Why Now?

I've been thinking a lot lately, well, if you call the past five years lately....about gratitude. Rick and I want to raise our children to be grateful, appreciative and I know it means the world to me when one of my children verbally appreciates something done for them. So, this is almost a gratitude journal to God, from me. I know all blessings come from God and I have been hugely blessed in this life. I feel like God has been urging me to, in obedience, respond and I chose this avenue to do that - I know He longs to hear the gratitude from my heart, past my lips to His ears!

My desire to begin a blog began during our spring break trip when I began to see through my children, how important it is to have a spirit of thankfulness. In my heart a hundred times a day I silently thank God for so many things - I realize now how critical the spoken and the written words of thanks are!!!

We went to Dallas and had plans to see some baseball games and visit the American Girl store in Dallas. The girls knew ahead of time that we would only be looking, or so we told them! They were perfectly content with that. Spending $120 on a doll seems outrageous and we are not known for being splurgers on things like that. Rick and I intended all along to surprise them with a doll of their own ~ So, we shopped, they oohed and aahed and finally after about 30 minutes we told them they better get busy picking out their dolls and their eyes grew wide, smiles poured over their faces and even a tear of joy was shed by them! They had a true spirit of thankfulness and if they said 'thank you' to us once, they definitely said it 30 times more over the next few days. Gratefulness. They adore those dolls and the memories they made that day - they'll never forget. Neither will I. I'm thankful we could afford them that luxury ~

Last week I got a text from Hunter that melted me. Out of the blue he sends me a text, short simple and to the point but the message of gratefulness was clear ....it said "thanks mom for bringing me stuff and thanks for all you do for us. You're the best!" - Gratitude. Being grateful begins with me and I thought how thankful I am that I get to be home and be at their 'beck and call' to drop things to them they forget at school, pick them up after and take them in the mornings, check them out for lunch, bring them home when they're sick, so many things I am thankful for each day from the mundain to the extraordinary. I am thankful.

So, why this blog....when the kids thank me, verbally, sincerely, from their hearts it overflows and I thought how much more God longs to hear our words of thankfulness. Sunday we sang a simple song but I love love love it. Some of the words........I thank you, thank you, Lord, thank you for loving and setting me free, thank you for giving your life just for me, how I thank you, honestly thank you, Lord how I thank you, and I thank you! I want me life to be a life full of gratefulness.

Sometimes my kids laugh at me and I'm sure silently think 'she is wacko' : ) - Preslie never does because she's just used to it and each Monday we'd go to Walmart to grocery shop. Almost without fail we'd have the best parking spot and I always say 'thank you Lord for the great spot of convinience.' Preslie would always say, God saved us the best spot!!!! Other times we'd have a far away spot and I'd say 'thank you for legs that can walk Lord' ~

So, I'm thankful - the list could go on and surely will as this blog develops. Every day is a gift and I pray that I treat it that way - I am thankful today for summer break - I love hearing all 4 of their voices during the day - knowing all four of our blessings are right where they belong and I get to be here to see it, live it, love them and experience it all ~