Guiding Grace

Day 29

I'm thankful for God's guidance that He gives us.

I'm not such a great planner on my own. Sure I can plan but my greatest adventures have happened as a result of God leading me and guiding me to where I needed to be. It's not always the expected place and more often than not it's the unexpected places that God ends up leading me.

I may plan to go one direction and God opens doors in a totally different direction. 

Totally want to do this now.

Simple (and a little Silly) Saturday

Day 28

I'm thankful for pillows.

Yep. I'm really thankful for pillows.
When I was looking at pillows I found some really nerdy ones.

Can find it on etsy Here

You can find something similar Here

These would make great Christmas gifts. Find them Here

Here is a gift idea for those on your list who are really into sushi. 

This one was just nerdy. Find it Here

Hope.

Day 27

I'm thankful for Hope.

Hope is something that drives us forward. We hope to accomplish things, we hope that things will turn out well, we put our hope in the strength that God gives us, we hope to survive, etc. There are a lot of things we put our hope in and hope for.
If we didn't have hope, how would things get accomplished? If people didn't have hope, how would anything get invented? How would society move forward?
Hope keeps us alive and keeps us moving forward.
It drives our faith forward as well according to Hebrews 11:1

Faith makes our hopes sure (or well founded and solid) and our hopes drive our faith forward. (That is how I read this particular verse.) What do you hope for today? 

Sounds from the Soul

Day 26

I'm thankful for music.

Music a medium of art that we use to express ourselves. People compose it, write lyrics to it, sing along with it, dance to it, and use it as a means of worship.
Here are a couple of ones that I have that I consider more "thanksgivingy". Enjoy!

Here is a link to Andrew Peterson's "Don't You Want to Thank Someone"

The Relationships we are Given

Day 25

I'm thankful for the relationships God gives us.

Relationships are important parts of our lives. They can be family relationships, friend relationships, church relationships, and casual relationships. They all play a part of our lives and help to make us who we are as individuals.
God brings each of these relationships into our lives. I believe that each of these relationships are in our lives for a reason. (Sometimes for more than one reason.)
Some are more challenging than others but it's those ones that I find help to grow me the most. I'm thankful for not just the "easy" relationships but also for the hard ones. They are the ones that have tested and taught me the most.

The Energy We Recieve

Day 24

I'm thankful for the energy that I have been given.

Maybe I have a little too much energy in this shot :)

God has blessed us with many things and the ability to enjoy many things. Today I am thankful for the energy that He has blessed me with today.

Prayer

Day 23

I'm thankful for prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

I'm so thankful that as a Christian I can go to God in prayer at anytime anywhere. I can go directly to God wherever I'm at and in the midst of whatever I'm doing. It's an awesome thing for God to be so approachable and so available all of the time.
 It tells us in the Bible that God never sleeps.

I take comfort in knowing that there is never a prayer that I say that God does not hear because He is sleeping. He even asks us to pray many times in the Bible. Here are just a few examples:

Romans 12:12

Not only does God hear our prayers but He wants us to pray. This is such an awesome thing. 

The World is a Beautiful Place

Day 22

I'm thankful for the beauty that God has given us to enjoy.

Handful of Cherry Blossoms by Larissa D.

Indian Beauties by Larissa D.

Sweet Little Fairy Girl by Larissa D.

Beach Conquest by Larissa D.

Fallen Flame by Larissa D.

Cleansed by Larissa D.

Lady Bug by Larissa D.

We are surrounded by beauty. Every. Day. I'm thankful that God has blessed the world with beauty. I'm also thankful for the invention of cameras which allow us to capture little peices of that beauty.

Fun Friday Take 2

Day 21

I'm thankful for the hilarity of people.
People are just funny. It doesn't take long for me to find something funny that someone has come up with. Like this:

You are looking at a rabbit fur sweatshirt. That's right a SWEATSHIRT. I could see a coat or even a vest but a sweatshirt? Really? And this baby goes for the very low price of $950. Ha!

How about this?

It's called an ostrich napping pillow. (Personally I think it should be called a Kraken napping pillow). You can buy one here for about $100 and look hilarious while you nap. But hey at least you get your nap in.

Just because you need a very special cooler for your watermelon. It's priced at $231 (more info Here.)

A noodle eaters hair guard. For people who can't figure out how to put their hair in a ponytail.  It also doubles as a lion mane for Holloween. When it was available it went for $11.06 according to http://www.luuux.com

You can't walk in this but hey it'll keep you warm :) 

And last but not least: 

Sudoku toilet paper because people need to spend hours in the bathroom. Find this product and more like it here

People are pretty funny. It helps to make the world an interesting place. 

The Great Gift of Grace

Day 20! Only 10 more days of 30 days of thankfulness. I'm on the home stretch. Woot, woot!

Ok, so today I'm thankful for God's grace.

How He Loves us by David Crowder

     He gives us so much grace each and every day. It is a grace that I'm not getting what I deserve this very moment. His grace is constantly flowing into our lives. The very next breath you breathe is a grace.
     In a way it's kind of like providence except for the fact that providence has to do with someone providing a need. Grace is more the idea of is getting what we don't deserve and our wrongs being overlooked. (At least this is my understanding of grace in a nutshell.)
     God gives me the grace not only to live but also to be one of His own children. That is pretty awesome, and humbling at the same time.

