Being Thankful

comes easy for me. In my head and heart!! I am so overwhelmed with gratefulness and being thankful for the things I have. But a lot of times I am bad at expressing those things. I let the daily stressers and worries get to me and them I crumble at the very thing Satan loves to get me on. I fall for his sneaky little seeds he tries to plant in my mind.  My new goal is to find the things I am thankful for instead of dwelling on what is not going right. Because there is a lot of that. I want  to find the joy in all things. Be thankful, and let it be known that I am, not the other way around. I have spent a long time thinking the worst in situations and the negatives that "might" happen because its easier to be surprised that all went better than expected then to continually be disappointed. I for so long have had such high expectations for myself and everyone around me. SO of course I am never happy with results.  I am not saying lower expectations but be realistic. For myself and in others. I don't want others expecting more from me than I have to offer, so I need to do the same.

I love Ron and the kids with every ounce of being in me. I am so thankful that God blessed me to have each one of the kids, their strengths and their personalities and even their weaknesses. Without all the little things, they wouldn't be who they are. Same with Ron and I.

This Thanksgiving we have had an extra amount of time to reflect as we had some slick roads and an extra day to the holiday week, and one family gathering, well, cancelled do to some family tension. I am sorry if it may ruffle some feathers. But truthfully Ron and I have so much going on within our own family unit that we were ok with it. We have needed to rely on ourselves more and band together as we faced the things that have been put before us this past year. We did miss the idea of getting together like we always have, but it was a nice break from the stress. Maybe more focus on what we truly have and need to be thankful for instead of pointing fingers and what we don't, or what we want.
We, for the first time, had our own family Thanksgiving dinner at our house with ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, 7 layer salad, rolls and sparkling cider. It was fun. We were all excited and the kids had a hard time not interrupting one another at the table as we talked about what we were thankful for. The dinner conversation was wonderful. Ron and I enjoyed it and believe that from now on it will be a new tradition. Thanksgiving dinner at our own house ON Thanksgiving.

Some major changes have taken place over the last few weeks. After conferences, Ron and I decided after a 1 hour conversation to pull B from her class/school. The reasons will be kept on the down low because lets face it, I really have no idea who reads my blog. We just know in our hearts it was for the best. I have been homeschooling her for the past 2.5 weeks and see that she is very smart and knows/understands what is being asked of her. Ron and I knew when we pulled her that homeschooling would be temporary until we made a more final choice for her education.
She started her first day at a new public, yes you read it right a PUBLIC school. :) I was interviewed on Brooke's strengths and weaknesses in her personal life and in her academics. I was impressed and pleased with how the person on the other end of the line made me feel. I felt a sense of peace and know that God has given that to me/us. Brooke had a great first day. She ended up placed in her cousins class. I am praying that this is a blessing. They do get a long well and my niece was SO sweet. She helped B get situated and even helped her learn the ropes throughout the day. B said her teacher is really nice and that they are allowed to changed spots even if they already have sat down at lunch. LOL. She made a new friend on her own and her cousin introduced her to one new friend. She even knew another girl in her class. She is excited to go back tomorrow.

We are so Thankful this year for so many things. Although it's been a depressing year at times, and lonely, hard, selfish, misunderstood year, it has also made us realize that we have so much to reflect on and that we are blessed with more than we could imagine. I don't want to waste it worrying about anyone other than my husband, my marriage, and my four precious children. I am blessed with four different personalities and although we face hardships with each of them in their own situations, GOD IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THOSE! God is bigger than learning disabilities. God is bigger than worry and anxiety. God is bigger than adhd. GOD IS BIGGER THAN AUTISM! And God is surely bigger than resentment, anger, jealousy, and family squabbles. God is bigger than all my fears. For this I couldn't be more thankful. Thankful for HIS love, HIS forgiveness of my sins, and for HIS mercy and grace. Because of HIM I live, now I just need to get up and live how HE wants me to. Part of that is SEEing what I have and being THANKFUL for it.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!