For my final March entry of things I’m very thankful for, it is at follows:
On Day 86 in a book I’ve been reading (mostly daily), titled A Year With God: Living Out the Spiritual Disciplines, Edited by Richard J. Foster and Julia L. Roller, there is an entry titled “Everyday Worship”. In this entry, the reader is encouraged to “spend each day in praise and adoration”, adding that “When we pour worship out over our daily lives, we grow ever more sensitive to God’s voice and presence” and the reader is also encouraged to try to “live in constant awareness of and openness to Jesus as teacher”. The reader is also counseled to “try to integrate worship more fully into your everyday life. This practice could take many forms: singing a praise song, remembering to thank God . . .to sit in silent adoration . . .” and others. Writing down a list of things I’m thankful for during the previous days has helped me to try to do this, and I keep a hymn CD (or Southern Gospel CD), in my CD player when I’m doing errands (and usually sing along with it). On Day 87 of this same book, a quote from William Temple gives further understanding of worship. “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” I am thankful for these remarks that have helped me on my journey of faith, and for the reminders therein also
The title of today’s post comes from a hymn of the same name by Martin Rinckart . Some of the words to the hymn are as follows: Now thank we all our God / with heart and hands and voices/ Who wondrous things has done / in Whom His world rejoices; / Who, from our mothers’ arms, / has blessed us on our way / With countless gifts of love, / and still is ours today. Aren’t those beautiful words? I’m thankful for hymns that put words to my feelings, and encourage me.
I’m thankful for a safe trip to and from Mississippi last week, where we spent some time with our daughter and her family, and with T.’s brother and his wife. More about that later . . . our trip by car to and from Mississippi was uneventful, and I am truly thankful for that. I’m also thankful that my husband is such a good driver, and I can have naps (which he encourages) so that the 500-mile trip passes quickly.
While in Mississippi (where my daughter and her family lives), my oldest granddaughter and I sang some hymns in harmony. She’s an excellent pianist with a beautiful voice, and I know enough “alto” to get by. We enjoyed our little music endeavor.
We took some of the Franklin Springs media/Homestead Blessings DVDs as a gift to my daughter & family, and we enjoyed watching some of those together, especially “The Art of Gardening”. This DVD tells about making a “lasagna garden” (or layered garden) which doesn’t need a tiller or anything. A partial demonstration of this is found on the Franklin Springs Media website under Homestead Blessings DVDs. We (mostly T.) then proceeded to provide materials and some labor to help them put in a garden, and get it mostly planted. I am so glad this has been provided for them. My daughter is a very good cook and we planted things she often uses in her cooking. She has been studying a lot about nutrition, and the value of eating mostly plants, so the garden should serve them well, and help with grocery bills at the same time.
Thursday of last week was T.’s birthday, and my oldest granddaughter baked him a cake and decorated it. That night, my son-in-law grilled steaks, and all-in-all we had a very nice celebration (67 years now!)
On Friday of last week, we met T.’s brother and his wife for lunch, and later went to see the work that has been done on The Old Homeplace. My brother-in-law purchased full rights to the house and he and his sons-in-law have been busily doing a lot of home improvement to it (new roof, siding, floors, windows, central air&heat, etc.). T.’s brother’s two daughters live in Mississippi (one in NE Miss. and the other on the coast), and when they all pile in, there’s just not enough room for them all in T.’s brother’s house (which is next door to the old homeplace), so they’ve been staying at the “old house”. . . . works out better for them all. It was interesting sitting in the den of the old house, where we spent so much time before my inlaws passed away. We enjoyed very much our visit with T’s brother and his wife..
We had lots of sun while we were there, and Mississippi is about two weeks ahead of us in Spring’s arrival, so it was wonderful to see so many blooming things. Today, I rode through Atkinson Park down along the river here in Henderson, and although most of the jonquils are fading on the left side of the road, the Spring Beauties have beautifully carpeted the right side of the road. Spring’s on its way, and some of the things we planted in our little garden are up and looking healthy.
Yesterday morning we got a call from Elder Jeff Winfrey, who had nominated my husband for the Governor’s Kentucky Volunteer awards for 2009, and we learned that T. had won in the “Kentucky Ambassador” category for his work in the Philippines. Previously, Jeff had sent us copies of the paperwork that he and his wife Christy had filled out in the nominating process, and they had spent so much time on it and it was so good that my feeling was that T. definitely had a chance with all of the work they did. But we had forgotten about it while we were gone, and it was a nice surprise to get the news yesterday morning. The Awards Ceremony is in May, and I think it’s in Frankfort (our state capitol). I will probably report on this further later on.
There are so many things I’ve failed to mention that I’m so thankful for, but my time for this today has to end here. God bless you all in the weeks ahead. Praying a blessed Easter for each of you and your families, and praying the deep meaning of Easter will be with you as you go through each day, remembering “Because He lives we can face tomorrow!”
