Day 30 of Thanks

I felt it would be perfect to end this month with the thing I am most thankful for in my life.

I am thankful that I have a Savior!  I am thankful that God sent His son to be born on Christmas day to die on the cross for MY sins.  Then later to be raised again from the grave on Easter day to live again.  He lives in my heart.  I live for Him.  My Lord blesses me more than I deserve.  I only pray that I can do what He wants me to do.

I am so thankful for the way my parents raised me.  I am thankful for them being sure to tell me, "do unto others as you would HAVE them do unto you!"  Sometimes, it is tough & we want to treat others as they treat us, but we can't do that.  Yes, I know, it may be hard & there are times that we get beat up enough that I believe it is okay to cut the rope.  That is a tough thing to do, but sometimes it is necessary.

So, having said that...I must say a couple more things I am thankful for.

Liberty University.  I am so thankful for this university.  I am thankful that God saw fit to bring it into my life.  Talk about a LIFE changer.  Man, it is crazy how much God worked through my life during my 4 years there.  I grew as a Christian there, I grew as a lady there & I grew intellectually there.  I also gained many friends and have wonderful memories from my time there.  I was truly blessed!

Shaffer Trucking, H&H Chevrolet & Hirschmann...my places of employment while in PA.  I had some incredible boss's at these employers.  I am still in contact with all of them.  Not as often as I would like to be, but I know that they are there.  I learned SO much from each one and it was amazing to have the relationships with them that I did.  I thank God for JR, Sue & Mike.  I also am grateful to each of these places of employment because I met some pretty amazing friends at each one.  When I think about my friends, I have some from each area of my life.  I think that is a true blessing in itself.  I had so much fun working.  Sure, not everyday was fun, but I laughed, I cried, I had encouragement & encouraged, I was helped & helped...I met some wonderful people.  For which I am truly thankful.

One final thing before I end this 30 days of thanks, I just want to say how thankful I am for this journey.  At the beginning I thought this would be a breeze.  Then, part way through the month the devil wanted to attack.  Make me ungrateful for things that really I should be thankful for.  It wasn't always easy, but by the time I finished each blog, I was reminded how great God is to me.  How thankful I should continue to be.  So, I may do a thankful blog here & there.  I think the reminder is always good.  I think that we overlook things way too often (talking about myself first & foremost here), that we should be thankful for.  It is much easier to complain.  It is much easier to just go with the flow & not be content.  But, I am changing that in my life.  I am thankful.  I am blessed.  I have everything I NEED & more.  I may WANT something that I can't get, BUT...I don't NEED it!  So, thank each of you for joining me in this time this November.  I pray that each of you will realize how blessed you are.  Even if you are in need of something, whatever it may be, I pray you will take the time to find something you are thankful for.

God bless each of you!  With Love.

Day of Thanks #29

I am so thankful for my health & the health of my family.

You know, we have things we deal with.  I have been struggling with lower back issues & headaches for a while now, but ultimately, I am healthy.  Sure, I may not be able to do some things right now that I want to, BUT, I know that in the end, this too shall pass!  I know that we are blessed.

I have a healthy 5 year old boy who has enough energy for all of us.  He is active.  He is busy.  He is able to run, walk, talk, scream, cry, laugh, yell...he is healthy.

I am healthy.  I am able to get up in the morning & do what I need to do throughout the day.  I am able to drive.  I am able to cook & take care of my family & house.  I am healthy.

I have a healthy husband.  He is able to get up in the morning & go to work.  He is able to drive and care for things around the house & play with his son.

So tonight, I am thankful for all the blessings that God has given us and especially our health.

Thank you Lord.

Thanks Day #28

As I have stated in previous blogs, I am so incredibly thankful for my friends.  Each one of you have an important role in my life & I am so thankful for you.

There is a special friend who I see almost daily.  She is like my sister in Texas.  She happens to live next door.  I am so thankful for Angie.  I am thankful God saw fit to put her in our lives.  It’s amazing how God always gives us who we need. 

With Dan traveling so much my evenings quickly became a little lonely.  A little over a year ago we invited Angie over for dinner & she joins us pretty much every night.  It is great for me, because I actually get adult conversation. 

Angie has become an amazing friend.  She goes out of her way to help us.  She keeps our dogs when we are away (even if for an extended period of time) and she pretty much helps whenever or however she can.

So, tonight I sit feeling blessed.  I appreciate the kindness.  I appreciate the love that I feel from her.  I appreciate how she is an “Aunt” to Eli in many ways.  I appreciate how she loves him.  I am thankful for the family we have in our neighbor.

Thank you Lord for blessing our family!

Angie & I

Eli & Aunt Angie

Day of Thanksgiving #27

I am so thankful for this time of year.  Easter is my favorite holiday, but Christmas is also a close favorite.  I am thankful for the time together with friends.  I love the house decorated (although I don't like the decorating part), I love the Christmas movies and I love the overall expression of giving. 

This year I am especially thankful for the enjoyment of seeing this season through the eyes of Elijah.  He is so excited.  He is enjoying every moment of this.  From decorating the tree & house with Daddy to reading Christmas books to singing Christmas songs with Mommy and looking for Scoot (our elf on the shelf) every morning.  He is loving it. 

I love this part!  He has asked for one main thing from Santa & Santa already has the item, so this momma is excited for Christmas morning.

The main reason I am excited & thankful for this holiday, is the birth of my Lord.  We are celebrating Jesus' birthday!  Eli & I were talking about it today & he was trying to understand why we give gifts for Jesus' birthday & asking what gift we give Him.  Wow!  I was humbled.

