new places

8-24-2020-

-God's help to untangle a frustrating mistake our bank made

-a safe drive to Myrtle Beach in a monsoon style rainstorm

-a walk by the sea-my favorite thing to do

-a fabulous dinner together

8-25-2020-

-our nice little rented condo right on the beach

-another long walk by the sea

-time away for just the two of us

8-26-2020-

-coffee and devotions on our balcony overlooking the sea

-three year old grandson facetiming me and asking me to tell him a story

-exploring Pawley's Island and Murrell's Inlet

8-27-2020-

-capturing the best photo of my guy

-going over notes from Sunday's message at home and God speaking to me from Hebrews 12:25-28

-a friend who is watering my flowerbeds for me

8-28-2020-

-a safe drive to Charleston

-exploring new places

-coconut cream pie-yummm!

8-29-2020-

-a safe drive to Savannah

-our beautiful nation

-our nephew's help with everything at home

8-30-2020-

-laughing together about how opposite we are

-a safe drive back to Myrtle Beach

-three year old grandson facetiming us and telling everyone how much he misses us

-listening to church at home-so good!

8-31-2020-

-playing in the pool with our grandsons

-going on the ferris wheel with my six year old grandson, 

(I swear that kid has no fear about anything!)

-fun moments with our teen grands who have grown up way too fast

9-1-2020-

-the harvest moon

-it's September!

-God encouraging my husband

9-2-2020-

-Isaiah 58:11-12

-my husband laughing and playing with the kids

-God reminding me that it's always been in my heart to go deep 

and that there are others with the same longing

9-3-2020-

-my son-in-law buying me a delicious coconut cream pie

-talking and laughing together on the drive back to the airport

-Chili's chips and salsa-the best!

-a safe flight home

9-4-2020-

-our anniversary! Thank You, God for your faithfulness to us all of these years.

-puttering around the house after being gone for so long

-celebrating at home with a grilled steak dinner

still following,