I'm thankful that after days of clouds the sun has come out this morning. Each year God faithfully changes the seasons, and they will continue until time is no more because of His promise. The bright fall days are so beautiful. I'm also thankful for God's timing. I'm not always thankful when I'm waiting for Him or His time, but when it happens in exactly the time that it should, I am thankful!

Today is Ladies Bible study. I have the privilege of leading a group of women who come together each week to dig into God's Word and apply the Truth to their lives. I'm so thankful for their enthusiasm, their encouragement, and their willingness to do the work and to show themselves approved by studying and knowing the Word of God. There are women who have been Christians for 40 years and women who recently made that commitment. It's such a wonderful time to share. There really isn't anything like being in a women's Bible study. I'm thankful that God opened the door for me to be a part of this group.

football

I am thankful for football. I'm thankful that Fred was able to play again after his concussion, and that I have healthy, strong children who can participate in sports. I'm thankful for the passion that he feels for the game, and for the way he pushes himself during practice. I'm thankful that he has learned discipline, sacrifice, disappointment, and how to push himself to finish even when he wants to quit. I'm thankful for coaches who know the Lord and who want to be role models for their players. It gives me great joy to watch him play and to watch him interact with his teammates on the side lines. Yesterday was the last game and their team won and completed the season with a winning record, the first time in the 5 year history of the school, I believe. And so now I'm thankful that it's done and that maybe we will see him some more.

Yesterday

Technically this is yesterday's thankfulness post. I composed it in my head, just not on the computer.
I'm so thankful that we have the privilege of going to our polling place and voting without fear of reprisal. We so much take this for granted, but it is an amazing privilege. No one wants to shoot me for voting. No one will burn my house down for casting a ballot. I think of the Iraqi's when they had their vote. People walked tens of miles to stand in line all day with smiles on their faces. I heard complaints yesterday from people who had to stand in line for 20 minutes! I remember the grins on the faces of the women who showed their inked fingers, a miracle in our time. I hope that we remember what an opportunity we have each time we go behind that curtain.

Celebration

This is what was left of the gluten-free chocolate cake I made to celebrate Fred's Academic Achievement award today. It goes to those who maintained a 3.5 through their freshman year. If they do it again this year, then they recieve an academic letter. We are so proud of him!

I'm thankful for Fred's hard work and diligence at school, and that we could celebrate his accomplishment.

I'm thankful for chocolate cake.

Mostly today I'm thankful that, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God" (Romans 13:1). isn't that a comforting thought as we move toward election day tomorrow?

Now get out and VOTE!

Thankfulness

Trick or treat night was beautiful. It was nice enough to go without coats over the costumes. We headed to a neighborhood where friends live since we've only had 1 tricker treater here in the 9 years we've been here. It's just not conducive to door to door. Ben had a friend with him, and two more joined them. I followed 7 boys as they sprinted through the 25 houses in the neighborhood at top speed. I suggested several times that they slow their pace as this was IT for trick or treat, but to no avail. We finished in 20 minutes. Of course, they have enough candy for the rest of the year!

Liz and some other blogger friends are spending the month of November blogging each day about things for which they are thankful. I'm going to join them in that. Too many times I am negative, and I need to cultivate that thankfulness.

I'm thankful that I could work out in my flower bed planting bulbs and digging up things to prepare for winter. I love the results of gardening, but not necessarily the time involved. But today I'm thankful that I could do the work and not be afraid that my back will hurt.

I'm thankful that we could have a bonfire last night with our family and that our children wanted to be with us, roast hot dogs, sing songs, and make "nice, hot shmoes."

I'm thankful that God doesn't treat me as my sins deserve. That would be ugly. God's love and grace and forgiveness are free.

Happy Halloween

We traditionally carve pumpkins every year. The boys are old enough to do their own carving (and scooping!). I didn't think we would have time to get it done this year, but things were cancelled Monday night because of wet and cold conditions. This is Virginia afterall. So they had time to carve their pumpkins. The left is a skeleton hand grabbing a spider, the right lower one started out as a skeleton coming out of a flame, but turned into a ghost instead. The face on the top one glows menacingly in the dark. The top left reflects the fact that Fred had football, a research project, AP History homework and mid-terms this week.

Today was career day at the elementary school. The kids were allowed to dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. Peter wants to be like Daddy. I think he makes a good Examiner, don't you?

More Sacrifice

This is the flame that burns in the remembrance room of the Holocaust Museum. It is the only room where pictures are allowed. It turned out too dark to see the scripture behind it, but it's a quote from Dueteronomy that we remember these things and tell them to our children.
Below is a quote around the top of the rotunda where, beneath, the names of the death camps are written with candles glowing underneath. It caught my eye and is relevent to the upcoming election.

In keeping with the theme of sacrifice in my life right now, I journeyed north with 4 bus-loads of sophomores to the Holocaust Museum. I had never been before, and honestly, I was worried about seeing it for the first time with a bunch of teens. They read Night by Elie Wiesel in English class. This capped that novel in a powerful way. I'm so thankful for a school system willing to teach that this did happen and not too long ago, since even in our day some call it a myth. We only had 2 hours to look through the 3 floors of items, so we didn't get to see much for very long. Two things really struck me on this visit. The first is the parallel between Germany in the 1920's and '30's and the United States today. The second is the rampant antisemitism that has raged since Christ's death.

Germany was hurting from the consequences of WWI, but experienced some measure of prosperity during the '20's until the crash in '29. Then they, like the rest of the world, were plunged into depression. That allowed Hitler to rise to power. The people wanted change. They got it! I'm not comparing Obama to Hitler, but we just need to be so careful to not get caught up in the idea of change for change sake that we lose sight of the character of those seeking office.

I knew antisemitism has always existed, but I didn't realize the extent that it impacted every society on the planet. Martin Luther had some harsh and hateful things to say about Jews, and even until the mid-20th century, the Catholic Church had in it's papers, for lack of a better word, that the Jews killed Christ. I was stunned. Wasn't it Tevya, in Fiddler on the Roof who said that it might have been better to NOT be the chosen people? So this week I got to see a bit more what sacrifice looks like, and it's not pretty.