::endless gifts 676-685::

676. the missions work in Belize
677.  wonderful church service on Sunday night
678.  precious Hazel
679.  beautiful weather
680.  God going before us
681.  friends who share their excitement with me
682.  new seasons of life
683.  the flexibility of my job[s]
684.  the Holy Spirit's working in my life
685.  answered prayer

Happy Monday, everyone!  It is absolutely beautiful, gorgeous weather.  I'm finally bringing out my flip-flops!  This week promises to be filled with some great times and I'm looking forward to it.

::endless gifts 666-675::

 

666.  the Holy Spirit calming and changing my heart about an issue
667.  a really great talk with a lady in my church
668.  another lady being an encouragement to a friend of mine
669.  longsuffering and patience of others towards me
670.  beautiful, breezy days
671.  a fun day with the family
672.  laughter...."a cheerful heart doeth good like a medicine."
673.  a new sweater [on sale!!]
674.  halfway through
675.  a good doctor's appt.



[Disclaimer:  Sorry I'm having to be super vague with my thankfulness list.  I have pretty specific things written in my journal.]




 

::endless gifts 646-665::

Today is positively sparkling.  There is [was] a beautiful covering of snow this morning along with brilliant sunshine and blue, blue skies -- my favorite kind of winter, Midwestern day.

What a perfect day for remembering His blessings from this past week.

[...And ps...literally as I type this, there's a happy song playing called This Is the Day [which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice, be glad....]...a version of the song I've never heard.]







646.  spending time with my friend, Carol
647.  conviction from the Holy Spirit
648.  extra hours at work
649.  safety
650.  the hope of spring
651.  a forgotten check received in the mail
652.  better health for Opa
653.  a mini vacay for Mom and Dad in FL with Oma and Opa
654.  blue, blue skies
655.  a yellow kilanchoe
656.  health
657.  cello practice
658.  a call from my friend, Amy
659.  the ability to exercise
660.  the Holy Spirit using one of the Master's Club lessons to stick in the heart of one of my students
661.  fruit in the life of new Christians
662.  a happy, happy Sunday morning
663.  A sprinting towards me to give me a hug and telling me she won the quiet seat prize in Sunday school
664.  sunshine streaming
665.  fluffy white sheets



 


OH MY GOODNESS. I keep forgetting to tell you all about the giveaway from Cotton+Wood going on over at Kim's blog. Check it out here!

::endless gifts 631-645::

Sooo....I finally finished updating my thankfulness journal.  It's been fun to look back on each day and jot down a few things rather than looking back on the week and recounting blessings.  So here is my list from the past week. 

631. Mom and I working together on a table for our school's fundraiser
632. Mom's example of a sweet spirit
633. recovery from sickness
634. safety for Dad as he flies thousands of miles every year
635. a fun day with Max and Rachel
636. provision
637. chatting with a lady in my church
638. adversity
639. the 90 day challenge
640. a very good chat with Dad and Mom about something coming up in the future
641. cello lessons!!
642. modern medicine
643. chats with Mom
644. protection
645. safety for our missionary friends as they travel

Happy Mooooooondaaaaaaaaaaaay!  Another new week filled with new mercies!  Hall-le-lu-jah!


 

::endless gifts 625-630::

I'm sure you haven't ever had this happen to you but it's a phenomenon in my life right now.

I have soooo very much to be thankful for but I can't put it in words.

I feel like I list the same things over + over + over again....which is a good thing.  Every day He abundantly blesses me. 

So just know that though my list is short, I have a huge, grateful heart today and always.

626.  restful sleep
627.  snow
628.  multiple games of Uno with the little girl I babysit....good times + many laughs
629.  wisdom from the Heavenly Father
630.  productive week

Happy Mondaaaaaaaaaay!

::endless gifts 616-625::

Well, I'm over halfway to the 1,000 gifts mark. Aaaaand, my cute little thankfulness journal is almost caught up.

