A Psalm of Thanksgiving 1 Chronicles 16:8-36

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
O seed of Israel His servant,
Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac.
He also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
Saying, “ To you I will give the land of Canaan,
As the portion of your inheritance.”
When they were only a few in number,
Very few, and strangers in it,
And they wandered about from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no man to oppress them,
And He reproved kings for their sakes, saying,
“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
He also is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and joy are in His place.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him;
Worship the Lord in holy array.
Tremble before Him, all the earth;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
And let them say among the nations, “ The Lord reigns.”
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord;
For He is coming to judge the earth.
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation,
And gather us and deliver us from the nations,
To give thanks to Your holy name, And glory in Your praise.”
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

 

Extra Thankful

I know this is not Monday, but I had to write about how thankful I am for my two younger daughters. My allergies have hit me pretty hard this year. I was even in bed for a day last month. My two daughters stepped up and took over the household chores. They did all my chores, as well as their own. I am so thankful that they have learned to do all the household chores so I don't have to be concerned about them if I am not feeling well. I am also thankful for their servants hearts. Besides doing my chores and theirs, they also made all the meals (from scratch) and gave me my tincture regularly. So here I am again suffering from allergies and they are splitting my ironing between themselves, washing their own laundry (by hand) and getting me my tinctures.
Thank you, God for two very special young ladies. I am truly blessed.

Horse Riding Lessons

Last month, Hannah & Alicia began horse riding lessons. They are really loving it and are improving with only two lessons so far. Thank you, Stephanie for taking your time and sharing your experience to teach my ladies how to ride and encourage their love for horses.


Hannah during her second horse riding lesson

Alicia riding high in the saddle

Wonderful Daughters

We just came through a very wonderfully, productive week. And I have my daughters to thank for it. My awesome husband drove down to Southern California with our son, helping him to move down there for a new chapter in his. While he was gone, the girls and I decided to over haul the house. We literally cleaned every room and rearranged each one.

We first started with what had been our son's bedroom. We turned it into our new school room/sewing room/soap supply room. I was able to move ALL of my sewing supplies (which are MANY, and that is an understatement) out of the master bedroom and closet and hall closet. We moved a book shelf down stairs for the girls' school supplies and put their double desk (which their daddy built for them when we first started home schooling them 7 years ago) in the room. We moved all of the soap making supplies out of daddy's den and the upstairs hall closet. By emptying out the master bedroom of all of the sewing "stuff" I was able to make a wonderful haven for my dear husband and myself.

The next day, we worked on rearranging the girls' rooms. They decided that they didn't want their own bedrooms any longer and since they had a trundle bed we would be able to just fit the two beds in the same room. (there is about 6 inches to spare between the bottom bed, when it is pulled out, and the wall). We then turned the "extra" bedroom into their own little "living room". They each have a book shelf and their toys in their. They get to see what it will be like to be responsible for two rooms now, plus their other chores. They love the freedom to be able to sit in there and play, work on a puzzle, read or whatever they decide to do in their spare time (which isn't much). I found them the other day reading the Bible together and discussing what they were reading. It was an awesome thing to over hear. We also cleaned all three of our bathrooms and reorganized them.

The next day, we empty out all of our kitchen cupboards and the pantry, scrubbed them and reorganized. They even alphabatized our jars of herbs (which are plentiful).

The last day, we swept and mopped all the floors in our three level home (we have all hardwood and tile floors) and cleaned the baseboards. Then we spent the rest of the day baking for daddy and waiting for his call for us to come pick him up.

I am so thankful for daughters who are such hard workers. They didn't complain even a little bit. They didn't wish they were doing something else. The oldest one even said that it felt like we were having a retreat together with daddy gone. It just goes to show that you don't have to leave home to retreat with your family.

Our Christmas Tree

Yesterday Alicia and Hannah cleaned up the living room in preparation for getting our Christmas tree.

It was a perfect day to go looking too...it was snowing!! (I am really glad Ralph decided to get a four-wheel drive.) We set out late morning, as a family, to find the perfect tree. We headed north and drove for about 45 minutes, we found the tree farm that we went to last year. It is about 40 acres of trees. You just roam around until you find the tree you like, then cut it down. We walked around for about 20 or 30 minutes until we found the tree that we wanted. Ralph got the cutting started, Hannah tried her hand at it, next was Alicia's turn, Christopher then finished it off. Ralph and Christopher started carrying it back to the car until a young man in a truck drove up and took the tree back for us, while we finished the walk. It was a beautiful time. We enjoyed each others company and loved the great outdoors that God created for us.

We got the tree home, Ralph and Christopher cleaned it up and then they brought it in the house. The girls put the skirt around it, Ralph and Christopher put the lights on, we all put the ornaments on and then Ralph put the angel on the top. Now we are enjoying the tree and all the lights and ornaments and the two inches of snow that is glistening outside on the lawn.

We are so thankful for this time of year. It reminds us of why we are here and Who put us here.

Serving our Father's

Me working with my Dad.

I must really say that, I love my Dad. I want to share a few ideas of how we can serve our Father's.

The first idea: Offer to massage his feet and do it cheerfully! (I try to do it every night after dinner).

Second idea: Make his favorite dessert to surprise him.

Third idea: Obey him the first time, without arguing.

Fourth idea: Thank him when he corrects you.

I hope you find these ideas helpful.