Attitude Change

I have been very remiss in listing my "thank you's." - The gifts I receive from God daily - no, hourly.

The interesting thing about this is - my attitude has changed... I really didn't comprehend how much being grateful made me a better person. I'm grumpier. More negative. Not quick to look for the good in all things. 

Interesting to learn this about myself. Ready to get back into the challenge.

3 Gifts Found in Christ

375. I can't imagine having to find animals to sacrifice to roll my sins back. The greatest gift found in Christ is His atoning blood.

376. His gift of the Holy Spirit. Our comforter. 

377. Jesus set the example for pure, sacrificial living. A true gift to receive.

3 Gifts Before 9:00am

372. My husband is my greatest gift from God. He always makes me glad to be alive - every morning!

373. My coffee! Coffee is really just an example of how God loves us. He provides us with little pleasures all through life. 

374. Every morning The Husband gets up early and I stay in bed. When I wake up sufficiently to process thoughts :) I have my quiet time. I have a Bible and a devotional on my Kindle and am able to begin the day with God. This is also when I have my time of prayer.

3 Gifts From Today's Conversations

I work from home and today The Husband was gone for a big part of the day - so most of my conversations were with myself. :) - or face book conversations....

369. I began the day by saying on facebook "Banana Cake counts as fruit for breakfast, right?"  Thus began a great conversation with friends - which makes me realize how much I love my friends! (However, they do encourage me to eat too much) jk

370. This morning I posted a blog about one of my beautiful grands. 

Click Here to Read One of My Very Favorite Posts...

This post triggered some wonderful conversation with friends, too. 

My friends are true gifts from God.

371. The Husband and I had an interesting conversation after yesterday's sermon. The question we discussed was "When you die, what would you like for your family and friends to say about you?"  What an interesting discussion this generated and has given me much to think about since then.

"Begin again with the end in mind." Brad Cooper 

2 Gifts Found in Difficult People

367. Many times how I respond to difficult people is a gift - or a hindrance. I try to be kind in all situations but I'm not quite there yet.

368. Because of difficult people I am learning (albeit slowly) to keep my mouth shut more often and not just smart off to them.

4 Gifts Funny

363. I have written a blog about my youngest grand. I haven't posted it yet but it is the FUNNIEST blog e.v.e.r. It will be posted Monday, June 3rd. She is literally one of the funniest little girls I have ever met!

364. I have a strange sense of humor - anyway that's what I'm told. So when I was dating one of the characteristics I was looking for in a mate was his sense of humor. God has blessed me GREATLY with a man that has a fantastic sense of humor.

365. My 5 year old grand loves to tell Knock Knock jokes. No matter how many times I've heard them, no matter how unfunny they may be :) when my 5 year old grand tells them - they are soooooo funny!!

366. I saw a tweet today that I thought was hilarious! Of course you have to "sing" it - I'm sure you'll recognize the music and it helps if you're a cheese lover!

"Sweet dreams are made of cheese, 

who am I to diss a brie. 

I cheddar the world and the feta cheese, 

everybody is looking for stilton." 

tweeted by ThisMayBeFatal

Now, how can anyone not think this is funny!!!

3 Gifts Flat

360. Much of Oklahoma!

361. My Kindle. It's flat, handy to stick in my purse and carries as many books as I need!

362. Canvas. I've started a new craft of Media Art and to have an empty, white canvas to create anything that comes to mind is a gift.

3 Gifts Orange

357. A beautiful sunset. 

358. When I think "orange" I always think of one of my grands because he is such an OSU fan!! And I'm always blessed when I think of my grands!

359. I don't really like orange juice or even oranges but I have learned to really enjoy "cuties." They aren't as big and seem to be sweeter.

3 Gifts Tasted

354. Delicious food at our Summer Kick-off at Church on June 1st. 

355. My favorite from the Farmer's Market:

356. Fresh iced tea. - And I will admit, being a farm girl, my favorite is Sweetened Iced Tea... and I do still drink it once in a while but mostly drink it w/o sugar or I use sweetener. - blah..... :)

A Gift Given, Made, Sacrificed

351. A Gift Given:  When we go sale-ing, we often see things that we know others may like and if the price is cheap right we will buy the items for friends and family. Like this tutu for a grand.

Or books for my friends in Life Group. Or playing cards for our friend Ron. Or puzzle books for my Mom. Or... well, you get the picture. We enjoy giving.

352. A Gift Made:  Well, I used to sew. But I've tired of it but still had a yearning to "express" myself!! So, my step-daughter, Michelle and I took a few Media Art classes. I realize it's not my "gift" but it is fun!! So I've been making a few pictures for friends. Here is one for my friend Linda.

353. A Gift Sacrificed: Before I married Randy we decided I would move here to Kansas. So, even though it doesn't seem like a sacrifice because I'm so happy - it was an adjustment for me to leave my home in Oklahoma. And I often miss it. - Especially the people and my 2 sons that are still in Oklahoma.

3 Gifts in Dirt

348.  

Our flowers

349.  

All that this picture depicts.

Being raised as an Oklahoma farm girl I have an

understanding of the oil under the ground. 

"In the dirt."

The crops in the fields.

The hay, the wheat, the corn

and on and on.

God has been so good to me, to my family.

God has been good to our country.

350. 

My Grandma Elsie gave me these Hen and Chicks about

20 years ago. - Which is a blessing.

But the next chapter of that blessing is that I 

got to share some of these with a cousin this weekend 

that I hadn't seen since the early '70's.

Now that is a blessing!

3 Gifts Ugly - Beautiful

342. The tornadoes in Oklahoma are about as ugly as you can get. The help that shows up is beautiful in it's unselfishness. "What Satan intends for evil, God uses for good." 

343. Sometimes my thoughts are very ugly. Through the grace of God, He brings me around to think pure and good thoughts and makes them beautiful.

344. I'm a conservative but first of all, I am a Christian. The direction I see our country headed is ugly. Being Republican or Democrat has nothing to do with this - I'm talking about the Godless direction our country is heading. "Woe to you who turn against God." The beautiful part of this? I know the ending of the story and my faith is in this. God wins.

3 Gifts Morning

339. A true gift - for a mother of 4 :) in my experience - is to get to sleep in once in a while. Now that I'm retired, I can almost sleep in any morning! Even when we are going sale-ing, I usually don't h.a.v.e. to get up until 7:00 or 7:30.

340. Every other Wednesday morning, I get up and moving a little quicker than usual because I make a trip to Oklahoma to see my parents. When I first moved to Kansas, I went once a month. When Mom broke her hip, I went every week. Now, I go every other week. (my parent's know the day I'm coming because it's the day their Schwan's man comes!!)

341. Every morning, my husband (who is an early riser) brings me a cup of coffee and puts it on a warmer on my nightstand. I know, I know, I am spoiled rotten. HOWEVER - I prefer to look at it as being loved very much! :)