ThoughtfulEscapes

...it's life.

Giving Thanks [5]

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Today I am Giving Thanks for: Warmth. Socks. My home.

I am once again reminded how thankful I am for heat, blankets, warm clothes, my socks. My home. I believe this is self-explanatory, I don’t need to explain what or why.

My home is not big, but it is ‘my space’. A space to call my own. I can’t imagine having it all ripped away with little to no notice. Many on the East Coast have lost their homes. While losing their home and all belongings is huge, overwhelming. So many are barefoot and just wishing they had a pair of socks. I’m in Alaska – nearly the furthest US state you can get away from the East Coast (Hawaii wins by 500 miles) – I feel a bit ‘out of the way’ to be of any help. But, this is a way I can help and I’m excited to have something tangible I can do. Almost like a giving a virtual hug. or a warm cup of tea. with warm feet. I am also giving thanks for this opportunity.

Here is something requiring action, now. and most of us can help. Due to the nature and urgency of this particular need, please mail by Friday, November 9th. Go to Laura’s blog to learn more about the situation, and to get her mailing address. There are also directions for how to donate easily to the Red Cross.

With Laura’s permission from The Shed – I copied the picture and her thoughts directly from her post. This picture is the neighborhood near hers. She is taking gloves and hats too, but other clothing items are in sufficient supply at this time. The shortage is for warmth – socks, gloves, hats.

Imagine it being your child(ren), father, mother, brother, sister, or other extended family member without socks, gloves, or hats, a way to stay warm. Items most of us have lots of and take for granted.

I couldn’t get the socks thing out of my head. People needed socks. People were walking around barefoot. But it was more than that, this sort-of obsession about socks. Putting socks on cold feet signifies warmth and comfort – a small bit of goodness during what will be a long and difficult road. It bothered me all night.

Yes, we live at the shore. Going barefoot goes hand-in-hand with living at the beach. But after this storm? It is much chillier around here. And the forecast is for another possible storm to arrive in about four days. People need socks for warmth. Now.

I am thankful for my warm items of clothing. As an action of my thankfulness, I will be sending a virtual hug to provide warmth. This is how I will be giving thanks this week.

Giving Thanks [4]

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Today I am Giving Thanks for: Daylight Savings. Sleep

Daylight Savings & Sleep: I believe these are self-explanatory. I can not begin to adequately describe how the extra hour of sleep is heavenly.

I realize not all states do this, but I am thankful we do. It is wonderful to go to bed and have it actually be an hour earlier. I learned when I was doing school online, to not use that extra hour the night before. I tend to naturally be a night owl – I used to stay up an hour longer and just “claim” I was going to bed at the same time. It never really worked, and I never learned. However, because I was doing school via University of Phoenix and Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings…my assignments had to be turned in two hours earlier than the midnight deadline, instead of the 11pm deadline I had when we changed back in April. Ya, I learned quick – had 3 cycles of daylight savings in those 20 months. Thankfully, the first cycle was just two short months after I started.

I hope you are able to have a rest-full Sunday. I am looking forward to a day of rest after a refreshing week :-D. It has been a long time since I’ve been able to look forward to the new week ahead. This continues to be the verse I’m hanging onto this week. I know I will need the constant reminder. In particular with elections this week – He is in control! No matter what our circumstances look like. 

I will Give Thanks in ALL circumstances.

Giving Thanks

I’m not often political on here – but I will say, it is imperative to vote. This is why we live in such a great country, with freedom. Because our forefathers felt our freedoms were important. Worth giving their lives so we could have a better life. For those of you reading who are Americans, don’t ignore that portion of your heritage. If Tuesday doesn’t work for you, look for your local Division of Elections offices, some have the option of early voting.

I’m linking up with Fresh Brewed Sundays with Barbie over at My Freshly Brewed Life. Come join with others sharing a scripture with each other. What a blessed way to spend time with blog friends!

31 Days {Question}

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 Happy Rest-full Sunday to you! 

It is already the LAST Sunday of October – how is this possible?! Today’s post is about an important question. What is God’s will for me? 

I often wonder what God’s will is for our life. My children and mine’s life. What is His plan, what does He want me to do? I tend to get paralyzed with options and fear. I forget how incredibly simple His commands are. Here is an example:

It’s pretty simple. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. The doesn’t mean we have to rejoice about all circumstances. We can rejoice in our gift of grace; praying keeps us communicating with our Father; and choosing to give thanks IN all situations, doesn’t have to be for all situations. So – when we find ourselves in an “impossible situation” — make sure to choose to rejoice; stay praying and communicating with your Provider, constantly; and choose to give thanks for what you do have.

Have a blessed and restful Sunday. I intend to rest – [mightily!]

Today is day 28 of the 31 Days Series. My series has been about 31 days of Life and today is about a question.

31 Days {Rest}

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Do you rest one day a week?

Here are my flowers – together. As a beautiful bouquet :-D. Aren’t they pretty?

I don’t hold firmly to not working on the Sabbath, in the sense you might initially think. I do, however, make sure Sunday is set aside for a day of rest. In this crazy, busy, social anytime of day or night culture, this is hard.

I’m not legalistic about this, but I do try really hard to keep Sunday as a day to do only what I really want. If I don’t feel like checking email, or working on the computer, or doing laundry. Then I don’t. But there are times that doing something plain, simple, and normal – like doing laundry – is relaxing to me, then I’ll do it on Sunday. Sometimes I get to Saturday morning and absolutely check-out. then my day of rest becomes Saturday. Sometimes I need two days – one to start relaxing and one to feel relaxed – when that happens, I’ve gone too long without taking a break. I’m at that point.

I actually have been here for a bit. Unfortunately there are many side effects of too much stress for me. One of them is, I am learning, the whole gluten issue is very related to stress. I have wondered if this was true for the last three weeks, this weekend it has been confirmed. When I am stressed, tired, not had enough rest, and just done. I can’t handle gluten, as in I can’t even touch it! Three weeks ago, I opened a package of cookies and moved them from their container to a plate. Over the next couple hours I remember thinking I didn’t feel great, but thought it was because it was a Friday night and I’d been at the church with lots middle schoolers. [total reason for a headache, don’t you think] Anyway, the next morning my face was puffy and my eyelids were swollen; over the last three weeks I’ve had lingering headaches, that icky all-consuming tired feeling, my elbows ache, my hands, hips, and ankles hurt; I’m crabby; my words don’t come out of my mouth correctly; and my stomach is just icky. Vince asked me repeatedly the first 3 or 4 days if I’d eaten gluten. I was sure I hadn’t but didn’t understand what my problem was, he was sure I had. I had a doctor appt and asked – she said she didn’t want to believe it was true, but she has noticed if she’s run down that gluten in the air/touching hands briefly tends to be a weak spot. I still didn’t want to believe it. Well, today is the end of the three weeks. There are symptoms & body signals I have learned that happen at 3 weeks after I get gluten. I believe it now. UGh! How dumb!!

The up side to this. I do not have a choice, I have to figure out a way to reduce stress. I don’t want to live this sensitive to gluten. It’s in too many places. I’m actually pretty excited about this. I always feel guilty for wanting to slow down; but there is a “valid” reason now. :-D.