Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Grateful

Last year many of my friends participated in a Thanksgiving challenge on their blogs. Each day in November they were to write about one thing for which they were grateful. It made my heart glad to read their entries. I haven't seen this challenge circulating this year and only thought of it when I was trying to cheer myself up this weekend. The old "Count Your Blessings" trick is pretty consistent with its results. In that spirit, I wanted to list a few of the things I am grateful for this year.
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1) My dear Hubby. He is such a great friend and companion.
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2) My four kind and interesting kids. I'm so grateful that my kids are interesting! They like to explore, go on adventures, and learn new things. Hooray!
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3) My house. I'm still getting used to it, but having four good-sized bedrooms is fabulous.
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4) Quilts! How else are you going to keep warm in the winter? And nothing beats a quilt to snuggle up in while watching a movie or hanging on your wall to beautify your home.
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5) Books. I love reading and learning. I am especially grateful that I am no longer in school and can read for pleasure again. So far I've read Beowulf, a couple of books on the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, and Yoni's Last Battle: The Rescue at Entebbe 1976. It is wonderful to read a book, learn from it, think about and digest the content, and NOT write a five to ten page essay dissecting it!
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6) How National Adoption Day was celebrated in my little town. Our two family judges worked hard all last Friday. They conducted 30 adoptions! Isn't that wonderful? Reading the stories of a few of the families that participated made my heart happy.
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7) Trees. I adore trees. Particularly fruit trees. In my backyard alone I have a lime, lemon, grapefruit, Arizona sweet orange, tangerine, Anna apple, Dorset apple, plum, and peach tree. I had an apricot tree, but it didn't survive the Arizona summer. In the spring one of my apple trees produced three little apples. This winter, my lime tree produced one lime-which was picked prematurely-and my orange tree has about twenty oranges on it. They are currently a light orange. We have to wait a few more weeks for the orange color to deepen then they'll be ready to eat. Yum!
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8) Being outdoors. I am fascinated with the world around me. It drives my kids and Hubby nuts, but I am content sitting outside all day just observing nature. Watching the clouds drift and change, the leaves move with the wind, the birds flying overhead, insects moving in the grass, a spider building a web...I love it all!
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9) The Sonoran Desert. What a beautiful place to live. I feel so lucky to be here.
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10) Variety. Wasn't our Father in Heaven wise when he designed such a diverse earth and population. Deserts and Rain Forests. Tropical Islands and Mountain Ranges. Horses and Tigers. Elephants and Ants. And of course the variety of personalities in the peoples of this planet. It's just so interesting! I am grateful for interesting things. :)

2 comments:

Kimmy said...

Nice list! Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!!

Tina said...

I love your list.

I especially enjoy items that are not typical....like the desert. A lot of us forget to be grateful for it;)