On Day 86 in a book I’ve been reading (mostly daily), titled A Year With God: Living Out the Spiritual Disciplines, Edited by Richard J. Foster and Julia L. Roller, there is an entry titled “Everyday Worship”. In this entry, the reader is encouraged to “spend each day in praise and adoration”, adding that “When we pour worship out over our daily lives, we grow ever more sensitive to God’s voice and presence” and the reader is also encouraged to try to “live in constant awareness of and openness to Jesus as teacher”. The reader is also counseled to “try to integrate worship more fully into your everyday life. This practice could take many forms: singing a praise song, remembering to thank God . . .to sit in silent adoration . . .” and others. Writing down a list of things I’m thankful for during the previous days has helped me to try to do this, and I keep a hymn CD (or Southern Gospel CD), in my CD player when I’m doing errands (and usually sing along with it). On Day 87 of this same book, a quote from William Temple gives further understanding of worship. “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” I am thankful for these remarks that have helped me on my journey of faith, and for the reminders therein also
The title of today’s post comes from a hymn of the same name by Martin Rinckart . Some of the words to the hymn are as follows: Now thank we all our God / with heart and hands and voices/ Who wondrous things has done / in Whom His world rejoices; / Who, from our mothers’ arms, / has blessed us on our way / With countless gifts of love, / and still is ours today. Aren’t those beautiful words? I’m thankful for hymns that put words to my feelings, and encourage me.
I’m thankful for a safe trip to and from Mississippi last week, where we spent some time with our daughter and her family, and with T.’s brother and his wife. More about that later . . . our trip by car to and from Mississippi was uneventful, and I am truly thankful for that. I’m also thankful that my husband is such a good driver, and I can have naps (which he encourages) so that the 500-mile trip passes quickly.
While in Mississippi (where my daughter and her family lives), my oldest granddaughter and I sang some hymns in harmony. She’s an excellent pianist with a beautiful voice, and I know enough “alto” to get by. We enjoyed our little music endeavor.
We took some of the Franklin Springs media/Homestead Blessings DVDs as a gift to my daughter & family, and we enjoyed watching some of those together, especially “The Art of Gardening”. This DVD tells about making a “lasagna garden” (or layered garden) which doesn’t need a tiller or anything. A partial demonstration of this is found on the Franklin Springs Media website under Homestead Blessings DVDs. We (mostly T.) then proceeded to provide materials and some labor to help them put in a garden, and get it mostly planted. I am so glad this has been provided for them. My daughter is a very good cook and we planted things she often uses in her cooking. She has been studying a lot about nutrition, and the value of eating mostly plants, so the garden should serve them well, and help with grocery bills at the same time.
Thursday of last week was T.’s birthday, and my oldest granddaughter baked him a cake and decorated it. That night, my son-in-law grilled steaks, and all-in-all we had a very nice celebration (67 years now!)
On Friday of last week, we met T.’s brother and his wife for lunch, and later went to see the work that has been done on The Old Homeplace. My brother-in-law purchased full rights to the house and he and his sons-in-law have been busily doing a lot of home improvement to it (new roof, siding, floors, windows, central air&heat, etc.). T.’s brother’s two daughters live in Mississippi (one in NE Miss. and the other on the coast), and when they all pile in, there’s just not enough room for them all in T.’s brother’s house (which is next door to the old homeplace), so they’ve been staying at the “old house”. . . . works out better for them all. It was interesting sitting in the den of the old house, where we spent so much time before my inlaws passed away. We enjoyed very much our visit with T’s brother and his wife..
We had lots of sun while we were there, and Mississippi is about two weeks ahead of us in Spring’s arrival, so it was wonderful to see so many blooming things. Today, I rode through Atkinson Park down along the river here in Henderson, and although most of the jonquils are fading on the left side of the road, the Spring Beauties have beautifully carpeted the right side of the road. Spring’s on its way, and some of the things we planted in our little garden are up and looking healthy.
Yesterday morning we got a call from Elder Jeff Winfrey, who had nominated my husband for the Governor’s Kentucky Volunteer awards for 2009, and we learned that T. had won in the “Kentucky Ambassador” category for his work in the Philippines. Previously, Jeff had sent us copies of the paperwork that he and his wife Christy had filled out in the nominating process, and they had spent so much time on it and it was so good that my feeling was that T. definitely had a chance with all of the work they did. But we had forgotten about it while we were gone, and it was a nice surprise to get the news yesterday morning. The Awards Ceremony is in May, and I think it’s in Frankfort (our state capitol). I will probably report on this further later on.
There are so many things I’ve failed to mention that I’m so thankful for, but my time for this today has to end here. God bless you all in the weeks ahead. Praying a blessed Easter for each of you and your families, and praying the deep meaning of Easter will be with you as you go through each day, remembering “Because He lives we can face tomorrow!”
2 Comments:
Elaine,
Thanks for sharing your posts on your blog. I find your writings encouraging blessings.
Much love,
Peggy
I always enjoy reading your thankfulness lists.
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