Last Saturday was another family work day. Funny that this should be the second post I will have written about days like this so far this year, but to be very honest… these types of days are rather rare commodities.

The vast majority of our weekends are filled with guests, ministry opportunities, and various trips to various places, seeing various wonderful people… and we LOVE it that way. We wouldn’t change it for anything, and are continually reminded what a tremendous blessing it is from the LORD to have our days filled thus.

But an occasional day at home all together to catch up on projects can be a nice change of pace, and that is what we enjoyed this past weekend.

What a day it was! The time flew by as project after project was tackled and accomplished by various Team members.

As the hours passed, however, it was as though the LORD was telling me to PAUSE; to pay attention to the immense number of blessings that were surrounding me; to observe the beauty that He has created…to truly, in every thing, GIVE THANKS.

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It brought such delight to my heart. There are so many blessings, so many reasons for gratitude. Here are a few:

1. Glorious, beautiful sunshine! I love winter, but coming inside at dusk with a light sunburn felt most pleasant.

2. Aqua-blue sky wisped with cirrus clouds, which speak of the creativity of our Father (Can you imagine the joy He must get out of designing new cloud formations for us to view every single day?!)

3. Dad, up on a ladder pressure washing the house, with two stalwart helpers beside him, moving equipment around and running errands for him

4. A sister who faithfully weeded around all of the trees, bushes, and shrubs in the yard; and another sister who followed her for hours with a backpack sprayer making sure the weeds stayed away!

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5. Mom, and yet another sister, who stayed inside for the majority of the day (thus, we failed to document any of their activities on camera Sad smile) accomplishing sewing projects, preparing meals, cleaning the house, reaching a deadline for a computer project, etc.

6. Black, rich, beautiful dirt… and chubby, wriggling earth worms. I’m not really one of those people who just loves gardening for it’s sake alone… but the LORD has given me so much joy the past couple years in taking on the position of “garden manager” for the Team, that I have actually come to get excited over such things. Black dirt really is beautiful… and fat worms are a sign of healthy soil… and so, despite the initial connotations that come to mind regarding them, they both hold immense reasons for gratitude.

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7. A manly brother who kindly got his commercial weed-wacker up and running and let me operate it

8. The humor of explaining the difference between rebar and rhubarb to a little sister (and yes, she smilingly gave her permission to post that Winking smile)

9. Adorable little green houses in which to start some early crops, and the educational fun of constructing them with sweet team of helpers

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10. Cold, juicy clementines – the perfect “pick me up” snack

11. Dinner around the fire pit, riding the go-cart, and cool evening breezes

12. Gratitude expressed and displayed by my dear family throughout the day, encouraging me to find and take note of even more of the bountiful evidences of the LORD’s goodness

There are so many other things that could be mentioned… but just remember, as you go throughout your day, to PAUSE and take note of the beautiful things that surround you. Your life is beautiful… because your Heavenly Father has designed it, and He does all things well. May you discover many reasons for rejoicing as you GIVE THANKS for His abundant goodness.

 

Special thanks to Susanna for capturing the day for us with her camera!