I have been thinking for quite a while about how I wanted my Thanksgiving post to be. Did I want to do a list of ten things I am thankful for? Or maybe go through the abc's listing something I am thankful for with every letter? Or possibly just a pictorial list since I now have the internet at home & I can upload pics to my heart's content? What to do...what to do...

I am not a very decisive person. Those who know me, will not be surprised by this admission. So as I sit here typing, watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, I still haven't made up my mind. So I guess I'll just keep typing and let it flow!

What I am most thankful for would have to be my relationship with the Lord. I cannot express my gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ for dying on the cross to save my soul. Recently He has been reminding me of a couple of things about His character that I have long known, but not fully meditated upon. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever." This verse actually popped into my mind Tuesday night as I drove to church for the Thanksgiving & Praise Service. So I allowed my mind to consider the thought that Jesus never changes I realized how wonderful that is for me as a falliable person. Jesus always knew He was going to have to die for the sins of the world. He was always willing to do it. He loved us then, He loves us now, & He will continue to love us. The plan of salvation will never change. The Lord laid out the plan of redemption long ago and it will never change. Can you imagine what life would be like if we had to be concerned about whether or not Christ would change His mind about loving us? Or if the Lord decided to change the plan of salvation from generation to generation? What saved our great-grandparents would not work for us. We would have to figure out God's new plan & hope that He didn't change His mind. What a mess! I am so grateful that my God never changes. His love for me never changes. His plan of salvation is sure & has always been the same. What a great, constant God!

On the heels of these thoughts about the Lord's constancy, came the thought of what would I do if I didn't have the Lord to thank? Thanksgiving for me is all about thanking God. He is the one who has given me so much - salvation, family, a wonderful church, a job, a home, and on and on. I just don't know what the thought process would even be if I didn't have faith in God. Who do you thank then? Luck? Fortune? Yourself? How terribly empty that would be. Oh, thank God for faith in God!

I am also so grateful for the lessons that the Lord has taught me this year. It's been a busy, crazy year, but it's been so good. The Lord has definitely made it clear to me that I need to slow down. Reprioritize. Breathe. Spend time with Him. Learn to be still. These are all very difficult things for me to do. I am a very restless, driven person. I like to work a lot. I like to do all the household stuff. I like having a list of things that I can do. Even this morning I got up early, exercised, read my Bible, put a chicken on to cook for the noodles I will make next & then there are several other things to accomplish before heading to Mike's family Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful for the things to do & the blessing that I can be to others through my work. Making the noodles & a pumpkin angel food cake to take to my family Thanksgiving so my mom won't have to make those dishes. Keeping the house picked up & clean so that Mike & I can both enjoy living here together. I like my jobs, my roles, whatever you might want to call it. But this year with all of the sickness I've had, the wedding planning, the marriage adjusting, the Lord has made it clear that He wants first place. He deserves the best of my time & service. Evidently, my role as wife & the fulfillment of that job is in service to the Lord. The same with my involvement at church. Where I fail the most is spending time one on one with Him & being quiet in spirit so I can really pray. I am so thankful that the Lord bothers to teach me these things. It amazed me that He cares that I have an abundant life through a close relationship with Him.

Those are the major lessons I have been learning & what I am most thankful for. Ultimately, I am the most grateful to the Lord for letting me know Him & that He would care to know me. The rest of what I am grateful for I think I will post as a crazy, crammy paragraph below, typed out just as they pop into mind...

my husband - sweet, patient, kind, & full of love for me. our home - little, cozy, & full of happy, fun memories. my family. Mike's family. my Bible. our jobs. the Lord's provision. physical health & strength. good friends. lovely church family. freedom of our nation. internet coupons. double coupons sales. dependable cars to drive. paid time off. good health insurance. internet access at home. a lovely wedding with lovely people and lovely photos. my bike. a lovely autumn season. all things pumpkin - pie, bread, ice cream, cake. forgiveness - others have granted to me & the ability the Lord has given me to grant others. restored relationships. tears of joy. tears of empathy. love. laughter. music. my ipod. time spent running, walking, biking. sunshine. faith. peace. freedom from fear - a direct gift from God.

