A Thanksgiving Challenge

Vintage Clip art thanks to Karen

With all the brilliant posts out there about Thanksgiving, I'll be honest, I hesitate to even write one. Don't get me wrong. I have PLENTY to be thankful for, and having lived overseas for the past four years, I'm more aware than ever how tremendously blessed we are in this country (that's another post).

Some things are easy to be thankful for, and even seem quite obvious.

• I have peace and joy thanks to Jesus.
• There's my husband who brought me flowers yesterday just because he's thankful that I'm his wife.
• There's Darling Little Redhead who ran around the living room for 20 minutes this morning singing, "Clean up, clean up, everybody do your part" without any prompting from me.
• And then there's El Principito who smiles more than any baby I've ever seen.
• Add to that the chance to be HERE with my extended family this year...and my heart is full.

But how do I give thanks for the things that honestly aren't so wonderful? Simple things like ANOTHER sink full of dishes and fingerprints on the coffee table (again)? And difficult things like broken relationships, the loss of a loved one and financial hardship?

For me, it all boils down to PERSPECTIVE. Am I willing to discipline my mind and look at things from a different perspective? Am I willing to:

• See that another sink full of dishes means that my family has more than enough to eat?
• Smile with joy that Darling Little Redhead knows how to happily entertain himself with his train set and leaves me reminders (fingerprints)?
• Praise God that a fractured relationship draws me closer to him and teaches me how to pray?
• Acknowledge that the pain of loss heightens my ability to feel others' hurts and gives me new insight into how to bless them in the midst of their grief?
• Recognize that my inability to buy "things" that I want is a chance for my creativity and ingenuity to come alive?

Right now, I am having to discipline my mind to be thankful that I don't have a permanent house here on earth. I sometimes lament that we have lived in eight different locations in our six years of marriage (and are likely moving two more times before our seventh anniversary). I wish I could decorate to my hearts content and just tweak things over the years instead of starting over every year and making do.

But when I change my PERSPECTIVE, I can thank God that I've had a chance to travel the world and meet so many wonderful, inspiring people. I can thank God that I have this lifestyle because I choose it, not because I am a refugee. And ultimately, I can thank God that I have a forever home - and I'm not just talking about heaven, I'm talking about HIM being my daily home (Ps. 90:1).

Now here's my challenge to you today - Discipline your mind to find another perspective and choose thankfulness. Won't you purpose to do these two things?

1. Identify something in your life that that regularly bothers you or causes you to fuss and complain.
2. Create a THANKFUL phrase to speak back next time it's filling your mind with discontentment or discouragement!

It's Either Free Shoes or Insanity

See these cute brown shoes?



I bought these little brown darlings on October 11th. Well, I tried to buy them on October 11th but the only size nine they had was defective. So, they ordered a pair in for me. They took down all my information, swiped my card and told me they would call me when the shoes came in.

And they did about a week later. My fantastic sister was in town that day so she picked them up for me. Ever since then, I've been watching my bank account to see the charge for those shoes go through. But it never has. Not wanting to "steal" the shoes, I decided I was going to call the store today and find out what happened.

Turns out it's pretty hard to try not to steal something! :) The first person passed me on to another person who gave me another phone number to call. So I called that number and they said that my account showed I had paid cash. Only I'm pretty sure I did NOT pay cash.

Now I don't know what happened and I think I junked the receipt so I am forever left wondering if I got a pair of free shoes or if I've slipped into insanity and just randomly write things in my checkbook register. I think I'll be sticking with the free shoes story.

My Photos 100 Years Later?

Wanna take your picture from the view from Dad and Mom's house...


...to the view from Great Grandpa Floyd's?


From Beautifully Colorful...


...to Postcard Nostalgic?


I heard that resounding "Yes!". All you have to do is head over to this website. Don't be alarmed when you see everything written in another language, just take a deep breath and click the "English" button in the top right hand corner (but don't expect a perfect translation). Then three easy steps: browse, convert and save!

Double Chocolate Treats

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE TREATS

Super soft, perfectly crinkled and loaded with chocolate chips. They're "toolicious", as my three year old nephew would say!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE TREATS
Ingredients:
1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 T cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups chocolate chips
Additional sugar

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, beat in corn syrup and vanilla.
Next combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in separate bowl; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Roll dough into 1-1/2 inch balls then roll them in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. Yield: 5-6 dozen.

These cookies are actually better the next day than they are fresh from the oven. Hope you'll give them a whirl! If you do, I'd LOVE it if you come back and let me know what you think! :)

Look What I Won!

I'm the proud new owner of an Epson Artisan 800 printer thanks to Tsh over at Simple Mom. Check out the cool features of this amazing printer here and see why she has already given hers the pet name of "Fabulous Zipzorp".

I can't wait until it arrives at my doorstep so I can give her a whirl! Thanks so much, Tsh! This is DEFINITELY going with me when we move back to South America next summer.

Simple Mom's Motto is "Live Simply, Stay Sane. Life hacks for home managers." and she has so much practical advice. She also writes about life as a family of expats over at Better Things Ahead. Why don't ya head on over and check it out? I'm sure glad I did!

Bembo's Zoo

A is for Antelope

If you have children in the house (and even if you don't!), you have to check out this S.U.P.E.R.N.E.A.T website called Bembo's Zoo . It takes a letter of the alphabet and creates a picture of an animal that starts with that letter using ONLY the letters in the animals name. My little buddy already knows his letters, but if he didn't this would be a great way to learn!

It's All Comin' Back to Me Now...

I hope that song by Celine Dion doesn't get stuck in your head like it just did in mine by merely typing out those seven little words! :)

Ah hum...anyway...This post by Wendy over at The Shabby Nest made me think of this incident that happened several years ago:


Darling Little Redhead found this can of paint (water based, thank the Lord!) and got it open. He played in it a bit before he realized that he didn't' like it one bit! I found him this way and laughed so hard!

Wendy always takes amazing pictures (she made a shattered cereal bowl and cheerios look amazing)! And she has a great take on the little messes that our precious kiddos leave us sometimes, so head on over and check her out.

Now it's your turn...what mess did your kids make that left you smiling?