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so thankful and blessed…

Written by Joy
so thankful and blessed…

Psalm 86:12

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.

God continues to bless our family and it does my heart good to think of all the wonderful things that we have been blessed with.  We have never been without anything.  God has always met our needs whenever we have needed something.  Even those times when I feel like everything has gone wrong, I can always find something to be thankful for.

Lately, our family has been fighting sickness.  We know that it is because we have just recently moved here and it is taking our body some time to adjust to the new climate.  The same thing happened when we moved to NC back on 2005.  Moving in itself has been a big adjustment.  We have left many friends and a wonderful church.  We know this moved was planned by God and we know that He does have plans for us being here.  We just need to wait on Him to show us why we are here.  So until we can figure it out, we will continue to trust in God and count the blessings that He gives us daily.

1021.  so thankful we have found a family with a child Sammy and Claire’s age in our building.  They have enjoyed playing with one another almost daily!

1022. celebrating our oldest daughter’s 15th birthday!

1023. being able to bake goodies for my family.

1024. getting phone calls from friends back home in NC.

1025. family drives on Sunday afternoons.

1026. being able to go to a chiropractor and massage therapist.

1027. having friends I can talk to.

1028. a husband who takes care of me while I am not feeling well.

1029. a husband who loves his children and will take them out for an evening.

1030. social media to keep in contact with family and friends.

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, multitude Mondays, ,

so thankful and blessed, celebrating 20 years of marriage..

Written by Joy
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so thankful and blessed, celebrating 20 years of marriage..

Ephesians 5:22-33

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[a] 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Last week was pretty amazing and memorable for me.  My husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on October 3rd.   Now a days, you don’t see marriages lasting for this long.  We started dating when I was just 15 years old and a sophomore in high school.  He had already graduated high school and was attending a local community college.

We went to the same school and were in the band together.  He and his mom had even started coming to our church when he was a senior in high school.   His mom was also my English teacher in middle and high school.  We saw each other around and even hung out at youth nights together at church.  I always thought he was cute and did have a little crush on him, knowing that we would never date because I was younger than he was.  You can only imagine how surprised I was when I received a single rose on Valentine’s Day at school on Feb. 14th, 1991.  That day was the beginning of our life together.

Has it been easy?  No.  We married when I was 17 and expecting our first child.  I was a senior in high school.  I had people disappointed in me.  However, I knew that he was the one God had sent to me.  Yes, we have argued and have had many disagreements.  The important thing?  We put God first in our life.  We should have done it sooner than what we did, however, you learn from your mistakes.  On occasion, we get a little selfish and God sends us a reminder that we have slipped.

I am thankful and very blessed to have him in my life.  I know he loves me unconditionally.  However, I know he loves God even more and that is what is important.  As long as he keeps God first in his life, then I know our marriage will last.   As long as I keep God first, I know our marriage will last.  I am looking forward to many more years with this wonderful man.

Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for and I give God all the glory for all of the many blessings He has given us.

1011. 20 years of marriage to my husband.

1012. the 4 blessings (children), that He has given us.

1013. a faithful husband.

1014. a God-fearing husband.

1015. a husband who helps around the house.

1016. a nice dinner and evening out with my husband.

1017. the changing of the seasons.

1018. the cooler weather.

1019. older kids watching the younger kids so we could enjoy an evening out.

1020. family drives and time spent together.

My husband and I on Mother’s Day is 2010.

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, multitude Mondays, , , ,

so thankful and blessed, 1000+

Written by Joy
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so thankful and blessed, 1000+

Even though it has been several weeks since I have last counted my blessing on the blog, it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been counting them daily and thanking God daily for all he has blessed our family with.  The mercy and grace that God has given our family is truly amazing.  All we are, are wretched sinners and yet, He still continues to give to us daily.  After 2 1/2 years, I had finally made it to 1000.  I am continuing on because there is continually something to be thankful for.

Psalm 100:3-5

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

1001. an apartment to live in that is just right for our family.