I could keep going, but the noodle making is calling! I wish you all a wonderful day of Thanksgiving - may your heart & soul be focused on the many reasons we should be thankful to the Lord today!

Posting From...

My own little living room couch! I am excited to annouce that we now have internet at home. Mike has managed to give my old laptop some better brains so that it can actually navigate the downloading of the pages. We splurged and signed up for high speed cable internet - the picture posting possibilities have put a smile on my face!

It's like an early Christmas present. I am a happy girl. In truth, I am a very grateful girl. The Lord has been teaching me so much lately & it's all been trapped up in my head. Eventually the lessons & the gratefuls will make their way from my brain to the keyboard. How's that for a Thanksgiving Post Teaser?

Another Giveaway!

Head on over to Theo's blog to enter the giveaway she's hosting for her first blogaversary!

Today might be Thursday...

but it's MY Friday!

This evening Mike & I are headed out to visit for a couple of days with his sister, Jackie. We haven't been to her place for a little over a year, so I'm excited about spending some time there. Jackie is a high school chemistry teacher (& more than a little brilliant). I always enjoy time talking with her b/c she knows lots of computer stuff & she's an excellent cook. Our conversations topics range far & wide so it's always entertaining!

Then we will get to see Mike's other sibs on Sunday afternoon at his other sister's house. Gwen & Jason are having a big party for Canton, their son who will be turning a whooping one year old! So bring on the end of the work day & let the good times get started! Only about 3 hours to go...

Small Confession: I have been a teensy bit disappointed with my first week with only one job. Unfortunately I am definitely the type to build things up in my mind & of course I develop huge expectations about how I think things are going to be. I'm sure that's why I feel a little disappointed right now. The truth is, we spent a lot of time away from home every evening this week. Monday night we tried to work on my mom's computer. It has a vicious virus; recovery is ongoing. Wednesday night was church. As a result, I'm still tired. My house isn't any cleaner. I still didn't develop a menu plan for the week (so we were definitely eating in scrounge mode all week - yuck!). I still didn't go running or exercise much. It has felt like a two job week.

Ugh. I wasn't going to go on a big complaining rant, but I kinda just did. Oops!

Now for the positives - b/c yes, there are definitely some positives!

We did get the leaves all raked up in our yard. The laundry is caught up. I have washed dishes every night so there are not any dirty dished stacked up on every available kitchen counter space. I did get to go shop & get some great deals this week. Mike & I have spent much more time together which equals good times, good talks, & good feelings.

I guess we will see what next week brings. I have some lofty goals (AGAIN!). I'm sure you're not surprised. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this party-all-the-time-weekend!

What are your weekend plans? Anything fun going on out there?

I have been enjoying this regular eight hour work day Monday! Usually I would have to go to the second job for the evening shift. Monday tends to be the busiest day of the week in a pharmacy so I was almost always scheduled to work. I am so glad that today I am planning to go home at 3 pm & enjoy the evening! Don't worry ~ there are chores to do, but that's just fine with me. I'm going to do some laundry, maybe rake some leaves, cook something for dinner & relax!

But the real reason I am posting under the Works of God banner is b/c the Lord has done some interesting things in our lives lately. The very next day after I decided that it was time to say adios to working two jobs, Mike had a meeting at this work. He knew that they would have jobs to complete until Christmas but what he didn't know was that there were so many jobs to get done that they would be on mandatory overtime until Christmas. Unfortunately that means that Mike will have the long days now, but he will at least get paid overtime for the extra effort. The income that we will lose from my second job will be more than covered by his overtime pay. Jehovah Jireh! Only the Lord knows what will happen in January. We are praying that more work will come in for them. As we all know, the Lord is more than faithful to meet our needs. I'm excited to see just what He has in store!