How To Cultivate A Home And Heart Of Thanksgiving

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. -Psalm 107:1

I know...it's a bit early to start talking about Thanksgiving...Or is it?
Thanksgiving... How do we create or cultivate a home and heart of Thanksgiving? As the season of Thanksgiving approaches we may find ourselves pondering this topic. Actually it has been on my heart alot lately for a number of reasons.
A dear friend discovered in the earlier part of this year she had stage 4 colon cancer.The same friend has been supporting her husband through his own battle with lung cancer this past two years and thier daughter has been having seizures from an unknown cause. Our friends have been an amazing example of "What do I have to be thankful for"? Through the pain, chemo, medical bills, changes the future has brought I witnessed a spirit of joy, Thanksgiving and gratitude. How did they manage to do that? We will be celebrating my friends life this week and saying our last goodbyes...it is on my mind as I prepare a talk to honor her. It won't be easy and yet it won't be hard. We have so many great shared  memories. Her life and legacy are in the lives she touched, sometimes just the simplest of gestures... a hug, a word of truth, an idea for our business teams. She will be sorely missed, I wish it could have been longer and I feel so privileged for having had her in my life.
One thing I loved was visiting her home during seasonal holidays. Her home showed off her love for beauty in the small things whether with people or the beauty within her home.
I found this website a while back, it inspired me. How to Create a Home and Heart Of Thanksgiving
She talks about tangible ways to create a home and heart of Thanksgiving...not just in this season but throughout the year.
I liked this idea from Denise's post:

• Have a visual way to leave encouraging notes and verses for the entire family. Use a chalkboard or whiteboard to write a daily scripture or thankful note.

I already have a cork & whiteboard up so I'm going to add a scripture  and note daily.  I also am going to start a series of Thankful For posts beginning today to remind myself and cultivate gratitude. These are not in order of importance but rather what is most on my heart today.

Do you like my digital paper and font? Here is a link so you can make one too. The one I used today from Shabbyblogsblog, Thank You Keren!Thanks Photobookgirl, I love the font links and digital paper she shared.

As we enter this special season it is my hope and prayer that you and I would take time to count our blessings. If you've had a difficult season could I encourage you to like my dear friend make it a choice to put on a spirit of joy, Thanksgiving and gratitude for whatever you can.

Hosting My First Swap-bot Swap

I swap with Swap-bot! I am so-ooo excited...I am hosting my very first Swap-bot swap! At Swap-bot there are lots of fun Groups to join. I am a member of Over 50 and Proud where the group admins invited us to get some swaps going...I finally took the plunge :) I hope to host lots more this year too so I will keep you posted friends, I'd love to have you join in too.
Since the weather is cooling down I thought an Warm & Fuzzy ATC swap would be great fun. Don't you just love that Warm & Fuzzy feeling? I was thinking about the pleasure we get from those experiences in life...that wonderful "warm & fuzzy" feeling wraps around us and we just wish we could have it forever! Sometimes it is from an experience, sometimes its because we have a new puppy, maybe you just saw your child get married. It may be a cup of tea and warm toast or pie. I get that feeling when I see a new baby... Anyway I think you get my drift...Anything that makes YOU wam and fuzzy. So I look forward to sharing my ATC and my partners too. I hope you will join in the fun too. Stop by and see what we've created and what we may be offering in the future:)