For the past several years I have spent the month of November sharing daily words of gratitude on Facebook. My list is pretty similar each year with spouse, children, grandchildren, friends, church, etc. This year, I wanted to focus on things that amaze me about God’s grace, mercy, love and favor on a daily basis.
Day #1 I am thankful for the imagination of children. That despite all that goes on in this world children still like to play dress-up and be superheroes and princesses.
Day #2 I am thankful for the struggles we have had in our marriage. They have revealed things in me that God needed to work on, and brought about change in me. It has also brought us close together as we overcame them together.
Day #3 I am thankful that it is God’s job to examine the places of my life that are hindrances to fruit bearing and prune me.
Day #4: I am so blessed to be used by God. He has taken every struggle, every heartache, every trial and used it as an opportunity to help others. I love that what He has done in me, is also being worked through me.
Day #5: I am thankful for long car rides, even when I go short distances. I used to love car trips with the kids because we talked so openly about everything. I love car trips alone because God uses that time to speak to me.
Day #6: I am thankful for change. In my field, I have the opportunity to see lives transformed. Sometimes very drastically. I imagine that the joy I feel seeing people rise above circumstances is nothing compared to how God feels as His children draw closer to Him and are transformed by His power and grace.
Day #7: I am thankful I am not on this journey alone. There have been times I felt so isolated. God has spoken through various people letting me know that they are on the path too. Just confirmation I’m headed in the right direction and that it’s okay to reach out.
Day #8: I am thankful for monthly family get together. My family means the world to me and although not everyone makes it, it’s great to stay connected with our busy lives.
Day #9: This procrastinating task oriented person loves completing tasks on time, added benefit getting it done a day early!
Day #10: I am thankful for the women that have blessed my life over the past 12+ months. I have never really done the female friend thing since high school, so opening up a whole new world. Added bonus, Godly influences
Day #11: I am still amazed at God’s powerful ability to change an environment when we seek Him.
Day #12: I am thankful for blustery days. The wind has died down today, but blustery days remind me of Winnie the Pooh and the innocence of childhood. They remind me that eventually things will pass as we are blown into the next season of life.
Day #13: I am thankful for the beautiful masterpiece of the sky. I love to see the early morning sunrise, the beautiful fluffy clouds, the dark skies of storms, the shades of dusk, and the pitch black sprinkled with stars. It reminds me that just as God creates each day unique with its own beauty, every person that He has created also hold a beauty, however deep inside just waiting to be discovered.
Day #14: I love that even though our community population continues to grow, that we’re still small enough that I can run into best friends from junior high, people who poured into my life as a child, and people who knew my daddy who has been gone for almost twenty years. Connections are important, even if they aren’t daily.
Day #15: I am grateful for the little ways God says “hey, I love you.” Usually at Halloween I can find a bag little Sugar Daddy’s, but not this year. They are a nostalgic treat to me, from childhood and my days at the State. Today I got on in children’s church.
Day #16: I am thankful for the darkness, because it makes the light shine brighter. (Except when I sleep, then I’m just thankful for the dark) We have an opportunity to stand and let our lights shine during this dark time in the world. We should stand together and stamp out the darkness. Greater is He who is in me, than he that is in the world.
Day #17: I am grateful for the days when I keep a song in my heart, especially when it’s a praise song. It changes perspective.
Day #18: I am grateful that God still works miracles. I love that I have a front row seat to so many.
Day #19: I am thankful next week for a few nights of no activities and some down time after work. I love being able to serve and fellowship throughout the week. Next week with the holiday, I have my evenings free for some extended and much coveted God and me time. I wouldn’t change serving, but God has shown me an area to work on next week with Him and me. Looking forward to our time in greater measure.
Day #20: I am always a little surprised, but definitely grateful when God is rearranging things in my life, going through the discipline and pruning process, and someone preaches a message, speaks a word over me, or I read something that confirms everything He is ministering to me about. This has been one of those months
Day #21: I am thankful for the ability to release and let go. I don’t like to carry around baggage, not that sometimes it doesn’t try to jump back in my life. But I prefer to vent and move on quickly. I am thankful God has done the work in me to do that now.
Day #22: I am thankful for the wonderful resources that our community holds to help people. There are so many people in need, and although at times every need is not met, we have a lot of ministries and organizations trying
Day #23: I love it when my little Jackie-isms are spoken back to me. It just makes me smile.
Day #24: I am thankful for heartfelt messages that refocus my thinking. Been dealing with some spiritual baggage, and I definitely needed to hear the message Sunday.
Day #25: He’s still working on me. To make me what I ought to be. It took Him 7 days to make the moon and the stars Jupiter and Mars and He’s still working on me! So thankful for this fact, I still have so far to go.
Day #26: I am thankful for family traditions. When I was little and when my kids were little holiday eves often meant family sleepovers. There is noting better than a house full of laughter. Got a little taste if it again last night, as I had some of the generation#3 kids over for dinner and a movie. Not sure how I used to keep all of the kids though, but loved it
Day #27: I am so grateful that sometimes God starts working on the solution before I ever realize that it was a problem. It makes the process easier to bear in my life. I think it might be His way of letting me think I’m in control before He shows me the bigger picture and I realize I never was in control
Day #28: I love the Christmas season and all that represents Christ during this time. I am grateful for the greatest gift: the crucifixion, burial and resurrection for without it, Christmas would have no meaning
Day #29: We don’t always have control over what happens in and around us. I’m thankful that we do have a choice in how we respond and our attitude.
Day #30: I am thankful that we all have a different story. My life is blessed because I have the opportunity to hear so many different stories about people’s lives. Each unique story changes me. It is one of my very favorite things as I see glimpses of God’s grace living before me.
This post is prompted by the Tuesday@Ten blog Link up where you have 6 full days to use the “prompt phrase” as a part of your writing. Whether it be just writing a story behind the phrase or being as creative as you wish using photos, poems, art, or graphics – whichever creative way you choose. You have 6 days to write and link up your blog at the bottom of the page so that others can link up with you.
Restoring Voice 
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