Tonight after the kids were in bed, I finished cleaning the kitchen.

I happened to look in the trash can while I was throwing something in there and thank goodness I did.

I noticed several nesting boxes and a golden book.

Will has been learning to clean up along with the girls before their quiet time and before bed.

Unfortunately, he has not learned that EVERYTHING does not go in the trash can.

I woke up with a very thankful heart this Thanksgiving morning. I have so much to be thankful for in my life. I take so much for granted and I am especially thankful for a time to focus in on what I am truly thankful for.

This spirit of thankfulness is something that I want to life everyday and instill in my children’s hearts.

Today I am thankful for many, many things, but I’ll leave you with this list.

1. Christ and the gift of salvation that I have received from him. I am so thankful for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Because of his salvation I have eternal life and I can have an eternal perspective in this life. I have truly been given a life of abundance (John 10:10). I can have peace in any circumstance because of his constant companionship. My relationship with Christ has been challenged over this last year. It has been challenged and it has grown. I thank him for molding me and making he His!

2. I am thankful for my husband. He is a true servant to God, to his soldiers, and to our family. He gives so much of himself. I am thankful for the love that we share. I am thankful for the support and encouragement he gives me from miles away. I am thankful for the wonderful father that he is to our children. I am thankful for his calling and his passion to serve. And I am thankful for his sacrifices, they are many.

3. I am thankful for my children. They are such amazing gifts from God. I fail them daily and I feel so unworthy to be their mother. But God has saw fit to give me the opportunity to be just that. I am thankful for their sweet little hearts, for their love of people, for their excitement for life. I am thankful for the many, many lessons that they teach me. I am thankful for their companionship. And I am thankful for the beautiful people that they are going to become.

4. I am thankful for my family. I will be missing the big Thanksgiving meal at my Grandmama’s house today. It sounds like almost everyone will be there. I am thankful for their love, for their support, for their encouragement. I am thankful for the way my relationship with them has grown over the years. I am also thankful for my husband’s family and the support that they give me. They have graciously accepted me as one of their own.

5. I am thankful for my friends, both near and far away. At the beginning and even before this deployment began I prayed about my desire for friends and while I wanted to develop strong friendships during this time, I was also completely prepared to be lonely. By that, I mean, I was at peace for whatever God had in store for me. And if that meant that I wouldn’t be surrounded by friends here, I was ready to spend my time growing in my relationship with Him. But He has blessed my life immensely with good friendships, beyond anything I could have imagined. Just last night I received an e-mail from a friend full of thanksgiving for our friendship and how God has brought us together during this time. I have had several friends move away but God has been gracious in providing new friends every time. I’m also thankful for the friendships I’ve been able to develop and maintain with those of you who are on the other side of the ocean and in the blogosphere. I don’t take you for granted!

6. I am thankful for technology. Because of it I have been able to communicate with my husband. He has been able to stay connected with us. We are so blessed that we are separated during this period in time when we have such an opportunity to keep in touch with each other through e-mail, chat, blogs, and web-cams. I am thankful that my parents recently got a computer and web-cam so that we are able to communicate with them more and I can see my family that I miss so much. I am thankful for this blog and the opportunity I have to communicate our life with all of you. I am thankful for the support and encouragement I have received from all of you that take the time to read what I write. And I am thankful for other outlets of social media like Facebook and Twitter that I can always have a way to communicate with friends and other moms.

7. I am thankful for all the things that I didn’t mention. I am thankful that there is so much to be thankful for that this could never ever be a complete list.

We truly have so much to be thankful for. Every breath that we breathe is a precious gift from our God and an opportunity to serve him faithfully.

I pray that you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving with hearts full of thankfulness!

I love Christmas!

It’s a time of year to focus on the birth of our Savior. It’s a time to cherish family, and friends, near and far. It’s a time of tradition…adhering to the old ones and making new ones.

What I don’t love about Christmas is the commercialism and materialism that it can create.

In that, I have been thinking a lot about how we’re going to approach Santa.

It’s something that I have been pondering since my girls were babies and now that they are three, I think my husband and I have come up with something that is going to work for us.

I don’t want my children to view Christmas as just a time when they get stuff from Santa. That’s what the world would have them believe. So many children are totally focused on making their lists of “wants” for this time of the year. So, far, this has not touched our family and I want to avoid it if possible, and I believe that it is possible.

Last year we went to a wonderful Christmas party for one of the companies in Keith’s unit. Santa showed up at the party and handed out gifts to the kids there. EA received a “Barrel of Monkeys”, MC received a cute little baby doll with wild curly hair, and Will received a plush toy phone.

Throughout the year, EA and MC have referred to those small gifts as what they got from Santa. MC will quickly tell you that Santa gave her that babydoll. And it is one of her most prized babies. She sleeps with it more often than any of the others. And EA still asks to play with her barrel of monkeys. For weeks after the party last year, she could be entertained by sitting in a chair and playing with her monkeys, she would take them out one by one and look at them. They were special because they came from Santa.

I have noticed that sometimes children don’t receive anything from their parents…it all comes from Santa.  Last year, because they already had their special gifts from Santa, the girls saw the presents that were under the tree Christmas morning as coming from Mommy and Daddy, not necessarily Santa. We didn’t design it that way on purpose, it just kind of happened.

And that’s how I decided how to “do” Santa in our family.

They will also have several gifts under the tree. These will be gifts from family and friends and from Mommy and Daddy.

Santa will bring our children one special, small gift, possibly one that will fit snugly in their stockings. One that they will be able to cherish as coming from Santa Claus.

Have you struggled with avoiding the commercialism of Christmas in your family to focus on the real reason for the day? What have you done to address this?

Does your family have a special way of “doing” Santa?

Do see what works for other moms around the blogosphere, please visit Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Will tried to sneak in an extra snack while I was fixing dinner Monday night. At least it was a healthy one.

For more Wordless Wednesday participants, visit 5 Minutes for Mom or the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.