616. my friend, Sarah
617. birds chirping in January
618. growth of new Christians 
619. wisdom and advice
620. promises of God
621. guidance from the Holy Spirit through the Bible
622. provision for my needs every single week
623. productive days
624. a healthy Mom
625. hope for the future

::endless gifts 601-615::

This year, I am using the word more to push me through this year. I don't have a list of New Year's resolutions, per se. However, I want 2012 to be a year of more prayer, more thankfulness, more obedience to the Holy Spirit, more kindness, more immersion in ministry and service to others,etc.etc.

Several years ago, I first heard the quote

What if you only had today what you thanked God for yesterday.

It struck a chord with me then and it still makes me pause and think.

I believe that no matter how thankful we are, there's room for more thankfulness.

When I actually begin to think + thank God for all the blessings in my life, it is easy to become overwhelmed.  There is no way I could compose a complete list of thankfulness in one blog post.




601.  new mercies from my Heavenly Father every day.  [Lamentations 3:22-23]
602.  the Bible, my Guide Book
603.  the Holy Spirit, my Comforter.  [John 14:26]
604.  delicious food every day of the week
605.  wonderful parents who love the Lord and want to serve + love Him all their lives
606.  a brother who has the same goals as me -----> marry a godly mate + serve the Lord + honor our parents
607.  a wonderful church family
608.  a good job
609.  modes of transportation to get me where I need to go
610.  my five senses [sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing]...can you imagine not having one of those??
611.  friends of like-minded faith
612.  ministries to serve the Lord in through my local church
613.  my salvation
614.  an education
615.  small blessings each day that are evidence of God's goodness

Now, I need to tuck my thankfulness journal in my purse and begin anew to use it more frequently.

::endless gifts 586-600::

586. the Thanksgiving holiday -- time to sit back and take time just to thank.
587. wonderful grandparents and the blessing of their health
588. the holiday season [in general] and a perfect opportunity to give to others
589. my Mom's health -- in just a few weeks, it will be 13 years since she was originally diagnosed.  God is so good!
590. opportunities to serve the Lord through my local church
591. the Bible -- my guide book
592. the Holy Spirit -- my Comforter and Strength
593.  Jesus -- my Saviour
594. God -- my Heavenly Father
595. the blessing and opportunity to be a Christian
596. wonderful [very funny] friends
597. faithfulness of fellow Christians in my church
598. provision for my needs every week
599. my jobs -- all of them.  :)
600. God's promise to me for the future -- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end, Jeremiah 29:11

endless gifts {576-585}

Unless we are intentional about giving God glory throughout the day, our days unintentionally give way to grumbling. --Ann Voskamp

And I must admit, I've succumbed to grumbling lately.  Even "nice" grumbling [off-hand comments about situations]...but it eats away at the soul. I need to be more intentional, more grateful.

Sunday was a beautiful day.  The Lord continually blessed me with beauty and opened my eyes to see it.

576. a picture perfect Sunday
577. blue, blue sky with white puffy clouds
578. beautiful pink flowers woven into the edges of a cornfield [never seen this before and it caught my eye]
579. Sunday afternoon drive alllllllllllll the way home by myself -- time to reflect and praise God
580. heart-warming, encouraging music ---mmmmmmm!
581. a simple comment that was an encouragement
582. diverse friends -- all personality types, all Christians with a heartfelt desire to honor and obey the Lord
583. my online friends -- you know who you are :) -- promises of prayer for each other and encouragement with lots of laughter [via Skype] thrown in for good measure!
584. hymns and spiritual songs in the church service
585. the tender lovingkindness of my Heavenly Father towards me -- He loves me and He sure does know how to encourage me at just the right moment.  Isn't that so like Him?!!

HAPPY MONDAY, almost Tuesday.
REBECCA.

endless gifts {561-575}

So...it's been a while since I've posted a Multitude Monday.  [deep breath....Here it goes.]