1002.  children who worked so hard helping to unload and unpack boxes.

1003. a husband, who was sick, working until he literally could work no more, unloading and unpacking boxes because I am not supposed to lift anything.

1004. getting back in a routine with homeschooling the kids.

1005. a new chiropractor and massage therapist.

1006. this new blog.

1007. Honey and Jonah Brown of Honeycomb Design Studio for designing and installing this new blog.

1008. a husband for helping me with this new blog.

1009. worship at a new church with fellow believers.

1010. friends who are always there for you, no matter what!

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, multitude Mondays, ,

so thankful and blessed, I made it to #1000!

Written by Joy
so thankful and blessed, I made it to #1000!

On July 19, 2010, I started reading this wonderful blog named A Holy Experience. On it, Ann Voskamp talked about being thankful and how you can always find a blessing. She suggested keeping track of those blessings. I am so glad she did. I have noticed a big change in how I look at things. I don’t worry as much as I used to either. By looking at what all God has blessed us with during the good and the bad time times, I know that God is always with us no matter what. I have been putting my faith and trust in God so much more since I began this back in 2010. I plan on continuing counting my blessings every day for as long as I can.  While she had suggested counting a 1000 gifts in one year, it has taken me a little over two years to reach 1000.  I am excited about reaching this number and looking forward to counting many more.  Some of these I have counted before, but feel like they should be counted more often.

991.  Having the freedom to homeschool my children.

992.  Being able to stay home with my children.

993.  My husband of 20 years. (We celebrate 20 years on October 3rd of this year)

994.  My four children (Michael-19, Sarah-14, Samuel-8 and Claire-6.)

995.  My parents for raising me in a living Christian home.

996.  The Word of God to live by.

997.  Hubby’s job with great insurance.

998.  God providing us with a place to live.

999.  His mercy and grace that He gives me daily.

1000.  Jesus, dying on the cross to save a poor wretched person, like me.

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, blessings, multitude Mondays, , , , , , ,

so thankful and blessed #981-990

Written by Joy
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so thankful and blessed #981-990

A lake on the road to Mt. Evans.
Ellis Photography

As I sit here thinking on the last month of our life, I can look back and know from all that has happened, that our family has truly been blessed.  A lot happened, but God was with us every step of the way.  Was it a hard trip?  Yes.  Were there times that I thought we would never make it and this was a big mistake?  Yes.  Yes, there were.  I even cried at times.  I wondered why all of the bad stuff was happening.  I had felt peace about the move from the very first time we heard Buddy had the job.  I was questioning if we had missed something, a sign that we weren’t supposed to move cross-country.  However, I could not think of anything that would have felt like a sign from God saying we should not take the job and move.

What kept me going? This verse in Joshua.  There is also one found in Deuteronomy that is almost word for word.  It just wasn’t any verse, it was a command. It was a command to Joshua, just after Moses died.  However, I think it applies quite well to our life right now.  It was where God was commissioning Joshua to carry on what Moses had started.  I feel like God has charged us to do the same.

 Joshua 1:9

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

This is what I have tried to do this whole time.  Be strong and to have courage.  God has lead us out here to Colorado for a reason.  We made it to Colorado safely and now we are settling in.  As for the reason God lead us out here, I don’t know it yet.  I don’t know if we will ever know why we were lead to Golden, CO.  However, I do know that we must do our best to live daily for Him.  I will be doing this by putting one foot in front of another.  By taking care of my husband and children.  By glorifying God in all we do.  Will it always be easy?  No. God never said it would be easy.

We will just be taking it day by day and counting our blessings as we go.

981. rain to help this dry area.

982. cooler weather.

983. horses for my daughter to take care of.

984. riding lessons in exchange for the horses being taken care of.

985. beautiful wildlife, right out the front door to watch.

986. beautiful sunsets.

987. beautiful sunrises.

988. friends to talk with.

989. quiet time to pray.

990. memories of my dad.

Won’t you join me and others at A Holy Experience, counting blessings?

2012, multitude Mondays, , ,