October Thanksgivings

On my way to a thousand thanks...

94. Sunrise view from my desk window
95. Cheese omelets made by Phil
96. My chapel where God dwells and time to be there
97. The Appomattox RailRoad Festival
98. Kelly G. and Susan
99. Meeting the author of the book I had picked up
while waiting for the parade and hearing about his life
first hand
100. That all authority has been given to Jesus on heaven and earth
101. Sunday afternoon naps
102. Hertzler gathering in eve. with Tom's and Mom and Dad
103. Freeman and Alli being Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head in the Christmas Musical
104. 11 Tim. 4:18
105. The sound of coffee making itself
106. Well spoken righteous anger
107. For the awe-full realization that if I don't trust Him
I'll become a control freak
108. The bald eagle at Happy Valley
109. Taking pictures at O'Briens
110. Susan cleaning up Happy Valley rooms
111. Susan's first handmade card-a picture of my mother and her
with a handwritten note sent to her grandmother
112. That someday God will wipe away all tears from our eyes
113. For Shepherds and their prayers
114. That God's grace and mercy are more than enough to cover our
mistakes, sins, and the works of the enemy
115. For the dark sanctuary and that Jesus was there
116. For the many wonderful kind people in Farmville today
117. Rough nights that turn into glorious days
118. The story of grace and redemption in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables
119. Friends who answer when we call
120. Mom and Dad coming and taking a nap first thing
121. Susan learning Spanish and her desire to learn a number of languages
122. That life experiences don't define us to God;
His names for us define who we are.
123. That thanking God for the answers to our prayers
help make us whole
124. Philip calling his grandma, "Doll-Baby"
and her laughter
125. Dad's prayer before they left
126. Crawling into bed at 9 and sleeping well until 5
127. Micah being here with G'ma and G'pa
128. Fitz and horses
129. Susan's posture after riding
130. Micah's monopolization of the Monopoly game
131. Eating supper around the game pieces
132. Truth bringing freedom
133. The clearing of the sky after rain
134. Phil's gift of a manger scene from the Abbey gift shop.
Three big boxes. Wisemen with hinged little boxes containing
real gold, frankincense and myrrh. Made me cry.
Had to kiss baby Jesus. He's so sweet.
135. The feeling of Christmas with Mom, Dad, Alli, Freeman,
Michael home from college, and the rest of us here-
laughing, carrying on, talking
136. The sweet mama in Walmart telling her toddler
how beautiful she is and how lovely her curls
137. All 5 of our children snuggling and wrestling on blankets
under the Milky Way with Grandma and Grandpa and other
relatives looking on
138. That the love we have for each other increases
139. Micah, hesitating, and then with all of our encouragement,
jumping into the tussle that the 3 big boys were having
on the ground
140. For the gospel-I am a sinner saved by grace
141. Lunch with Michelle
142. Patio time with Ginger
143. Supper with Betty and Kelly
144. Getting home late and Philip coming over to say hello
and playing a game with his sister before heading to bed
145. For another morning and another evening
146. A friendly phone call on a rainy blue day
147. 5 new calves for Philip and Susan's business venture-
she takes care of them in the morning and he at night and
they'll split the profits
148. Time with Micah, melting pressed leaves between wax paper
to make the ultimate stained glass door decoration;
making playdough which he played with for hours,
and the traditional Thurs. eve. activity-
watching The Three Stooges with Uncle Phil
and eating popcorn-it looked like it had snowed
on the living room floor
149. Fitz's horse farm in all its fall beauty
150. Time to walk
151. Hunter Safety Course for Susan
152. Time to catch up with paper work in the sun-
picnic table behind the library in Appomattox
153. Courage
154. Corn Combining time
155. 5 more calves
156. So many kind people everywhere I go
157. Bobcat's scream in the middle of the night
158. Warmer temperatures outside than inside the house
159. God's consistent still small voice-
"Don't worry. Trust Me."
169. Corn harvest finished
179. The planting of rye in its place
180. Freeman building a very large chicken grazing area.
Little roosting barn is in place. Chickens are about to arrive.
181. A talkative teenager
182. Watching Susan spontaneously give someone a hug
who used to have to pay her a dollar to get a hug from her
183. Thank you notes written to Phil
184. That Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
and He was a man of joy above all His brethren
185. For Jamie's statement that the DNA of Christ
is the DNA of the body of Christ, the church
186. For the low voices of our men chatting early in the morning
187. That I am the apple of His eye and He sings over me with joy
188. That I am an oak of righteousness, a planting of the LORD
that He might be glorified
189. That His thoughts toward me are too many to count
190. That Jesus is my friend sticking closer than a brother
191. Lunch and a walk with DDF
192. Friends I can trust
193. Michael flying twice a week
194. The nice surprise of seeing Alli at Chick Fillet
195. Time to sit by myself and read sustaining Words
196. Mom's and More
197. Esther's Courage in the face of danger
198. For the fun sweet ladies at the eye glass place
who sent some wild glasses home with me yesterday to surprise Susan
and then called today to find out her reaction
199. For DR getting a week off and how much I miss her
200. For Philip taking Susan with him where he goes
201. That Susan now has brown boots and red boots
due to the 50% off sale
202. That last week I had said that I wish we could watch
'I love Lucy' and when I went to Salvation Army a few days later,
I found two DVD sets-one never opened-for $2.00 each
and now we have 56 episodes to watch
203. Chicken corn noodle soup made with organic chicken
and our own 'incredible' sweet corn
204. For those who give their time to help us
205. That eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those
who love Him
206. Quick trip to Farmville with Phil to make a bank deposit
and to get ice cream cones from Dairy Queen
207. Afternoon/eve. with Micah, getting pinecones from O'Brien's, attaching a pipe cleaner at their tops, spreading pb on them, and rolling them in bird seed-a gift for the birds this early winter;
making chocolate chocolate chip cookies, putting cookies and cream ice cream in between two of them, wrapping them in wax paper and freezing them in honor of his daddy's birthday coming up Nov. 4, and as always, 3 Stooges and popcorn in the eve. Oh-Philip made Micah his very own bow and arrow too.
208. Missi sharing Ps. 42
209. Glorious sunrise
211. Photo shoot in the rain with Susan dressed in red boots, jeans, white shirt, black jacket, and sporting a red umbrella taken against red fall foliage over at O'Brien's. Almost every photo a winner.
212. Michael tooting horn loud and long when he comes home from college.
213. Michael spending time with Susan editing and enhancing the photos we just took.
Blues guitar playing as they work.
214. Phil and Philip taking load of scrap metal from fire to recycling dump, picking up Micah on the way, stopping at McD's afterwards, giving him his own money to spend, helping him to order.
215. Family night-watching The Two Towers, eating popcorn
216. Phil's cheerful love
217. NLAG
218. Chinese food
219. Sunday afternoon of watching "I love Lucy Show"
220. Susan's invitation to watch her feed calves and Philip's invitation to watch his pigs eat
221. Philip's praying over sick calf while he fed it electrolytes and his dry statement, "I shouldn't have called him 'Goliath.'
222. That a dear old friend of ours, born without legs, and experiencing many trials in life, is now walking and leaping and praising God in heaven! But we still had to cry.
223. For the book, "In the Footsteps of Jesus" written by the actor who played Jesus in the movie 'Matthew'
224. Good discussions at home
225. Mom and Dad's 8 inches of snow and absence of electricity!