Sometimes my lists are filled with obvious things. Sometimes it is filled with little things that only my heart can really know and understand. Sometimes it is filled with random bits that would make others laugh, and often I laugh too, but to me they are also glimpses into the blessings of Him who cares even for the small things in life.

Whatever the case, I call these lists my Ebenezers. They are testimonies between my heart and my God of His goodness and grace. I only wish I’d written them down in a real and true journal more often than I have, for no matter how dark and rainy of a day it may be, a little glance through the joy journal never fails to lift my heart and encourage my spirit to keep looking.

The saying that says there’s a golden side to every cloud… it is true. The sayings that say that no matter how dark the day, there’s always a glimmer. It’s true. The sayings that say that there’s something beautiful about every day. They are true, too. We just have to look for those things in places that may be quite out of the ordinary.

I like to think of it as a training project. Life is made up so much of what we look for. And what isn’t made by what we see, sometimes can be made better if we look for the best. Our minds aren’t always naturally bent to look for the good and the best and the beauty. Sometimes the heart can be painfully loaded with cares and heartaches, and the eyes so filled with tears that it seems nearly impossible to see any thing beautiful or good. That’s the time to start looking.

For me, it has been a lot of different things. Dewdrops sparkling on the grass. Clouds parting so I could see a lunar eclipse. A random tulip growing up out of what looked like a cinder-pile. A snatch of a song that unexpectedly spoke to my heart in a big way. It has been a smile. A note from someone who said just the right words- though they may never know it. It has been the wind on my face, blowing back my hair, and in my mind, blowing away the cares from my heart.

Whatever it is that brings a sparkle of joy into your heart, if you find that your eyes seem to see more bad than good in life, start your own journal to collect these little things. Make it your training this year to focus on beauty, on goodness, on blessings, and give your heart every reason- no matter what circumstances may bring- to be truly thankful. Not just in November, but every single day of the year.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

“Thou that hast given so much to me give me one thing more, a grateful heart: not thankful when it pleaseth me, as if Thy blessings had spare days, but such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.”

George Herbert

A Grateful Heart toward God

Lord, give me a heart whose pulse may be your praise! Gratefulness is realizing we have more than we deserve and expressing our utmost thanks to God. It is more than a mere “thank you,” it is heartfelt worship and praise to a God who has richly poured out His blessings on us.

A grateful heart is full. It is overflowing with praises for everything at all times. It is so busy worshipping God, it forgets selfish wants and wishes. Like a perfuming wafting up to the throne of God, is a thankful heart singing praises to God in the midst of trials.

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me, you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” Psalm 86:12-13

A Grateful Heart toward Others

Okay. God is perfect and extremely full of blessings, but others are human. They sin. They stomp toes. They make us mad. However, despite all their errors, there are many people God has placed in our lives who deserve our thanks.

People like thankful hearts. There is a sweet perfume that a grateful person leaves behind them. Besides smelling good though, it is necessary to have a thankful heart toward others.

Parents, teachers, pastors, leaders, godly men and women, and others all have invested in our lives some way. A complaining, unthankful spirit leaves those who invested in us feel as though they wasted their time, energy, and efforts. It is our duty to express our gratitude to them.

When we sacrifice our comfort to bless and encourage those who have benefited us, we show them our thankfulness. Showing gratefulness is more than lauding a person’s praises for a throng. It is whispering our gratitude in the tempest or standing by them in their time of trial. True gratefulness acts more than it speaks.

“When we choose the pathway of worship and giving thanks…there is a fragrance, a radiance that issues forth out of our lives to bless the Lord and others.”

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

Our first Thanksgiving together, 2005

The old adage that “you don’t just marry a person, you marry a family” is never more evident than during the holiday season. Even if you don’t literally go “over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house”, the months of November and December are almost always filled with lots of family visits.

I remember the first Thanksgiving I spent here on the farm with Merritt’s family. We’d been officially courting for nearly ten months, and it was my first holiday spent alone with the family I hoped to join. It snowed lots and lots. There were snowball fights. A turkey that someone put in the freezer instead of the refrigerator. Lots of card games. And lots of family.

