Richly Blessed

In just two weeks, those of us here in America will be celebrating Thanksgiving. We do have a lot to be thankful for. I like to count my blessings all year round. Today it was especially easy.

My morning began by saying good bye to my husband when he left for work. Now that is something to be thankful for! …And for those of you who think I may be thankful for the fact that my husband just walked out the door is my reason to be thankful, you may want to think again! He has a job, yes, we are thankful for that. But I have someone who cares enough about his family to be responsible each and every day to go to work and make the best of it. I cannot imagine that he wanted to go spend the day outside in the cold, wet snow. In fact, I know that he probably would prefer to stay home with his family. But he loves us enough to make that sacrifice for us. Not only that, we are blessed in the fact that most nights he comes right home to spend time with us.

Next up, friends! A text from a friend, a card from another, a phone call, and a nice visit in the coffee shop with a few others. Without these people and many others in my life to hold me accountable and help me to laugh, I would be a completely different person. Extended family (parents, grandparents, siblings, in-laws, etc.) fall in this category too…I received an especially good text this morning from my sister-in-law. She is a good reminder to me of how good it is to have one another to pray and rejoice with!

"The Five Love Languages" is a book by Dr. Gary Chapman. He suggests that we all give and receive love within 5 major categories. 1.) Words of Affirmation, 2.) Quality Time, 3.) Giving/Receiving Gifts, 4.) Acts of Service, or 5.) Physical Touch. If you haven't seen any of Dr. Chapman's books, I encourage you to check them out. They can be real eye-openers! (The website is chocked full of info: www.5lovelanguages.com)

My primary love language is quality time. I feel like that is the way I best receive and give love. That is not to say that quality time is the only way I give and receive love, just the primary way. I think I give and receive love differently with different people. My girls have learned that acts of service show me love. Although that may not be their primary way of showing love to everyone, it works well with me!

All of that just to say that I really felt loved by my girls today. Hannah took time to text me. Then I found that the girls had worked together on laundry and dishes while I was out! Becca took time to spend with me running a couple errands today. By the time 4:30 rolled around, Becca was studying with a group of friends at the tech and it was time to attend Hannah's parent/teacher conference. I couldn't have been happier with them today! Becca has been working so hard on her French lessons. Adding a Thursday study group to the picture is the icing on the cake! Hannah was able to ice her cake with more A's on her report card than ever before! In fact, it is the grade she received in most of her classes! What hard workers! I love it! I feel really good to know that they are both trying so hard - not just to please me and show me love, but because it is the right thing to do.

God has been revealing Himself to me and my family in lots of ways. Years ago, we were challenged in church to play "I Spy God". It was fun to play with the girls when they were young, but what I have discovered is that it translated into my everyday life and continues to do so.

Yesterday when it snowed, I have to admit that it was pretty. Driving was terrible, but the end result of that was time with my daughter and a friend. Power went out, but that resulted in my husband coming home from work early to spend time with his family. When I don't want to do the dishes, I am reminded that we had food and have warm water and electricity. No matter what my grumble, there seems to always be another side of the coin. Even in the absolute worst time in my life, I can take a look at it from another angle and see God at work.

A couple of my friends have committed to putting a statement of thanks on their Facebook status each day of November. I like the challenge. If you are not taking part in that effort, why not join me and my family as we play "I Spy God" and find "God at Work" stories? It's a lot of fun once you start noticing how richly blessed we all are!