9/21/2014 Day 1

I was given a "5-day Challenge"  to post 3 things that I'm grateful for the next five days .

1.The first thing that comes to my mind... that I am grateful for ... Is my husband, Lou . (Don't be surprised if you see him at the top of my list each and every day I do the challenge.) I love him so much... for MANY reasons. He is a humble person. He is generous. He loves me unconditionally. He loves me exactly as I am. I trust him.

2. That I know Jesus Christ as my Saviour...because I know where I will be for Eternity... and my eternity started the moment I believed in HIM. I accepted Christ as my Saviour in November of 1987. I remember who lead me to the Lord. I remember the spot I was at when I realized the Truth. I remember how the fear of death, going to hell and the burden of being a disappointment to God were all lifted from me. I was truly "Born Again". It was the shedding of a suffocating stench of sin. I was Totally changed and the love of Christ has completely changed my life. Changed what I value and what I invest my time into.

3. That I know and trust God. I fear Him. I love Him and I show Him my love by being obedient to His Word.

9/22/2014 Day 2  of the five day gratitude challenge...

1. I am grateful for laughter. The God given ability to understand a joke. For all the times I choose to laugh instead of cry when life could have broken my spirit. For the ones who make me laugh and laugh with me. Sometimes it's the only audible way to express joy so abundant that my heart would explode if I didn't let it out.

2. I am grateful for shared tears. I'm grateful for the Lord's comforters in unspeakable sorrow. Human and otherwise.

3.I am grateful for life. My life. Your life. Lives saved. ... even for the lives lost. May every one of them be of importance to someone and of purpose to God.

9/23/2014 Day three of the five day gratitude challenge...

1. I'm grateful for every person that has invested their blood, sweat and tears into me. Who by example, shaped my being, my thinking and my desire to help others. I can only think of one person that fits all of that... it would be my mom.

2. I'm grateful for every teacher that took time to encourage me. I can name a lot of them for one reason or another but the one I think was the best was Mrs. Mathias.

3. I'm grateful for getting every job I really wanted... every job I ever had and every paycheck I ever got. I think being raised on a farm had a lot to do with my work ethic. I also think my dad had something to do with my determination to get all tasks assigned, done to the best of my ability and not give up. (I think that would translate into "performing, meeting and exceeding expectations".) It was expected of me the entire time I grew up. You didn't come back into the house and ask dad to do it for you.

Day Four of the five day gratitude challenge...

I'm listening to the music that Lou has playing softly from our computer collection and I'm thankful that we like the same music. Right now "March On" by 101 Strings is what's playing. It's a little like listening to the Boston Pops Orchestra. In a moment he might have Joann Castle (from Lawrence Welk days) tinkling the piano keys or Alasdair Fraser playing a celtic fiddle tune like no one else can... I love it when he sets the player on random.

Not too long ago he transferred the music collection or re-organized it and none of the song titles showed up. We spent quite a few nights playing them one by one and typing in the titles. I can "name that tune" in four notes...

Anytime we are pushing to make just a few more miles to a destination at the end of a long weary day... I find Neil Diamond's "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" and turn up the volume. Works every time.

If you asked us what our favorite song is... I bet we'd both answer this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNsLT1BxUto

and this would be a close 2nd... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hw_lK5qim4

9/25/2014 Day 5 (last day)

1. I'm grateful for our friends, family and prayer partners. (Quite a few do double-duty.) I'm grateful that our family continues to grow. Lou's been a grandpa and great grandpa for several years now. Just this May my son and his wife were blessed with a little boy and I am so blessed to be a new grandma... especially in this DIGITAL age!!

2. I'm grateful for the health that the Lord has provided to us while on this journey. It's not always a smooth road but we've learned to trust in Him and ride out the jolts. Sometimes we have to add air to the tires and sometimes we need to replace shock absorbers...

3. I started out on the first day of this gratitude challenge by saying how thankful I am to have my wonderful hubby and I'm going to end by saying what a lucky woman I am because he loves me so much. Love like this is a blessing from above. We've had over 27 years together and I'm a blessed women. For sure.