how is it almost thanksgiving already?  where does the time go?  I am pretty proud of myself for how far i am with the whole holiday season this year.  We finished decorating our house for Christmas, but before you throw egg nog on me, hear me out….. we travel thanksgiving weekend.  we leave on wednesday and return on sunday to return back to work and be sucked into the societal craziness of the season.  it feels so good to be ready with that part so we can start back that week with our heads above water!  I even have almost half of my shopping done already too!  that is unheard of! 

sorry….4 hour break.   we had my son’s friends over here for the Bears game.   It was so fun to hear them laughing and commenting on the game.   I hope these guys remain friends for years!   Kirby just wanted so badly to be a part of them, and the big kids just pulled him right in like he was one of them.   Made my heart swell!

So much fun here tonight listening to Punky and his buddies watch the Bears game.   I love that my son loves the Bears and loves the game of football.   Hell, he loves nearly all sports games!   🙂   It’s so fun to watch him impart his sports knowledge on his little brother, Kirby.

Great message at church today.  I don’t think I can even articulate how much I love Pastor Max, and I love our new church.  I leave church a new person each week, ready to tackle the week ahead.  It’s just so fun to be part of something so great.  I am going to include a picture here of our door project which is now at the church.   We left our last church as we struggled with preachings about homosexuality being a sin, and we in no way believe that.  Love is love.   That’s how we raise our boys.   So, we were able to help out and bring this awesome project to our new church, Champlin United Methodist Church.   Every time I drive by now, my heart just swells.  We are doing something to make a difference.  We are spreading the word of Jesus.  We are accepting of all people.   I just love that.

Today’s message at church was about gratitude.  Pastor Max read from a book by Diana Butler Bass titled, Grateful.  I loved it.  I have tried these past few years to look through the grateful lens in my life.   I even adopted the #bestthingstoday idea from my bloggy friend Angela.  I started my EBD students writing gratitude journals a few years back.  My goal the past few years has been to stop. breathe. and take in the little moments.  Thank God for them.  Thank the people around you for them; for that is what life is all about….. feeling grateful – when you feel humility and great joy in the moment.  My heart swells multiple times a day, and reflecting on those pieces of my day makes my heart more open to Jesus and his work within me.  Today’s message just drove that point home even further.  Being grateful needs to be a piece of each day.  There are little glimpses of “life” throughout my days.   I just need to be more conscientious of documenting them – enter the #bestthingstoday hashtag.  🙂 

this week at work is only 2 days long.   I cannot wait for Thanksgiving break.   I am so excited to see my family!   🙂 I also have super cool activities planned for my math classes.   🙂  Gobble Gobble!

I feel like as we get ready to Advent.  I need to work on that gratitude piece again!   It is so humbling and brings so much joy to my heart and my soul.  

I am off to bed.  Lots of opportunities to be grateful coming up in t he next few days!