catching up

Keeping in true Allyson fashion, I have taken too much on and fallen behind on writing on the subject of 'thankfulness'.
So, here in this rare moment of silence and stillness, my brain is functioning, and I'm ready to share... do a little catching up.

I'm thankful for God's reminders of His care and love within the details of our lives.

- We had snow...very early snow. And, with it came extrememly heavy branches, many falling to the ground. Besides the beauty of the snow, in this moment, I'm thankful for the tree trimming that God did for us :-).. as well as *very* thankful that we were able to provide some work for a gentleman who needed it, and got all of the broken limbs cleaned up and out of our yard. The snow was also (it always is) an incredible reminder of how God washes our sins whiter than snow.

-Some really cute, miniature snowmen were created too.

I'm thankful for helping hands and servant hearts.

-This particular evening, my Little Man insisted on warming up every one's dinner (leftover night) and serving it to them. He did a wonderful job serving and even cleaned up! What made it even better was his incredible servant heart in the midst of it. .On the same evening, my Oldest was busy typing up every song from our church children's Christmas play, and making a PowerPoint presentation. He happily volunteered to do this and kept his word by doing a fantastic job!

I'm thankful for my boy's imagination.

-My boys, especially my 2 youngers, have been playing restaurant. They've broken out all of the play food, made a menu, and even a sign, stating "Parents Eat Free on Monday's after 5:00". HA! Can you tell that they're used to going out to eat when there are "kids eat free nights"??

I find pretend restaurant a refreshing time of play. With so many choices of entertainment.. videos games, ipods, music, etc... , they've chosen to use their brains and interact with each other. They don't ALWAYS choose this, but for this season, we have reaped the benefit of cooperative play and active imaginations. Our biggers even got in on the play, acting as "managers", checking on us customers and setting the ambiance by making sure the fire was stoked and going strong. :-)

I'm thankful for the love my boys share with each other.

- I treasure this one. Granted, there are moments that they do not get along. For the most part though, they are the best of friends. They're each other's biggest supporters, encouragement and defenders. They amuse each other, understanding one another like no friend can, finishing the other's sentences, laughing at themselves and each other over inside jokes or nothing at all. I find absolute joy in hearing them interact and laugh together. And, nothing brings tears of joy to my eyes faster than overhearing them talk about God with each other. They're already each other's biggest support in their personal walk with Jesus Christ. My heart overflows. I pray they're always close and urge each other on in this way!

I pray each of you are enjoying this season of "thankfulness"... I'm thankful for this time.. a time where we purpose to really think about what we have to be thankful for. It makes me think about things a little differently, having to define exactly what it is about certain things that I am truly thankful for. I want to purpose in my heart to be more thankful, as well as thoughtful of my thankfulness, all of the time.

Deep Love

To my husband, my love,

Deep Love, that's how I describe what we have. The best kind of love. Love that hears when words cannot explain. Love that anticipates seeing each other, finding rest in the others prescence. Love that intentionally cultivates and nurtures, knowing the product is worth the effort.

I am abundantly thankful for you and your love.

You are an amazing husband, caring for me as the weaker vessel, pushing me towards Christ-likeness. You are an amazing Daddy, constantly putting the needs of our boys ahead of your own. You're their example of what it is to be a godly man, and they are blessed to have you. You are an amazing leader, pastoring our church family, humbly, realizing that the job God has bestowed on you is nothing to take lightly. But you also lead with confidence, because of the One who lives in you.

I respect, admire and love you.

Today...every day, I thank God for you.

In awe of God's blessing of you in my life,
Allyson

Give Thanks

A few entries past, I posted pictures of some of our fall decorations (and some...other areas...). 
In it, I mentioned a hanging scarecrow that has a pocket, saying that we would use it later in the season.

Well, it's time to use it...and here's how...

My Little Man and I used our die-cut machine to make a bunch of leaves... red, yellow and light brown.
We then put the leaves inside of the scarecrow's pocket. Each day, we will get a leaf from the pocket, write something we're thankful for on it, and put it on our Give Thanks Tree. We made the tree today out of some twigs, stuck inside of a mason jar that I wrapped some ribbon and raffia around. I also tied on a "give thanks" die-cut that we made when we made the leaves.

The tree is now sitting on our entry table, and will be a wonderful reminder throughout this month of what really matters.

The tree also launches me into my "Give Thanks Month". I realize it's not original...but there's never a reason to not give thanks.

  Join me as I GIVE THANKS this month.