Happy Thanksgiving... every day!

If Thanksgiving weren't synonymous with gravy, butter and other festively dressed saturated fats, it could be the healthiest holiday around. That's not just because the bird itself is a great source of lean protein... or because sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins (just replace the marshmallow stuff with toasted walnuts = YUM!!)... 

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks and being with family and friends, and there's no question that both make us and you healthier. If you practice a life filled with consistent thanksgiving, research shows you're also likely to exercise more, have fewer aches and pains, and feel more optimistic than if you ramble on about things that drive you crazy or don't matter much. Consider... you can't complain and be thankful at the same time. Even better, studies show that 15 minutes of daily gratitude can dramatically decrease aging stress hormones in your body!

Celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday by showing your thanks. Remember people who are important in your life and write them a note of gratitude. Or maybe they'll be around your holiday table and you can thank them in person! You'll all feel more deeply connected and even happier to be together. While you're fussing with the bird, the centerpiece, or your new whole-grain stuffing, take a minute to put the "thanks" in "Thanksgiving." Your heart will be grateful, too.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Take time today to tell the people you love...

you're grateful they're in your life. 

I went back today.

Did you ever go back to a former life as a visitor, instead of a participant? Did you ever return to a former existence, when it's no longer your reality?

I went back to the place where I spent years of my life, where I poured a lot of my life - my heart - everything I had - and I went back as a spectator instead of the participant.

And it was exhilarating.

People I used to spend hours each day working with and for are now friends and acquaintances, and not my focus. I had time today to relax, to chat, and to pour my soul and being into others - instead of having it emptied from me.
I had time to love, to listen, to learn, to... enjoy.

I trust that if you ever leave a place in your life that seemed permanent,
but ended up not...
      a place that consumed you, but time gave replenishment...
            or a place that was your entire reality, but became a place in your history...
                  that you can return a better person - a bigger person - a stronger person
                         for the experience that made you that way.

I went back there today.
And for all of it - and for where I am today because of it - I am thankful.

Enjoying His grace... :)

The last day of the month. October 31. Two more to go, then the year's over. Wow!

So much has happened this year; yet, it went SO FAST.  It's almost 2012... Wow...

It's been a good year - a productive year. I trust it has for you too.

All of my goals have been met. *fist bump!* You know, those "New Year's Resolutions" that you put out on 12/31 and blow by 1/3?  I wouldn't let it happen. It's been a productively blessed year. I've got everything crossed off that list. Everything!  But... I never saw a lot of what happened this year coming when I flipped the new calendar on 1/1, and I wouldn't have imagined it anyway.

How about you? Has this year brought things into your life that you never would've thought of? 

So now I still have two months to get caught up with a to-do list I didn't count on and couldn't have thought of anyway, and it'll get done because everything's accomplished that I had set out to do this year. And then some. By God's grace, He smiled and made my life a blessed place with beautiful, Godly people. His grace is sufficient.  His love is unending! I have all that I need and much, much more, all provided from the Almighty hands of an all-loving and gracious God. I'm so thankful, and much too blessed to be stressed...

I hope that's true of you too.

A few random thoughts as I leave what's behind and go forward...

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." ~ Dr. Seuss

Good memories are a treasure for the heart to keep warm and cuddle with. Good memories encourage us when life can be rude, and can be the teddy bear that makes us feel safe and secure. It's good memories that travel with us like a blanket which we can wrap ourselves in when uncertainty frowns in our face.

It's the good memories I take with me as I enter this new adventure and leave the place where I thought I'd be for the rest of my life. I've learned so much during the past few years about how to love and care for people, and I'm grateful for the muscles built through the workouts I endured. I feel peace - anticipation - because I know the road ahead is waiting. I'm ready to go!

I take joy in where I've been, what I've learned, and how I've grown, and I look forward to where I'm going. And it all... starts... now...

Just above my nose...

It was a beautiful August evening - one of those nights with a warm gentle breeze and cicadas tuning up for a full performance as the sun sank lower in the sky. Thunderstorms were in the forecast for the next day, which meant lawn work needed to get done. It also meant the dog-walkers wanted to get full benefit of this late summer evening. The bushes were almost trimmed when a couple of dog-walkers stopped at a tree out by the road. They pointed, stared upward, and seemed enraptured by something more interesting than just leaves and branches.

"Hey, did you know there's a beehive in that tree?"

We looked over at the tree - and saw leaves and branches.

"Ohhh...
it's a BIG one!"

We walked towards the tree and continued to see... the tree... until we walked around the side and looked up - at the biggest thing hanging in a tree that I ever remembered seeing. It was unlike any hive I've ever seen in my life... because it wasn't just a beehive...

It was a HORNET'S nest.
Compared to hives I've seen, it was the Trump Tower!

It

was...

HUGE...

and it was a busy place - actively ACTIVE hornets were flying in and out of the entry hole and swarming around their meeting place. I wasn't going close, nor did I have a good plan as to how get rid of this thing! Trying to spray or knock this thing down could result in a fierce army of angry hornets being unleashed in a quietly peaceful neighborhood.

Not a good idea...


As I looked up, fascinated by this surprising discovery, I thought of life, and how hornets' nest of sorts are built and exist unknown and unheeded as we busily live our daily lives - totally unaware.

"Hornets" of life - destructive agents - build and congregate and we are clueless until

someone looks up...

and stops...

stares...

and is amazed...

by what has happened...

and has no idea of how to eradicate the structure without a mass catastrophe of consequence.

Fascinatingly dangerous.
Hidden from plain sight, yet just above our noses. Makes me wonder...

How many hornets' nest are likewise...

around me...?

There's something about a morning...

No matter how destructive the events of a day may have been;

while the effects may linger, the freshness of a new day brings

the margin of hope.

Indeed, 

joy comes in the morning

and 

- with it -

renewal,

strength,

and a sense that yes, 

I CAN

I CHOOSE TO

I WILL

 pick up the pieces and 

move forward.

It's the dawn of a new day.

No matter what 

plans-

hopes-

goals-

were

halted-

ended-

dashed.

Yesterday was. Today is.

It's time to take the experience, forgive where needed, and move forward; 

not forgetting but, instead, 

choosing to remember 

and grow stronger through it because

God's timing is perfect-

His mercy is great-

and His grace is sufficient.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened. ~ Dr. Seuss

Stop...

When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them. 

~ Chinese Proverb

I'm a grammaphobic typochondriac with an uncontrollable addiction to quotes.  I was quietly feeding my addiction and happily scanning through quotes tonight when my eyes stopped - and stared - as I read the above. 


No author to cite.  No one person is attributed with speaking this profound truth.  Instead, a proverb from a people.  A concept of a culture.  A way of life for a land. 


So profound.  So simple.  So something we don't think to do in our busy lives that are filled with running ahead, running amuck... simply running.  


So stop.  Smile.  Consider.  Give thanks.  


You are not alone.  Let's work together and provide for each other.