So, tonight as I write this, I wonder, what gift will you be giving Jesus this year?  He continues to bless me over & over again.  I want to be sure to give to Him. 

Thankful for a renewed meaning of Christmas thru the eyes of a child.

Eli's first Christmas 2007

First Christmas 2007

First trip to see Santa 2007

Eli admiring this year's tree 2012

Scoot--our Elf 2012

Thanks Day 26

Okay, so no secret here, I barely cooked before moving to TX (as I've said before) but, now I do.  We all get busy.  When I moved here I was inspired by my niece, Sarah, to menu plan.  I hate menu planning.  Have I mentioned, that I absolutely DETEST menu planning?!  However, she(Sarah) gave me a template and everything to begin my own meal planning. 

So, I did it.  For a while.  On & off, but wasn't really consistent with it.  Well, about a month ago I decided it was time again.  I needed to plan, so that I could better budget grocery planning, etc.  So I started planning 2 weeks at a time.  Then, my friend Julie & I were talking one day and she mentioned that she would be interested in doing a menu.

So, we started.  We get together every 2 weeks for about 1-2 hours and plan 2 weeks worth of menus.  This way, we know our schedule.  We know what days we need to have easy meals planned etc.  I am so thankful for this.  I am thankful for the friendship of Julie to be willing to do this with me.  I am thankful to Sarah for helping me originate this.  As difficult as it is sometimes, I am so thankful to have this menu for when I am planning my budget, for when I am planning my grocery trips and for when I am looking at my week.  What a blessing.

Last week, Julie & I got together & planned 4 weeks out.  Simply because of the holiday season.  We knew that life would get crazy & it would be easier to have 4 weeks planned out.  Perfect!!!!

So, today, I am thankful for Meal planning.  Lame, you say?  I say, NO way!  Try it!!!  It really is great!!!



4 Weeks of menu planning

Thanksgiving Day 25

Today, I am thankful.  So thankful for my church family.  Lake Houston Church of Nazarene (LHCN) family.  2 years ago when we moved to TX the task of finding a church home was our first and largest priority. 

When Dan & I were here in July 2010 on our house hunting trip we passed LHCN.  I told Dan immediately that I wanted to visit that church.  Knowing nothing about it, but just felt that I wanted to visit there. I did research online & we decided it was one that we definitely wanted to go to check it out.

Well, we did check it out & by November 2010 we determined there was no point trying anywhere else.  To be honest, our first day there we knew.  We knew we were home.

Since then, life has been amazing.  We can't say enough about our church family.  We have so many friends there & are pushed in our walk with God.  I grow so much from the feedings of the sermons.  I love participating in things that I can.  I love helping when I can & I purely, simply, LOVE the people. 

So, today, having shared a good portion of my day with my LHCN family, I am extremely thankful for each & every one of them.  I love how we come together to help when needed.  I love how we come together to help encourage others.  I love how we laugh together, cry together, celebrate together & mostly pray together.  Our church holds tight.  We are truly bound together in Love.  We are united first with our love for our Savior & then one another.

LHCN family...thank you.  Thank you for loving us.  Thank you for loving others.  Thank you for teaching me how to love one another by showing me.  I look forward to learning & growing in Christ with you.

The church t-shirt

Thanks Day 24

I am thankful for turkey.  Turkey?!  Yup, turkey. 

I deal with chronic back pain, which has been found to be a part of a medical issue that I have on going.  One of the things that adds to it is beef.  I've learned that beef is a natural inflammatory, so, we have pretty much stopped eating red meat in the Davis household.  Every now & then we will have a burger or meatballs, but, chicken, turkey & fish are our main meat choices.

Buying ground turkey, well, it is NOT cheap.  Honestly, I would try & stock up on it when I could find it on sale or in bulk, which was seldom.  But, it is what it is & ground turkey is what we use.

So, today...Dan & I were trying to decide what to do.  God had blessed us this month & our budget allowed a little extra for groceries.  Our Sam's club membership has expired and we were thinking we would go there, renew & stock up on some stuff.  However, after talking about things we decided that we didn't really need anything big from Sam's & should just go to HEB (our local grocery) and get our groceries for the week & be done with it. 

While at HEB I needed to pick up a pork roast for this week, so we were walking through the meat section...just as the meat manager was putting out whole Turkeys for $5 each.  WHAT?!  Well, we grabbed 3 of them.  Dan had purchased a meat grinder several years back when he hunted and would grind his own deer meat.  We haven't used it here in TX yet, but still have it.  I am blessed that my husband is a butcher by trade.  He knows what he is doing when it comes to boning out a turkey.  He ended up going back to HEB & bought 8 more.  So, we are putting 1 in the freezer whole and cut & ground the others into ground meat.  Plus, we are making broth to freeze.  All total we were able to put 83 lbs of ground turkey in the freezer & 20 Turkey Wings & approx 15 gallons of broth.  Not bad for $50?!

BLESSING?!  I say absolutely.  We are good on ground turkey for quite a while.  HUGE BLESSING!  I believe that God rewarded us for sticking with out budget and not over spending at Sam's on items that we don't absolutely need at the moment.  I believe God allowed Dan to be here today so that we could do this.  We are marking our calendar for next November for after Thanksgiving to go & see if we can do this again.  Thank you Lord for this blessing that has us well stocked for ground meat for next year!

Eli excited to see the turkey grinding & wanting to learn how to do it!