God's Good Gifts-Part 5

“Gratitude is a lifestyle.  A hard-fought, grace-infused, biblical lifestyle.  And though there’s a sense in which anyone can be thankful-for God has extended His common grace to all-the true glory and the transforming power of gratitude are reserved for those who know and acknowledge the Giver of every good gift and who are recipients of His redeeming grace.” ~Nancy Leigh DeMoss

171.  Generous ladies who graciously invited us to their home for Thanksgiving dinner as we were not able to be with family this year. 

172. Watching Nathan's funny and confused looks as he decides whether or not to try a pumpkin pancake.

173. Generous and giving friends who bless us almost weekly by taking us out to lunch and paying for our meal.  

174.  A kind lady in our church who bought Nathan a lot of new clothes at exactly the time when he needed several in the exact size she bought.  The Lord always provides.  

175. The gift of staying at home with Nathan each day.

176. The anticipation of the advent season and the coming of Christ.

177. The opportunity to go see a Living Nativity to begin the advent season and the fun in watching Nathan clap his hands when Jesus rose from the grave.  

178.  The joy of watching Nathan play with his nativity set.  Our prayer is that he would fully understand the gift of Jesus Christ one day and the sacrifice he made on the cross for us.

179. A gentle dog who lets Nathan grab her mouth, paws, fur and lets him poke and prod her.  

180. A night out to enjoy a Christmas dinner with other local pastors and church members.

181. The opportunity to teach children about the birth of Jesus Christ.

182. The wisdom of doctors who know how to treat little ones when they are sick.

183.  The fun of planning Nathan's first birthday party, a true celebration of the Lord's kindness:)

184. Special crafts to remember Nathan's first Christmas-handprint and footprint salt dough ornaments, glass ornaments with a picture of Nathan inside and a baby's first Christmas ornament with a special picture.

185.  The Lord's grace in helping Michael finish another class towards his ThM in Biblical Counseling, one of the hardest ones yet.  

186.  A kind, servant-hearted sister who gave up a week of her winter vacation to come help me while Michael was in Louisville.

187. Holiday buy one get one free drink days at Starbucks-a yummy treat for me and my sister.

188. The fun of baking all kinds of delicious cookies.

189.  The blessing of giving to others and visiting with older members of our church.

190. The thoughtfulness of others in bringing us many yummy treats, including chocolate peanut butter balls, peanut butter fudge, cookies, and peppermint bark.

191.  Watching Nathan grow and develop into such a fun little toddler.

192.  Having Nathan start to hand me books to read him, while he sits on the floor and listens to me read and then telling him to go get another book and having him bring me one after another.

193.  The fun of watching Nathan open his advent books.  He started off by having us rip them open and then him looking through the book, to now wanting to rip them open by himself and eat the paper:)

194.  A date night with Michael at a nice restaurant and then a beautiful lights display.

195. A good friend who is willing to babysit for us.

196. Time to plan Christmas morning breakfast and dinner for my family.

197.  The anticipation of my family all being here to celebrate Christmas with us.

198.  New family traditions

199. A warm home to live in each day when the weather is freezing and windy.

200.  Delicious chili simmering in the crock pot.

201.  Cinnamon apple spice tea-a new favorite!

202. Christmas pictures

203. Time to fellowship with our church family by hosting a Christmas open house.

204. Getting Christmas cards in the mail.  It is so fun checking mail in December!

205. Christmas music to listen to.

206. Reminders of the joy, peace, hope and love that only come from Christ.

207. Strength for each new day.

208. Nights at home to hang out with Michael.

209. The gift of motherhood, something I am thankful for each day.

210. Experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child-touching and trying to taste the lights, holding and pulling the ornaments on the tree, playing with presents, pulling off the bows and tags on the gifts, pulling the pieces off the felt advent calendar, and eating the wrapping paper.  

211. Celebrating Christmas with my sweet boy!