Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the idea behind taking time out of our schedules to be thankful. And eat. And hang out with family. I know there’s more hoopla that comes with Christmas but Thanksgiving is something special to me. Last week, I told you all about our fabulous vacation. But this week I’m scaling it back a touch. Here are some random, every-day things that I often take for granted. But today… I’m thankful for them!
Today, I’m thankful…
>> for a garage that my car stays nice and warm inside. {Mostly, I’m thankful that I don’t have to scrape ice in the mornings. Been there, done that.}
>> for my students. I really enjoy the way {some of them} are readers, thinkers, writers, polite teenagers, athletes, friends…
>> for manicures. I know, I know, this one is ridiculous. But it seriously makes me happy to have my fingernails painted. And by that I mean, painting my own nails. Because I’ve paid for a manicure probably 5 times in my entire life.
On the real, these nail pictures are actually hard to master. I was surprised. Joey always has inspirational nail art goin’ on in her her corner and since she has totally inspired me to document mine, I thought I should share. But it ain’t easy.
And if you’re reading this, thinking, “There’s no way I can paint my nails all the time. I don’t have time for that.” My response is that I don’t either! I paint them once a week because I discovered this completely amazing top coat that lengthens the life of a manicure. {Read about it here.} Honestly, it’s a game-changer.
>> that I’ve had some crockpot recipes workout recently. Huge time-saver. Especially during basketball season.
>> that Copper doesn’t shed when he’s naked.
It makes him sad when he’s like that… so it makes me sad. {I mean, hello? Poor guy is naked.} But I don’t miss running the vacuum cleaner every. single. day.
>> for Pandora. Anybody else listen to music non-stop? Worship music in the mornings, something mellow during the day at work, and something with a beat when I have to clean. {Or anything that I don’t really want to do.}
>> that I get to coach basketball. And speaking of this season… it’s crazy busy. It always will be. It means 10-12 hour days. And then when games start, it means 14-16 hour days. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything at home. And even though I’m at work longer, I actually have less time to get just as much done in terms of my actual job. And yes, I love basketball and the girls and… all of it. But truthfully, I was a little anxious. Because, where is all this time going to come from? As much as it’s fun, it’s also kinda stressful sometimes. And one day last week, I was sitting at my desk looking at my always-growing to-do list. And somehow most of it was completed. And the things that weren’t crossed off? They were more futuristic things that need to be done within a week or two, not a day or two.
So I sat back for a second. I’ve got this together. I can handle all this. Look at how much I’ve accomplished. How did I do this? I don’t know but I’ve been on it. {Proud face.}
Thank you Jesus for promptly slapping me across the face. Yes, I did have that ME moment. And then I realized it’s all Him. I’ve been praying about time recently. Scratch that. I’m always praying about time. I like to do things on MY time, not His. This is an on-going lesson for me. And usually it refers to the big things in life. Where we’ll be in a year, 5 years, 10 years. But He’s also been showing me recently that not only does He have the big things in our lives planned out… but He’s got this exact minute covered, too. And honestly? He has completely taken over my time and made me more productive in less time. One of those small miracles.
And I’m so thankful.
>> that I get to wear jeans to work today!
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What are you thankful for today? Writing down a list of things you’re thankful for can make such a difference in your outlook on life. Sometimes we {or maybe it’s just me} get caught up in the lists of things we need to do. So take 10 minutes today and make a list of things you’re thankful for! And watch your attitude change from one of I’m overwhelmed by life to one of I have a lot to be thankful for. Big things… little things… it’s all fair game.
I’m linking up with Joey and Kristin for Stuff and Things. Because that’s the Thursday place to be, y’all!
And now I have to go put that miracle top-coat on my manicure.
{Oh yeah… notice how my font went back to whatever the default wordpress font is? No idea how to fix it. My plugin has an error? I don’t know. So I guess we’re back to this unless someone knows how to fix it.}