Even Paul thought so :)

Without Him I would not be able to have grace with others. I need grace to have grace for others. It's kind of an odd thought.
That's my thoughts on grace for today.
What are you thankful for? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Divine Providence

Day 19

I'm thankful for God's providence.

God has provided for us so much. He gives us the air that we breath and sustains our life. He gives us the clothes that we wear and the roofs that we sleep under. He gives us the food and water that we need and so much more!
The jobs we have, the friends we have, His Word, I could go on and on about what God has provided for us. These are all things to be thankful for.
I'm thankful that God has provided all of these things and more to us on a daily, ongoing basis.

Gettin' Creative

Day 18

I'm thankful for creativity.

People are so creative. We are surrounded by that creativity almost constantly. It's in the music we listen to, the clothes that we wear, the food we eat, the places we live, etc.

I love to be surprised by people's creativity and see how they take normal everyday things and turn them into something better.
Etsy is full of this kind of thing. Pinterest has tons of ideas that others have come up with for you to try to duplicate. Google pretty much anything and somebody somewhere has something close if not exactly what you are looking for.
The world is bursting with creativity and we can see that now more than ever. I have yet to meet a person who is not creative.

I believe that this is just a piece of ourselves that reflects The Creator. I'm thankful that he allowed us to have this piece of himself.

Twice the fun!

I didn't post yesterday so today I'm going to double up!

Day 16

I'm thankful for the seasons of life.

We go through all kinds of seasons throught our lives. Each one comes with its challenges and joys. There is the season of childhood where exploration seems to have no limit until you are told you can't do something because you are too young or too little. It's a time of reliance on adults because you can't do everything.
There is the time of "teenagerness" where (if you are anything like me) your goal is just to get through school and hopefully make it to the other side. Not to say that you don't do other things it's just that this takes up such a large part of your life at this point that sometimes it feels like all you do is school.
Then comes the season of singleness, which is the current season that I'm in. It's a season that has its own challenges but it also is a season of exploration. It's a season that is wide open with possibilities. It's a season where you can explore your intrests more freely than before. You can go down paths that God brings into your life more easily because you don't necessarily have school breathing down your neck (although if this is the path that you are called to then that can be a blessing too).
I think I'm thankful most for the season of singleness because it has helped to open my eyes even more to the world around me. The other seasons were good and helped to prepare me for this season but this season has been a good one to go through.
What is/was your favorite season to go through?

Day 17

I'm thankful for variety.

The world would be a boring place without variety. We have a variety of seasons, of foods, of people, of animals, of places, etc. etc. The world is a very interesting and very unboring place to live in. It is a very good thing that we have variety in this world.
It's fun meeting different people and hanging out with very different personalities and getting to know those individuals.
We all come from different backgrounds and so it is cool seeing how people from very different backgrounds come together, get married and work out all of the kinks as they go along. They work out how they are going to raise their kids. They determine how they are going to spend their time and money. They figure out what kinds of things are really important and what's not.
If we didn't have variety we wouldn't have to do all of these things and end up with families that looked the same and did all of the same things. Life would get pretty boring and predictable if this was the case and life wouldn't be as big of an adventure.
I'm thankful for variety. I'm most thankful for the variety of people and families that I have been privaledeged to meet.

Sight is a Blessing

Day 15

I'm thankful for eyes.

There is so much that we are able to see and enjoy with our eyes. Colors, movement, shapes, people, animals, plants, etc.
Eyes also are pretty to look at.

The Beauty of Promise

Day 14

I'm thankful for rainbows.

Rainbows are pretty. They are simple to draw. They are colorful. They come during and after rain storms.
I love rainbows for all of the above reasons as well as the fact that God made them to remind us that He is never going to flood the entire earth again. It reminds me of the constancy of God.
 I think that it is interesting that rainbows are shaped in an arch and that bows used in archery have an arch shape to them. A bow is bent towards whatever it's target is. Rainbows are bent towards heaven. In a way God may be saying that if I ever break this promise may I be destroyed as well. If this is the case God takes his promises very seriously. I can honestly say that I do not know anyone who takes promises as seriously as God does.

Hehe Legos :)

Rain

Day 13

I'm thankful for rain!

I love rain. It is one of those things that I would not mind living somewhere where it rained a lot. 

Rain makes the brown hills turn green and the wild flowers come popping up all over the place (at least in this part of California). 

 Rain is a beautiful thing. It's sound is often calming. When it's stormy the ferocity of the storm sparks the imagination. Lights are reflected off of surfaces that don't necessarily reflect light on a regular basis.

  When it's over the rain leaves evidence of its effects behind for us to see and admire. It's kind of magical in its own way. God's magic. 

Ce-le-brate Good Times, Come On!

Day 12

I'm thankful for celebrations!

Celebrations are fun.
We celebrate a lot at my house. We celebrate holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's day, Fathers Day, Mothers Day, Independence Day etc. etc. We also have a LOT of Birthdays, and my mom loves to bake, so we almost always have something on our actual birthday to celebrate.
There is a lot to celebrate. I think it helps us to be more upbeat and positive because celebrations are things to look forward to.
 Sometimes it's a lot of work but as I was thinking about it today, it's not about the work that you put into it necessarily. It's about the relationships that are around you that make the celebrations worth celebrating. (It's also a convenient excuse to have people over.)
So go forth and celebrate!