Merritt’s two older sisters had come back to visit with their husbands and children. Even though I already knew them all well, thanks to the nine years of friendship between our families, it was different to be there on a holiday, without the rest of my family. That weekend I developed a new appreciation for my future brothers-in-law, Reed and Tom, who had already married into the Acheson family. I had, in fact, known the Achesons longer than either of them had—but regardless, there were some family jokes, some family arguments, of which we were not part. Yes, we’d heard the tale recounted time and again: but we weren’t there. And despite the years we’d spent in the company of this family, we three were still relatively new to the family holiday traditions, and still had the tendency to take the family’s teasing too personally. Except, I hadn’t married into the family yet, so I was even more of an outsider.

I took a long walk in the snow and thought about what it would be like to spend every Thanksgiving in the midst of this family. What it would be like to raise my children with the other little people running around there. Whether I could ever feel like I belonged to and was a part of the Acheson family, and wasn’t just someone who married in to the Acheson family.

The Acheson Clan, 2008

Four years later, I am counting my blessings on the same farm, with the same family—except, now I share their last name and even more of their inside jokes. That next year there was another turkey mishap that included a dropped pan, a burnt foot, a floor that had to be mopped of turkey fat, and no gravy—but I was thankful to still have my husband, thankful he was walking without crutches. Then, another Thanksgiving brought a tiny little bundle that has been such a big blessing in our lives: Ruth Ann was born the day before Thanksgiving two years ago. My in-laws stopped by the hospital to meet Ruth on the way home from picking up their oven at the repair shop–their oven (which has since had to be replaced!) had a habit of breaking on holidays, but that year it got fixed just in time for the turkey to be ready to eat when we got home with our day-old baby girl. Last year, Merritt braved Thanksgiving with my family, learning some of our traditions—like oyster dressing and playing pool after the big meal.

This year, we’re here on the farm once again. With two different Thanksgiving meals, in order to celebrate with family who can’t be here on Thursday because of work. Two different turkeys we’re hoping get to the table without them being frozen, dropped, or burnt.  Two little girls who are looking forward to playing with their cousins.

And this year, just as I have the past three years, I’m counting my in-laws when I count my blessings. Not only do I have godly in-laws who have been married almost 38 years and are a living example of commitment and patience in marriage, but my two daughters have grandparents living practically next door who dote on them and are always ready to babysit.

Now it’s my sister-in-law’s boyfriend who gets to feel the outsider when he walks into the room thick with inside jokes, surrounded by eyes that are sizing up his worthiness to marry Marlys. But it’s good for him. Nothing like a crazy family to make sure you really love the person enough to marry into it. Nothing like a crazy family to make you thankful to be a part of it.

P.S. Click here for a Thanksgiving post card from The Little Pink House and see our two little Pumpkins who are growing up so quickly!

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

But as much as my homemaker’s heart adores all the sweet trappings of preparation, I know just how easy it is to get so caught up in getting ready for the holiday that I forget—even momentarily—what it’s all about. What specifically I have to give thanks for this year. And to Whom I owe it.

It’s for that reason I’m pausing by the fire this morning, while the sweet potatoes are cooling and the sauce is turned low on the back of the stove, to take stock of the year’s mercies. I’d love for you all to join me, to pour out a cup of tea or a mug of cider, and muse over our blessings.

I’ll start:

~I am so thankful for cold dog noses and warm, purring cats. For a barn-full of friendly beasts and for fresh eggs and soft wool and even for Margot the rooster who hates my guts. I’m thankful for the beauty and the joy that all of these animals bring to our lives. I’m grateful for the supreme compliment of their affection and trust. They are truly ambassadors of their Creator and ours.

~I’m thankful this year for my friends. The longer we have walked together, the more tears we have dried and the more laughter we have shared, the more humbled I am by their steadfast love. The friends that bought my groceries and tidied my house when I had surgery. That did my laundry when I sprained my ankle. That will housesit for a month together and never so much as cross my threshold empty-handed. The beloved companions with whom there is never enough time, no matter how late we stay talking by my fire. The ones a dear older friend once called ‘Jesus with skin on’. The hands and the feet and the loving, tender heart of our Lord. I could try for the rest of my life and never adequately express my love and thanks.

