Tag Archives: Multitudes

One Of Those Days

Do you ever have days when you wake up and you believe it is going to be a good day…and it turns out it isn’t? Today is one of those days for me. The kind of day where all the little nerve wracking things just add up to one big pain? I wanted to write my Multitudes on Mondays post this morning, I really did. Then life happened and I wasn’t feeling very thankful. To be completely honest, I was irritated (and rightly so) but, it put a damper on things. Once I had let myself go there……it was all over……like a downhill slide on a sled with greased runners.

I’m not feeling thankful. There I said it. I actually feel guilty for saying that. I guess it is just my day to be human, be real, be imperfect, me.

Okay, I am thankful about one thing. I’m thankful that God loves me, even when I feel unlovable. On days when my mood is darker than the storm clouds rolling in, He is there. He doesn’t leave me, even when I’m frustrated, irritated, and wishing I was sedated!

There is tomorrow.

2 Timothy 1:7  for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Monday

Monday (Photo credit: Eric M Martin)

 

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All Thanks, Big and Small

the cloud and the rays of light

Image by bernat... via Flickr

Here I sit at my kitchen counter…on yet another Monday morning. A morning that is gray and rainy…again. It seems like the rain is here to stay this Spring. Even though the day outside is wet and drizzly, I have so much for which to be thankful. The light of yesterday breaks through the gray of today. Light shining into this world…light that changed the world forever.

Mondays are always a rough day for me, and yet these days are part of Multitudes On Mondays. A reminder to me and to everyone, that there is always much to be thankful for…in all things big and small. Life truly is a gift.

* Safe travel for my sons as they traveled with friends.

* Time spent with my daughter.

* Discovering that old is new again

* Laughing together

* Quietly working in the kitchen

* Family

* Knowing the TRUTH

* Chocolate peanut butter icecream

* Love

* Conversations with sons

* Helpful daughter

* A husband who is there for me

* Time to just breathe

* Groceries in the pantry

* Cold tea

* Beautiful clouds

* Rain

* An old, rugged cross

* Blood covered

* “It is finished”

* An empty tomb

* A Savior lives

*Redemption

* A promise that He will come again as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Amen and Hallelujah!

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Saturday Morning

Downtown Mount Victory

Image via Wikipedia

I’m reading a decorating magazine, writing in my eucharisteo journal, and drinking a mug of coffee. I’m also watching the news. The sun is actually shining this morning, before the rain returns later in the day.

It’s a quiet morning.

I have much to be thankful for, on this day before Easter.

My daughter wants to go to Mount Victory. To check out the shops.

Maybe we will.

Saturdays are good.

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Just Another Thankful Monday…

the unmade bed

Image by suttonhoo via Flickr

Click on the Multitudes On Monday graphic on my right side bar to find out more about thankfulness, from those that are overflowing…

Ann Voskamp said in her book, One Thousand Gifts, that it is impossible to worry and give thanks at the same time.

I choose to give thanks. One thing at at time. It makes all the difference.
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”   Psalms 107: 1  NIV

*Teenage boys that are taller than I am…who can reach the tall shelves for their mom.

*Deep, almost man voices.

*Hugs , that will never grow old.

*Children telling me, “I love you, Mom”

*Words that make me feel rich.

*Back scratches

*Cozy, warm rugs scattered on the floor

*Glass of orange juice

*Wet dog nose

*Morning quiet

*Sound of my husband’s voice on the phone

*Gray skies

*Rain on the way

*Weather news

*Old hand-made aprons hanging on the wall

*Lanterns

*A rumpled unmade bed

*Warm water to wash my face

*Minty toothpaste

*Warm socks

*Smell of cinnamon in the air

*Smooth, warm wood

*Soft glow of light

*Dog snuggled on his pillow

*Children diligent with school work

*Shelf filled with books

*Comfy couch with pillows

Home

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Hard Thanks…

~Did She Cry ~

Image by ViaMoi via Flickr

All the reasons to be thankful….Click on the Multitudes On Mondays graphic on my right sidebar to read more.

Dear Reader,

I’ll be honest with you. I’m not feeling very thankful today.

Mondays are never my best day of the week, and today seems especially “not very thankful”. I feel guilty. I struggle.

Right now I’m seeing all “the holes” in the canvas of my life.  When concentrating on the holes, the rips, the tears… I find it difficult to see the beauty. I know that is a poor attitude, you don’t have to remind me. Believe me, I know.

All the things I wish were….and aren’t.

All the things I want…and can’t.

All the trying to measure up….and falling short.

All the dreams…dashed.

All the little things….that become BIG things.

All the words thought….but never said.

All the wishing….not coming true.

All the obstacles….not overcome.

All the life beautiful…is really broken.

We live in an imperfect world.

 

Life IS broken. Isn’t that true for us all?

Aren’t there days when we each wonder, the why?

When our vision is full of gray, and the colors seem dulled?

When we want so much more, but get so much less?

 

God knew we’d have days like this. Hard days. Painful days. Days of longing for something else. Something that is seemingly just out of reach. The frustration. The grieving. The seemingly unfairness of it all. He knew. He always knew.

Giving thanks through the difficult times. The broken times.  Ann Voskamp calls it the “hard eucharisteo”. The giving of thanks when we are searching through the darkness. The saying “yes” to God, when we don’t understand. The trusting that this hard place we are in, is not the final destination.

Ann goes on to say, “Grace + Thanks = Joy”.  She’s right, you know

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything. Not about life plans. Not the wondering. Not the worrying. But in everything That is a big, all encompassing word. By prayer and petition God hears us!  With thanksgiving Always thanksgiving…even when it is the hard eucharisteo. present your requests to God. He wants us to talk with Him. In the good times and the not so good times. He is there.

And on a day when it seems dark, not just because of the storm clouds, I can say thank you. I can give the thanksgiving to the One who hears me even when the words aren’t spoken aloud. I am thankful.

 

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The Barns Of NorthWest Ohio

Sun bleached.

Rain beaten.

Utilitarian buildings

that are beacons

to the farming way of life.

Barns standing

over the years

as a reminder of those

that work the land

and raise the animals.

Strong. Sturdy. Dependable.

Though my family does not farm, we are surrounded by those who do.

I am thankful for them.

Each day, I am reminded more and more of God’s grace.

Wonderful. Amazing. Grace.

I have much to be thankful for…we all do.

I continue with my list of thanks, my eucharisteo, to the One who gives the moments. Each one a gift.

#350 laughter

#351 time spent with the ones I love

#352 contentment

#353 family

#354 deep conversations

#355 warm chocolate chip cookies

#356 non-busy Friday night

#357 Saturday afternoon

#358 my son cleaning the kitchen for me

#359 soft cats

#360 bedtime

If you want to learn more about Eucharisteo, click on the Multitudes on Monday graphic on my right side bar.

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