Day 2

This morning at worship I was struck by several things. We are going through the book of 1 John and the focus was around loving one another. Specifically, that as we show our love for one another, we are truly walking the path that Jesus laid.  Church is often my time for taking a few moments to stop and reflect, if all children are under control.  And today, I really felt it all soaking in.  I realize the basic concept is of loving one another and, also, how fundamental it is in the great good of our world, yet it really does sometimes seem like a broken part of society.  But today, our leader focused in on the good that really is happening all around us and much of it because of the love that many do to choose to show to others each day.

So I decided for today I am going to work on telling my kids thank you for loving one another -catch them being good and loving to each other and surprise them with extra praise, in hopes to sustain  a ripple effect of love in the house.

Now this seemed like an easy task at first, but with the cold, windy weather that has settled around us, we are all spending more time inside.  Together.  So this proved a bit more difficult than I initially thought.

Now it is midday, I have not really shown my appreciation as much as I expected I would.  The kids are playing board games together now, or napping, and I am crafting a plan for this evening... I want them to see how much I value they way they treat one another as a part of our family and would love to hear your ideas!

How do you show your kids your appreciation? How do you say thank you to your family?
Share in the comments!

Day 1

I decided to start by doing something I rarely do...thanking a business!

Real life admission---I get busy.  A lot.  And forget to keep my eye on things coming up.  Like holidays.  Like maybe even holidays that are important to children.

This year my lovely daughter had chosen Elsa for her costume.  I hunted down her size plenty early and thought we were good.  We have oodles of boy super hero costumes, so I figured we were good there.  Until the idea crept in that the little one should be Olaf.  Based on the amount of time he watches that movie and sister being Elsa, we needed him to be Olaf. Not a great decision made days before Halloween.

I went to my trusty Amazon Smile (to support DSDN, of course) and hunted one down.  It was in his size, wouldn't cost a fortune and had a chance of getting here this week.  I ordered it and soon got an email that it was in shipping land (somewhere) and would be here November 4.  Crap.  At this point, our Batman and Superman costumes were looking better, especially after looking at Pinteret for Olaf ideas (and realizing my sewing skills were not going to get me through).

A wonderful thing happened Oct. 30 at 4 pm.  OLAF WAS DELIVERED!

Now I am certain the company knew that I was slacking and knew that some poor child would be Olaf-less and they put a rush on it.  And I am grateful.

Is this life or death? Of course not.  Did it make our day a little brighter?  Sure did. 

So I sent an email note to them and want to also say THANK YOU to the here:

Great Price Fast Service

YOU ROCK!!!! 

What company can you thank today? 

Tell us about it in the comments <3

Instead of just being grateful....

So instead of Facebook postings each day about what I am grateful for, I want to make an effort to THANK OTHERS in my life.  Important, life-changing people and those people who come fleetingly in and out of my day, but still make a difference.  Whether it is big or small-- I am going to make a conscious effort to say "thank you."  It may be a simple text, a phone call, a note- but I want the people around me to know how much I appreciate their efforts and it makes my life easier or better. 

I would LOVE to see who you choose to thank and how you do it! 

Will you join me? 

Countdown to avalanche of gratitude in 12 hours :)

(I am jumping the gun and going to thank Pin Oak Middle School PTO for posting this awesome THANK YOU wordle design--saved me some time, folks!--THANKS)