In the blink of an eye...

In the blink of an eye, my whole day changed yesterday.

A wonderful day of homeschool and extra snuggles with Little One changed in an instant when I heard the sickening noise of my baby girl tumbling down the stairs. I couldn't get there to break her fall, all I could do was scream.

She lay still for a moment as we felt her all over and my husband and I prayed over her as we checked her pupils with a flashlight.

She seemed ok...shaken, but fine...

When she started vomiting, I was concerned...

When I couldn't wake her up, all I could do was call out "Jesus!" There was nothing else to say. But I took heart in knowing that he knew what my baby needed and that he was in charge of the situation.

I called the doctor as I was putting Little One in the car...

She was listless and vomiting and we had a long drive to the pediatrician's office...

I prayed for calm and safe travels as my hands shook so bad I could hardly start the car...

We made it to the doctor's office (in record time) and he said she should be admitted...then he said symptoms of skull fracture...and the edges of my calm began to fray...

"Help her, Jesus." Was all I could pray as I carried Little One up the stairs to the hospital.

She looked so small and frail and they started her IV... "Help her, Jesus"...

She slept through her CAT scan... "Heal her, Jesus"...

Then the good news came, she only has a concussion. There is no bleeding or sign of skull fracture.

"Thank you, Jesus!"

God was right there with us through the whole time of driving and waiting. His presence was so close, I could feel him there...

In the blink of an eye, so many things that could have gone wrong were averted. And we saw once again God's tender mercies poured out on our Little One.

Thank you, Jesus!

First things first...

We're in a kind of "Holiday Limbo" around here...

The Christmas lights are on the bushes and trees and also neatly line our roof. They look so beautiful twinkling in the darkness.

But, I also have pumpkins on the front porch. They are still beautiful in their oranges, greens and yellows and they remind me that the time of Thanksgiving is not yet over...

Had it not been for the 60+ degree weather around here last weekend, we would never have had our Christmas lights up so early. My husband wisely decided to take advantage of the warmth to hang the Christmas lights with our neighbor and his son. (I guess he didn't enjoy hanging Christmas lights in the freezing cold last year...)

It almost feels like we're trying to celebrate two holidays at once. But maybe that's ok.

You see, I want my children to approach the Christmas season with Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving for a God who loved us enough to send His Son, Jesus, to be Emmanuel, God with us. Without that amazing gift, there would be nothing to celebrate at Christmas.

Thanksgiving for a home, plenty of food, family and friends, and the other innumerable blessings we enjoy because there are so many who are without those things.

I saw a full-page ad in the Sunday Paper from an insurance company that said simply:

"Celebrate Thanksgetting" 

To counteract this, and other negative messages, I think I'm going to keep the pumpkins up for a little while longer...

...just so we don't forget to give thanks first.

Thankful...a little list...

Grace from my Heavenly Father...

My amazing husband (He really does put up with a lot!)...

My beautiful kids...

My family far and near...

My mother-in-law and father-in-law...

My sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and my sweet nieces...

Friends who are more like family (except without all the drama)...

Warm jammies...

Church...

Hot coffee...

Our fireplace...

Left over turkey and all the trimmings...

The sound of my kids laughing...

Little man's freckled nose...

Little ones baby soft cheeks...

Precious girl's graceful dancing...

Looong showers...

Candlelight...

Putting the kids to bed...

Homeschooling...

Comfortable pauses in conversation...

Mom's night...

Music that soothes my soul...

What are you most thankful for?

Linking up here...

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and your heart will follow...

I posted last week about the "everyday feeling" that I was having...(You can read it here.) I'll have to admit that I had a case of the galloping grumpies that day. (Ok, and the next one a little bit too...)

I wish I could say that I immediately recognized the problem and snapped out of it...

I didn't.

But I did decide to start giving thanks in the midst of my every day tasks.

At first, it was a bit contrived - it felt, stiff, unnatural - like a new pair of shoes...

Thank you, God for these sticky fingerprints on the table...*sigh*

Thank you, God for this dirty laundry...*frown*

But I was determined to beat the grumpies and I persevered....

While cleaning up legos for the millionth time, I could say

"thank you, God for my little man's boundless creativity...and a special friend to share it with..."

While stepping over my precious girl's hardshoes (for Irish Dance) I said

"thank you, God for her talent, grace and beauty...thank you for the friends that share her passion..."

While bringing another drink to little one (who really should have been asleep) I said

"thank you, God that seeing me makes her feel safe."

You know what? All of those were sincere.
No exaggerated sighs.
No eye-rolling.
Even a few wistful smiles as I realized that this stage of my life won't last forever, and I had better enjoy it now, or regret it later.

I'm glad I pushed through. It was amazing to watch God recognize my feeble efforts at being thankful. It was also amazing to see how quickly my heart followed. Soon it wasn't just a mind-exercise, it was honest-to-goodness thanksgiving and praise.

I wish I could tell you that thanksgiving immediately springs to my lips - but at least I'm thinking about it. And that is a start.

Wishing you lots of true thanksgiving this week!