Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday is being hosted by Laurie at Women Taking a Stand. I just want to say Laurie!!
I am thankful that my neighbor gave me a little push to step out of my comfort zone last night. She leads a Women Ministry group on Wednesday at her church (Community Full Gospel Church). Well, it was amazing! I have been thinking about going but figured I would not know anyone there and the people there would be well versed in the Bible and make me look like an idjit. But it was not like that at all. I knew all of the women there and I knew some companion verses for what Sheila was teaching. Whew!
It was amazing and I am thankful for life's little nudges that lead you to do something you are a little afraid to do. And for an awesome Women's Ministry right down the road from me!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am in a John Wayne/Johnny Cash kinds mood so this is gonna be a lil bit different—I'm gonna use my words to be thankful but there are also three clips at the end of the post. One is my absolute fav Cash/Carter song (as if everyone else doesn't love it too!!) and the other is the best punch line—EVER!! The last one is, well, it's just awesome. So, today I am grateful for people like this. The ones who say what they mean and don't pull no punches. The men and women who see things as either right or wrong. People who remind me of the attitude and determination that build this great nation.

Thankful Thursday

My post today will be a pictorial post. As in the pics I took this morning when I went outside to hang clothes on the clothesline (the pic of the clothes on the line will not be included b/c I realized after I looked at it on the computer that a few 'unmentionables' could be seen from the angle I took the picture and THAT's not gonna be on display for the whole world to see!!). So, without further ado, my Thankful Thursday pictures. These are the things that were gorgeous at my house this morning and that I thanked God for as I looked outside. Man He is something!!

Thankful Thursday

I need to be more attentive to God and Will so I am going to start the list every Thursday with them, but with a twist. I will come up with different reasons for my thankfulness. Last week it was provider of all things and Will be a decent man who comes home, has a job, etc.

So, onward, ho!

I am thankful for:

1. God. The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you. I need to rely more on His grace and less on myself.
   
2. Will. He has a stressful job as a manager at Sam's in Lufkin and I need to be more understanding of the difficulty of his job.
   
3. Birds. The Eastern Wood-PeeWees I see at my feeders all the time, the American Male Goldfinch I saw several times while hunting in October (he still had his summer plumage), and the Red-Bellied Woodpecker I have seen for several days out the window at work (must have been a female b/c the red on the males heads go all the way to their beaks and hers was just on the back of her head). Can you tell my bird book came in?!?!? I love it! It is Field Guide to Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman. The cover is on upside down on mine but I bought it used for very little so I can't complain. In fact, I kinda like that it is not perfect. It gives it character!
   
4. Sweet tea. I'm from the south and I think it is a law here that you have to drink sweet iced tea!
   
5. Anita Renfroe. I have her perpetual calendar at my desk at work and it makes me smile each and every day.
   
6. The color pink. It makes me happy.
   
7. The smell of the air before it rains. It is a clean, fresh, humid smell. I love it!
   
8. The wind when it whistles in the trees. It almost seems as if it is talking to me.
9. Sunshine. I like to sit outside on one of the first few days of warm sunshine after along winter and soak up the sun. Kinda like a lizard but without the green scaly skin.
10. The smell of burning leaves. Who can honestly say they don't like that smell? It announces to me that spring is officially here and it is time to clean out the flower beds and get to planting!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

1. God. The provider of all things.
2. Talk radio. I was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about people wanting Darwin's Theory of Evolution to be taught as fact in schools and how it is just a theory and if we are going to teach one theory we should teach them all. Then they went on to talk about the belief that the universe was born on the back of an elephant. One question: Where did the elephant come from? Talk about an AHA moment.
3. Good neighbors. We have had bad neighbors and they make the good ones that much better!
   
4. Will. I know, I know, I grumble and fuss about him and there are times I could just squeeze his neck until his head pops off. But he has his good qualities. He comes after work instead of going to a bar. He doesn't drink his paychecks away. He has a job (which is a great thing in this day and age!!). He gets along with my dad. He is willing to take Taylor hunting. He goes to church with me (on occasion). All in all, more good points than bad.
   