~I am grateful for the lovely autumn light that slants low through the pines from the west and fills my rooms with the gilding of an old masters painting. For sudden violets in the grass on a November day and for scarlet berries ripening on the hollies. For diamond-shot dawns and cedar trees materializing out of the mist and the delicate shadows of leaf patterns on the wall. For prickly chestnuts and fat brown acorns and the chattering squirrels that love them. For winging birds and ‘wooly bears’ and apricot skies and the hand of the Artist everywhere I look.

~I am grateful for my husband. I can’t even begin to say how much—both to him and to God, who for some reason chose to bless me with him. I am thankful for the way that he supports me in my dreams, and dreams them right alongside me, alternately affirming me and picking me up out of the mire where I’ve face-planted with “I can’t”, as the situation might require. Life with him is a beautiful adventure, an Open Road. For God’s gift, that put my best dreams to shame.

Well, now that I’ve begun, I could literally go on all day. But that conserve won’t make itself. We’d love to hear from y’all, though . Leave a comment over the weekend, if you wish, and let us know what you are thanking God for this year.

And from all of us at YLCF, may the Lord bless each one of you with a Very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Now thank we all our God,
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mother’s arms
hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

Martin Rinkhart, 1586-1649

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

While nearly everything in my world is different than it was five years ago when my brother moved out on his own (ultimately to Tennessee) and we made the great trek from my childhood home state of Alaska to the unknown world of Colorado. Lots of happy things have happened. Lots of sad things have happened, and deep in my heart I know that the traditions that represent many happy, wonderful years won’t ever be the same again. Life changes sometimes mean that even cherished traditions must change, too. And it isn’t even necessarily a bad thing!

I’ll miss the Thanksgivings and Christmas times I have always known. I’ll miss having my whole family together. I’ll miss standing around the table and singing “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”, sharing our biggest and littlest blessings, dressing up in outfits for the day, and sharing our “traditional meal”, complete with sparkling juice, cranberry sauce and lots of love. I’ll miss the laughter that is present at every family occasion. Most of all I miss the sister who made these times as happy as they were.

It isn’t always easy to close the old chapters, and open new ones, as happy and wonderful as those new ones are. Sometimes the twinge of pain carries on a little into the new one, and I doubt I’ll ever not feel the empty spot in my heart, but the new chapter is filled with happy, wonderful, beautiful things and abundant blessings and I find that these joys make the past pains not so sharp as they once were.

I’m looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with the biggest blessing I’ve ever received– Scott. I’m looking forward to holding and getting to know our little Thanksgiving “gift” of our new little nephew this year. I’m looking forward to sharing some of my traditions with my new family- especially my youngest brother in law.

I’m not sure how the traditions I cherished will fit into this new life, but I’ll always keep the happiness they represent wrapped up with my costumes, with my memories, close to my heart this Thanksgiving. I will take the happiness I grew up with and learn to use old traditions to create new, better ones.

I don’t know how this new Thanksgiving will look…but I know it will be a Happy Thanksgiving, nevertheless.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

I’m thankful, Lord, for the  joys
You’ve given through this year.
They’ve brightened every moment
And brought me so much cheer.They’ve given me a picture
Of your great, deep love
And your tender watch care
From Heaven up above.

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

written March 2003

I am perched on the edge of a large office chair, peering at the computer screen. My research is piled at my left elbow: 4 or so palm-sized notebooks, another 3 or 4 medium-sized ones, and several flowered journals. My article’s title is careening through my brain to the tune of “Jingle Bells.” (I know it’s weird, but it really does fit in where “laughing all the way” ought to be). As a beginning writer, I am excited about my topic: journaling. But I’ve discovered that articles do not write themselves. This one certainly isn’t.

Sometimes I remember that the best way to obtain lightning bolts of inspiration is to sit down and begin writing. It doesn’t do much good to wait around until they hit on their own. They don’t. Still, though my procrastination habit dies hard, it is worth my time to fight it.

