HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I will be visiting my family and seeing my children and grandchildren this Thursday for the holiday.

I plan to enjoy traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings and my son-in-law is promising to make some pumpkin pies (my favorite after lemon meringue)!

It will be fun to see the the older grandchildren meeting their 2 month old cousin BeBe for the first time.

My wish is for all of my blogger friends to have the best Thanksgiving ever with their friends and families.

Blessings to all for a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

See you when I get back!

Gratitude Journal

I used to keep a "gratitude journal." Every night before bed I would write 5 things I was grateful for...it could be something that happened during the day at work or at home, maybe one of my children called and told me of something mundane or wonderful that happened in their lives that day, week or month. Perhaps when I awoke in the morning the sun was shining through the curtains to let me know it was going to be a gorgeous day or it was a blessing to hear the rain falling if we were in a summer drought. There are so many things to be grateful for every day if we would only take a few minutes to look around us and truly see them.

To keep a "gratitude journal" get a notebook, it does not have to be expensive or fancy, one of the school composition books would work very well (you know the kind, black and white and speckled with lined pages!)

A friend had given me a spiral bound book with blank pages and those blank pages looked daunting at first, but it only took awhile to get into the swing of it.

I wrote "Things I am grateful for today" at the top along with the date as I think it is important to go back and read what you have written several days, weeks or even months later.

Some of my entries might look like this:

1) I am grateful for good neighbors who are there for you when your car doesn't start.

2) I am grateful for the part time work that I love to do.

3) I am grateful for children who grew up and became good upstanding citizens.

4) I am grateful for grandchildren who are growing up and being taught Bible stories.

5) I am grateful for hot water that provides a refreshing shower each day.

That's all there is to it - write 5 things each morning or evening (whenever it is comfortable for you). You will be surprised how easy and natural this will become after a few weeks of getting into the habit. Your perspective will definitely change on how you view each day and what it brings your way. I hope you will try this exercise and then let me know how it works out for you!

FIREPROOF

Kirk Cameron stars in
Fireproof Samuel
Goldwyn Films



I saw Fireproof earlier this week and was impressed all over again with Alex Kendrick and his brother Stephen who also brought the film, Facing the Giants to life with little money and lots of help from their Georgia church congregation. Fireproof is a very good movie about how faith in God can "fireproof" your marriage and I recommend it highly.





Kirk Cameron stars as firefighter Capt. Caleb Holt, a man who is aware that something is wrong with his marriage when he and wife, Catherine (played by Erin Bethea), bicker and argue every time he comes home. He realizes this but has not a clue that he might be part of the problem. He blames her for not respecting him unaware how unhappy she is with him and their marriage. She, on the other hand, feels that Caleb does not respect her when he does not tell her when he will be home and then is angry when she doesn't have a meal ready for him. He does not know she is ready to leave the marriage and is looking elsewhere for the attention she craves. She tells him she wants out and things are looking quite bleak when Caleb confides in his Christian father who gives him a hand-written diary called "The Love Dare." Caleb accepts the challenge and what follows is a heartwarming journey to healing.


Rated PG - run time 122 minutes.

A BEAUTIFUL BEBE DAY

BeBe has been growing by leaps and bounds, as they say. On her last doctor's visit, she had gained three pounds in her first month! I guess all of those every two hour and "on demand" feedings are paying off. She weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces! Jillian said she is growing out of her clothes at a pretty rapid pace.

Isn't she just too adorable - taking a nap in her pretty bassinet!

By the way, daughter Daisy K and her family are away this week enjoying a vacation in Florida at Disney World. I'm sure they are having the time of their lives - can't wait to hear all about it when they return. I hope they are taking lots of pictures!

I know - - I am a very proud Gramma but I just can't seem to help it!

NEW DAY

The election is over and, today, I am part of the half of the country that is disappointed with the outcome. It is hard to imagine what lies ahead of us when we have elected a person who has admitted he dislikes our Constitution and all that it stands for. Many years ago the British statesman, William E. Gladstone, said of our Constitution, it is "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man."

In our world today, filled with strife , struggle and uncertainty, the American people should remember that we own no more precious document than our great Constitution. I pray we keep it safe.

HISTORIC ELECTION

It seems to me that we are at a crossroads in our American experience with this historic election looming before us. Who will we choose to lead our country for the next four and possibly eight years? That remains to be seen - but I do know that we all have to do our part and GET OUT THERE AND VOTE! This isn't one of those times when we can sit back and let others do the carrying for us! Or be so discouraged by what the media portrays as a sure thing, that we don't even want to vote. Every one of us, no matter our position on either party, has to encourage as many friends and relatives as possible to VOTE this Tuesday, November 4, 2008. It is that important!

I know you wouldn't want to be sitting in front of your TV on Wednesday morning and realize that the election was so close that YOUR VOTE WOULD HAVE COUNTED if only you had taken the time to vote!

May God Bless you and yours and God Bless the USA!

REMEMBERING HALLOWEEN

I am waiting for all the little costumed ghosts and goblins to come to my door tomorrow evening for "Trick or Treat" night...I'm ready with all kinds of candy and goodies for them. I'm not much into the Halloween thing but I do enjoy seeing the kids and their parents having a good time going door to door for their treats.





One time when I was a girl, we were living in farm country and we would walk up the long lanes to the houses for "Trick or Treat." We didn't always get candy as some of the folks didn't remember it was Halloween or weren't ready for us. One time I remember we surprised the homeowner and he surprised us by pouring pennies, nickles and dimes into our treat bags! That is something I will always remember! Another time, the homeowners were new to our country and didn't know about Halloween until we explained the custom to them. They gave us a whole cake - it was probably the only treat they had in the house that they could give us! They didn't want to be "tricked!" Ha!

Then parents didn't have to worry about sending their kids out into the night going from door to door! We knew most of our neighbors and we knew we'd be safe. I can't imagine anyone doing that now - times have certainly changed from those carefree days. Whatever you are doing this year, whether it's a house party or going door to door, make sure you follow good safety rules and stay safe out there!