Do You Have a Thankful Heart?

November 27, 2008

As we celebrate Thanksgiving today, the question I ask myself is, do I have a thankful heart?

I am surrounded by so much. We are celebrating our first Thanksgiving in our new house with friends and family. I have a wonderful husband and five great kids.

All of our parents are still living and still love each other (and us). We have a whole slew of siblings and in laws and nieces and nephews that we love to be around.

I have a Savior who loves me unconditionally, a dear church family, food in the freezer and clothes on my back.

But is my heart thankful? I’m ashamed to say it… but not always.

Isn’t it amazing that even when I have so much- I can still find something to complain about?

Remember the Veggie Tales movie Madame Blueberry?

This song from the movie says it well…

We thank God for this day
For the sun in the sky
for the friends that we have
for this yummy apple pie
for the love that He shares
‘Cause he listens to our prayers
That’s why we say thanks every day.

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart.
We’re glad for what we have
That’s an easy way to start

For the love that He shares
‘Cause He listens to our prayers
That’s why we say thanks everyday!
That’s why we say thanks every day!

Be glad for what you have today, remember that a thankful heart is a happy heart!

Let’s say thanks every day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Country Gal | Posted in Deep Thoughts, Holidays | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

The Joys of Laundry

November 26, 2008


I am thrilled to be doing laundry today!

Seriously. I’m not being sarcastic here!

My wonderful husband has spent three days running wires, water lines and drain lines so that my washer and dryer could be hooked up in the new house.

After 3 days with no laundry and seven people in the house- it was time. We had dusty dirty clothes from cleaning out and sorting through the storage room. There were my smelly and sticky painting and varnishing clothes. There were piles of towels and wet wash clothes.

I even found a bag of my parents dirty clothes from their last visit that had somehow gotten left on the porch when they were packing up!  (It was a little confusing that afternoon!)

The pile was growing and beginning to take on a life of its own!

Still it wasn’t quite as bad as the ice storm last December when we went without power and water for 6 days…

Or as bad as after our week long camping trip every summer…

But still I am grateful. My Amish neighbors still use wringer washers and hang everything outside, even in the dead of winter. My 87 year neighbor still hand washes all of her clothes on a wash board (by choice).

But my washer and dryer are modern conveniences that I appreciate.

The sound of the washer changing cycles is like music to my ears!

The hum of the dryer sounds so normal and homey.

So on this Thanksgiving eve I would like to express my thanks for the wonders of modern washers and the convenience of my dryer. Ahh- there’s the ringer for the dryer now- what a sweet sound!

By Country Gal | Posted in Deep Thoughts, Rural Realities | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

On Planning and Wood Floors

October 28, 2008
Poppa Sanding

Poppa Sanding

We are in the final stages of a massive home renovation. Eight years ago we moved a large beautiful old farm house to our land and have been slowly fixing it up.

We gutted it, rearranged the rooms slightly, replaced windows, put in a ground source heat pump, replaced the roof, redid the electricity and the plumbing, all before finally dry walling, painting and now refinishing the floors.

Eight years worth of hard work and we’re down to just a few more tasks before we can move in. Yet these few tasks have been very frustrating. Everything is taking longer than it is supposed to and not going according to plan.

We “planned” to spend 2 weeks on the floors. We’re now on week 3 with work still to be done.

We “planned” to just sand the pine floors upstairs, stain them and use them as is. We ended up spending days painfully removing the glue-like gunk from those floors before we could even think about varnish.

We “planned” that the varnish would seal in the stuff between the cracks in those pine floors- but it didn’t. It keeps floating up and coming out. Yuck.

We “planned” to be moved in by November 1st.  Not gonna happen.

Our new plans include carefully removing the gunk from between the cracks and varnishing them again.

We just added it to the to-do list that gets longer every day.

I was telling my woes to my brother the other day and he very wisely said, “Plans are what you make while real life happens.” So true.

He also said, “The best battle plans only last until the enemy army approaches.” Thanks, Tim.

I think it’s time to stop looking at my to-do list that never gets any shorter and start looking to my Heavenly Father who knows all things.

He knows my needs, my desires, my dreams. He knows my frame- He designed it! He knows our schedule, our finances, our strength.

He has great plans for me- He promised.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.”

By Country Gal | Posted in Deep Thoughts, Rural Realities | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Tying Shoes & Trusting God

October 26, 2008

Untied Shoes

My lovely niece Sarah sent me this recently. It touched me and I thought you would appreciate it, too. So I’m letting Sarah be my guest blogger today. Enjoy …

I read a verse that made me laugh this morning.

It was in Isaiah 26:12 and said, “Lord, you have established peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us.”

What a way for God to point out the humility I need to have! EVERYTHING I have ever accomplished was really God doing it. And it isn’t even the work through me like I used to like to think –  it actually was God doing it for me.

Like a little kid who needs help tying their shoes. It definitely is still their shoe that gets tied, but it is the adult who does the tying.

What a crazy humble God who lets me think I am doing so much when it is only Him doing anything.

By Country Gal | Posted in Deep Thoughts | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Home School Hot Dog Roast

October 18, 2008

We spent a very cold evening last night at our annual home school hot dog roast.

There’s nothing quite as tasty as a charred hot dog with a cold inside eaten on a ketchup drenched bun while sitting on a lawn chair balancing a plate of goodies on your knees.

There’s smoke in my eyes, ketchup dribbled down my shirt, and chips drowned in my baked beans.

I love it!

Maybe the food doesn’t meet gourmet standards, but the atmosphere rivals the finest dining establishments!

The kids are laughing and playing while the adults are enjoying the warmth of the fire, catching up on life.

There’s something about watching a bonfire on a crisp night that is relaxing and brings perspective. Your entire world is reduced to the glow of the fire and those people immediately around you.

You snuggle down in the warmth of your coat and hold hands with your honey while watching the embers and flying sparks against the pitch black night sky.

Yep…I love a campfire!

By Country Gal | Posted in Autumn, Deep Thoughts, Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (0)