My Heart Is Full~Thanksgiving 2014

It has been a while since I posted last. I was getting over the flu and cough and got busy with life. Now Thanksgiving came upon us and has passed us by with just a blink of an eye. Time has flown by like the wind this last year. It really is hard to believe that Christmas is already coming up. I wanted to take a moment and reflect on the thing I am so thankful for. The list is long. Which is very good. It has been a rough year, if you have been following along you would know how hard it has been. Yet, even with the hard stuff and the pain I have endured this year with the loss of my Gramma....God has continued to be steadfast with His love and has given me so much grace. He has provided for us to make it through this year with very little as we have worked on the church plant and getting through Mr. Darling's exams and finally his ordination. What a blessing...All the years and hard work my husband sacrificed has finally came to light! We have been tested, we have been excluded, slandered, judged and hurt by others this year...But God's word comforts us that there is something so much more waiting for us. We turn the other cheek and trudge through the dark trenches and await God's promise and pray that all we do gives glory to our Maker. God has in turn blessed us with a wonderful group of fellow believers in our church. They have opened their hearts and have been so willing and eager to make this mission work out...We feel loved by the flock...And pray they feel our love towards them as well. We have been blessed with a nice place to worship on Sunday mornings...As well as fellowship between our brothers and sisters in Christ..We have been blessed by others giving without wanting anything in return...My heart is full.

I am thankful for all these blessings and for my family, who has stood by our side through all of these years, Thankful to those who have encouraged us and lifted up our spirits or gave us help in our greatest times of need. I am thankful to my hard working husband, who loves the Lord and loves us unconditionally, who is always there as a cheerleader, cheering us on when we are down. For our son who is making his way on his own. He is missed daily, but always in touch. We are thankful he had the opportunity to come home even if it were just for a couple days. It meant the world to us that he was here to celebrate a huge milestone in our walk. I am thankful for my daughter, a sweet, tender spirit, who is always there for me, who shares the world with me. 

We enjoy each others company and friendship...

My heart is full.

Autumn Afternoon

There are so many things to be thankful for...Though I don't care for the heat all that much, I am thankful for the longer Summer weather we had this year...Yet, I was longing for cooler, crisp sweater weather...We finally got hit with some of that weather this weekend ( Long Over Due ). It was quit nice to wear a sweater and smell the cold in the air.
 
I cut some flowers from my backyard to put on our table for some Sunday Soup with friends after church. I filled up a sweet vintage red checkered thermos...I love the colors.
   
The leaves here have been falling late as well, due to the extended
Summertime weather we have had. I think the trees are confused...

I also put out a couple Thanksgiving decorations. This will be the last Thanksgiving spent in this house. We are already packing up our stuff to be out of this house by the end of this month...We will be putting our stuff in storage and possibly staying with my mom until we get a call somewhere. I am so thankful to God that he has provided for our needs this long since Mr. Darling graduated this last Summer. I know God has something in store for us...We wait patiently on Him.
Give thanks to God.

An Old Fashioned Thankgiving

Our Thanksgiving day was splendidly quiet.
The sky was blue, the sun was out.
The wind blew slightly through the trees.

Yet, there was bustle going on in the
kitchen as dinner was being prepared.

There was time to make a hand turkey too!
Remember those in grade school?

The turkey was done by 3:00,
just as everything else was placed on the table.

We gave thanks to God for all our blessings
and for providing such a generous bounty.
We read scripture as we finished our feast.

Mr. Darling sat in the parlor and read a Thanksgiving devotion.
We then played a game and enjoyed the delectable
desserts that sweet Freckles prepared.

We talked about the first Thanksgiving and closed
with a short story, which Maestro kindly read aloud to the family.

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving
By Louisa May Alcott
(1832-1888)

We then watched the movie...
but much different than the story itself.
It was sweet anyhow.

By the end of the day...
We were stuffed and so was the Turkey!

I do hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving !
Now off to plan for Christmas!!!