561. my family [duh -- they're awesome]
562. my friends [duh-- they're hilarious and just plain fun to be around]
563. learning life's lessons the hard way
564. flowers, flowers, flowers and the opportunity to help out at my church
565. ministries at my church
566. anticipation [!!!!!!]
567. the Holy Spirit leading me, guiding me, teaching me
568. Lorena, a sweet high school girl I spend my Saturday mornings with
569. peace, assurance, calmness from the Holy Spirit through prayer
570. my cello teacher [ahhhh....love her!]
571. the change that God makes in people's lives through the ministries at church
572. encouragement from others as I take a fun, exciting, [slightly] scary step in a new direction for my shop
573. homemade food and friends to share it with
574. vegetables from the garden
575. fresh flowers

HAPPY MONDAY, ALL!
REBECCA.

endless gifts {546-560}

[waving] Hi, everyone! I'm feeling particularly chatty right now. It's Sunday night [late] and it has been a good day.  I'm actually getting my Monday post up about 45 minutes before Monday even starts [hooray for me!].  There has not been much content on this blog but that doesn't mean that I've been sitting on my hands.  I have one project that just won't let me finish.  Hopefully, it's done this week. [cross my fingers]  This is going to be a fantastic week.  I just know it!!

546. freshly plowed fields
547. Sunday morning drives
548. music to listen to on those Sunday morning drives [three cheers for a CD player in the new van!]
549. chats with friends Sunday night after church
550. the ability to exercise
551. lunch with a friend
552. flowers, flowers everywhere!
553. buds on trees and the promise that spring is here... it really is here
554. anticipation of a new project
555. sewing
556. that my Mom is still here for another Mother's Day -- I am beyond humbled that the Lord has so graciously given her health for us to love on her for another year.  Some dear friends have lost their mother -- the Lord has taken her home -- and my heart hurt for them on Mother's Day.
557. some of the preschoolers in our class could actually remember some of the 10 Commandments -- mon.u.mental.
558. a friend who will pray with me.
559. how the Holy Spirit convicted me through the Word on Sunday at church
560. missionaries :)

Happy Monday and happy new week!

::endless gifts {536-545}::

536. Conference week at our church
537. re-uniting with old friends
538. making new friends
539. my grandparents' pastor and the sermons he preached + his faithful testimony
540. my cards selling
541. new opportunities
542. the Word of God and its assurance in my heart by the Holy Spirit
543. a new week and new mercies
544. restful sleep
545. beautiful weather

Happy Monday!

endless gifts {526-535}

526. Conference week at our church
527. a risen Savior
528. beautiful Easter day
529. off work early [cue Hallelujah chorus!]
530. awesome, incredible, wonderful people that I work for
531. flowers because I vented
532. my Granny's 89th birthday [!!!!!!!!!!]
533. friends, friends, friends
534. forgiveness
535. faithfulness of Jesus!!

Happy bright and shining new week, everyone!!

endless gifts {519-525}

519. our welcoming church [I saw one of our members pat the seat next to him as an usher walked a visitor down the aisle right before the service started.  Love my church!!]
520. singing from the heart [bud, our church can sing!]
521. Sunday school lesson again [Jesus, Jesus, what a Friend for sinners!!]
522. amazing grace for Sunday
523. the Pre-schoolers in my class and their answers to the questions [so cute when it's on the tip of their tongue!]
524. the patience of the teacher who I work under in my Pre-school class [love working under her!]
525. the two workers I work with in the Pre-school class [love working with them!!]

Sunday was amazing.  I cannot get through this day with my own strength. Out the door at 7:30 and home at 2:30 with lots of ministering in between leaves me exhausted.  I cry and beg for grace and endurance on Saturday night and the Lord so abundantly blessed me this particular weekend.