When I was 12, my friend Anna gave me a red, cloth-covered journal. It lasted me five years – and it’s still only half full. Okay, it was not exactly a propitious start to a writing career. No, it took a dime-store spiral notebook, and a church camp to get me into the journaling habit. Here’s how it happened: One of the older women gathered all the girls, pajama-clad, into the attic of the women’s dorm, where she distributed miniature notebooks and a bit of advice. Why not try writing five (just 5) things you are thankful for every day? So, spurred on by the fact that I as the counselor could share an entry or two with “my” girls each day, I kept it up for the week and went away hooked!

Yes, I the sporadic kept close to this habit for about three years. (And still do, though with longer gaps and looser format). When I went through a period of depression, it substituted rosier, more grateful glasses for my chronically gloomy outlook on life. And now, I “remember all the way” (or at least very important bits of the way) that God led me, things which otherwise would have dropped out of sieve-like holes in my brain and been lost.

I’m not the only one with this historical habit. Look at mothers with baby books. They preserve practically every look, smile, and word (not to mention every new tooth and step) of their child. Bible writers did something similar for the children of Israel: they wanted to remember every stage of their nation’s relationship with God. Take Moses, for example…

The broad-shouldered, grey-bearded man sat down on a large, smooth boulder, rolled up the sleeves of his tunic, and looked around almost furtively. But he was unnoticed behind this drab tent. He’d have a little peace and quiet at last! It wasn’t easy being father and mother to such a very large family, (about three million) especially when they were on the move so much of the time. He wanted to write down the lecture he’d given just that morning, the one he knew would be forgotten when he was gone. Now, where was I? he thought. Oh yes:

You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness.

Whether or not you actually write things down, it pays to pause once in a while and think about where you’ve been. For instance, I remember:

The manna. God’s miraculous provision, sometimes small and intimate. Like the turquoise shirt my mom brought home for me recently, without realizing that it was just the color I’d been wishing for. God knew. He cared.

The pillar of cloud. Five years ago, I had no idea what I’d do for the summer. God matched me up with the needs of a mother of six, and began a relationship that gave me a second family and a lot of joy!

The wandering in the wilderness. My diary from a year ago complains that my longed-for trip to Israel had to be postponed for about six months. Of course, I didn’t know that the wait would be even longer.

Then I see the rest of the story. Sometimes God’s answers go unnoticed until I look back and remember what a problem I had. Now here I am, preparing (God willing) to study in Israel in only 2 months’ time!

I’ve come to the conclusion that God doesn’t mind the waits and the wandering in the wilderness, because He likes taking walks with us. Though the popular poem, “Footprints” isn’t my favorite, it does make a very important point. We often don’t realize that He is with us until we look back. So whether you’re “dashing through the snow” or plodding through the wilderness, keep remembering all the way!

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

• “He is Faithful” by Chantel Harding
• “Tradition” by Chantel Harding
• “Thanksgiving Rightly Addressed” by Ann Voskamp at aholyexperience.com
• “Turkeyphobia” by Ashleigh (a bit of comic relief)
• “For He is God” by Ashleigh

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for He is our God
and we are the people of His pasture,
the flock under His care.”

Psalm 95: 1-2, 6

God be with you all as you celebrate His faithfulness today!

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

There’s a stock pot of sweet potatoes simmering on the stove and soon my religiously traditional cranberry conserve will be filling the kitchen with its loved tang. And Katie and I will sip orange rooibus tea by the fire and catch up on several month’s worth of news…and hopefully I will remember to stir the conserve so that it doesn’t burn!

The thing that I absolutely love about Thanksgiving Eve is that it’s always the same. Even after I married I continued to be responsible for the same dishes for our family feed: the aforementioned cranberry sauce, pecan pie (though it’s simply called ‘nut pie’ in my family, owing to a long-standing feud over the pronunciation of that offending word…those of you beneath the Mason-Dixon line may comprehend the seriousness of this dispute) and sweet potato casserole (and if there’s anything we know in the South it’s sweet potatoes…loaded with butter and brown sugar and those divisive nuts!)

Here’s a little piece I wrote on this day a year ago:

Read more…

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!!

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.

-John Piper, A Godward Life

©2010 Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.