5. Chocolate. God was in a great mood on the day that He invented that stuff!!
6. Root beer.
7. Chili Cheese Fritos (can you tell I am PMSing today?)
8. Guns. I like knowing I can take a gun that I own and shoot something for supper. That I am capable of providing for my family in that area.
9. Books. I love to read and I love the things I can learn from reading. I have ordered a book on birds (so I can identify the ones at my feeder) and a book on gardening (actually it is Gardening for Dummies, I figured I should start slow and work my way up). What a great idea to have all this knowledge in a book?
10. Birds. I am amazed and delighted every day when I see all the different ones in my backyard. They thrill me to no end. Thanks to Mrs. Eason (who used to feed a couple sacks a week and watch all the birds with a bird book in hand) I now know the joys of watching birds. This spring I will put out hummingbird feeders but for now the big birds reign supreme!

Thankful Thursdays

I have so many things to be thankful for so I will do it in list format (and probably few paragraphs along the way!). I think 10 is a good round number

1. The peace I have when I am sitting in a deer stand—no one asking me where something is, no one expecting me to cook/clean up, no one calling me, no time limit. Just me, my thoughts, and books (yes, books, plural, I take several with me in case I finish the one I am in the middle of reading b/c it just wouldn't do for me to run out. I have extra books in all the vehicles—including a few in my dad's vehicles—and the mule.).
   
2. The support of my dad in a traditionally "male" activity. Actually, his support in all things I end up doing that are thought of being in the male domain (bunching logs, feeding cows, fixing fence, running a bulldozer). Granted I am usually helping him when I get in the midst of all this but he thinks that women should be able to take care of themselves and stand on their own (that way they are never in an abusive situation with no options and end up having to stay).
   
3. Jess. She keeps me grounded and reminds me what it was like to be a teenager. Plus she is my social world. If it weren't for her playing volleyball, basketball, softball, and showing goats and lambs, I wouldn't go anywhere or meet any new people!!
   
4. My grandmother. Even though she is gone now, she raised me and I still find myself quoting her and saying things like "Well, that's how my grandmother did it and if it was good enough for her, it's good enough for everyone else!"
   
5. The box blinds I get to hunt out of. I love the windows and the heaters!!
   
6. The opportunity to take my nephew hunting (and get him his first deer with horns!!!). It doesn't matter what you are doing, what you enjoy, you should always find a way to introduce a kid to it. Even if it is nothing more than walking in nature. They need the time with someone who cares and you need the time teaching someone else about the things you love (but don't come whining to me when you run out of answers to their million and one questions!!!).
   
7. The flowers that come up in my yard.
   
8. The birds at my feeders. I have several different types in the winter and hummingbirds in the spring and summer. This is another thing my grandmother instilled in me. She would sit for hours and watch the hummingbirds and squirrels.
   
9. The pond at my dad's house. The one I helped dig the summer I learned how to drive the bulldozer (thanks Mr. Author!! the man who turned me loose on one and took up for me with my dad when he found out!! hehe!). It means to much to me to know I helped build that. Plus I stocked it and kept records on it the entire time I was in FFA. My grandmother fished almost everyday after the fish were big enough to catch. Daddy would come home from the woods and she would have several fish in the sink (in water, of course!!) for him to clean. He got tired of that quick, fast, and in a hurry and taught me how to clean the stinking things. UGH!! You know, I miss cleaning fish every day for my grandmother.
   
10. Red fingernail polish. Seriously. My grandmother used to try to lighten my hair b/c it was red and she would not allow me to wear red anything b/c red was a 'whorey' color and only 'floozies' would be caught wearing it. Oh yeah. And you wonder where all my weirdness comes from!!
    

I have been thinking about my grandmother a lot this week—it happens around the first of every year when I have been cooking a lot of stuff using her recipes and when my mind turns to planting a garden (not that I have done one in years but I always think/talk about one every year). She would have been 86 January 30 and loved to go out to the garden with a salt shaker and eat tomatoes off the vine that had been warmed by the sun. She would take a knife out to the pear orchard and eat several while out there picking them and she always told the story about Aunt Lou while we were peeling pears. Aunt Lou was little and they were all peeling pears. Aunt Lou was eating them almost as fast as she could peel them. And, we all know what too many fresh pears can do to the digestive track! Yep. She did not make it to the outhouse in time. The boys (there were 6 boys and 5 girls) were teasing her about it and chasing her around the house. So, she took her underwear off and threw them at the boys. Granny would stop here b/c she was laughing too much to finish the rest of the story so I don't know if they ever stopped teasing her or not!