Happy Monday, friends...

endless gifts {506-518}

506. safety while traveling
507. another class accomplished!
508. another year to serve the Lord
509. another year to improve as an individual
510. a call from my friend who is a missionary to Zambia [made. my. day. This literally could count for all 10 reasons for being thankful this week.]
511. Happy Birthday played on the guitar
512. sunshine
513. pretty spring flowers
514. a day out with my Mom
515. wisdom for daily needs
516. Heather at Blessed Little Nest and her patience with me in this blog re-design
517. all of you followers over there ----->
518. new beginnings


Have a happy, new week...


ps...OH, did you get that it was my birthday? :) YAY!

endless gifts {496-505}

496. how the Holy Spirit prepares my heart before a sermon is preached [happens almost every week--awesome!]
497. back to normal schedule
498. provision every week
499. good food and laughs with friends
500. a sweet little thank you note from one of the girls in my Master's Club class
501. clean sheets to fall into after working late on Friday night
502. spring is creeping its way here
503. daffodils poking through the ground
504. shampooed carpet
505. serving Jesus!!

Happy Monday, folks!

This has already been a fantastic, fantastic day.  I hope yours is, too...

endless gifts {491-495}

[It's been almost a whole week since I blogged last?!! Ack! Back to normal this week, hopefully. Also, as I was reviewing my week, I didn't remember as many things for my gratefulness list. That is bad. Did I not let my soul breathe this week?]

491. on Friday, a break from my crazy busy-ness
492. the Indie biz course I'm taking -- I'm learning so much!!
493. grace clearly evident
494. being able to actually follow along with the words of the hymns as I play my cello -- this is a first since I switched from playing the flute to playing the cello in the orchestra at church almost three years ago
495.Sunday night sermons -- over and over again, I am blessed, challenged, and strengthened

Happy Monday, folks....

endless gifts {481-490}

481. a quick chat with my friend, sweet Emma, before church and her sincere How are you doing?
482. a stressful situation ending safely and well
483. my Dad landing safely [albeit very late] on Saturday night from his all week meetings in AZ
484. [once again] my nanny job [serious big heart here]
485. grace to make it through last week
486. Saturday visitation and chats with Lorena
487. broken internet at home
488. cheap gas
489. hymns in church [specifically, Make Me a Channel of Blessing]
490. my friend, Jen, and her encouragement this week.

Happy Monday, folks...
Rebecca

endless gifts {471-480}

God was so unbelievably gracious to me last week. The word that was in my mind was lovingkindness.  He provided for me and blessed me in ways that were special to me.

471. His lovingkindness
472. His provision
473. working out my schedule on Friday
474. helping me get through Pachabel's Canon on my cello [woohoo!]
475. the Holy Spirit starting to work in my heart to prepare me for....
476. ...Sunday night's sermon [which I needed]

gifts that I tweeted about...all with the hashtag #1000gifts
477. Friends that answer their phones
478. A wonderful, productive, encouraging day
479. In a "ridiculously, good mood" on Valentine's day.  Here are my exact words..."Epic...especially since I'm single.  God is so good to me!" #1000gifts
480. 42 degrees and melting snow

Happy Monday, folks...

endless gifts {461-470}

461. a good Sunday
462. answered prayer [again]
463. Saturday night babysitting
464. delivered pizza
465. Oma is feeling better today [4 rounds of chemo down, 2 to go]
466. part-time solution to the cleaning dilemma
467. guidance from the Heavenly Father
468. yummy lemon cake
469. a blog post that was an encouragement
470. Valentine's from the Wasielewski boys
[let me explain...The W. family is the sweetest family ever. I'm going to brag on them a bit. They were on our guest list for our fab New Year's Eve party. The guests we have is what makes the party fab, by the way. Moving on, Martha told me last night after church her boys made a list of people they wanted to give Valentine's to....people they thought would not be receiving a Valentine.  And I was on the list.  How adorably sweet is that?  So I got my Valentine's cookies this morning.  So sweet.  Oh, and the oldest is in 1st grade, so how thoughtful are they?! They are being trained early and well, I might add!]

Happy Valentine's day, everyone...