By Beth West.

Friday:

• Got to meet up with the Moretons who were in town signing adoption papers. (Something they’ve been waiting 44 months to do!!!)
• Enjoyed a date with my hubby to Macaroni Grill, courtesy of a gift card from some very great folks.
• Slept through a movie.

Saturday:

• Enjoyed being the last one to get out of bed this morning. (I’m usually the first one up.)
• Enjoyed some lovely Sam & Ella’s with the Burrys in preparation for the 3rd annual “picking out a Christmas tree with the Burrys.”
• Picked out (& watched as Ben cut down) our Christmas tree.
• Painted more of the living room. 3 hours of painting & not a whole lot to show for it….but it’s getting there!

Up next:

• church
• decorating the tree
• a presentation of Handel’s Messiah at a church just down the street from us.  (I’m really loving Christmastime in the city!!!)

To wrap up this month of giving thanks, I decided to go a little deeper this time.

Today I am thankful for community.

I’m grateful that we live in community. Someone once told me that he didn’t need anyone. And I just remember thinking that statement was so un-true. And feeling sad for him. And as I get further along in life, I realize more & more that we truly were created to live in community with each other.

I read something recently that the 10 Commandments were given to us not just as instructions on how to live up to this personal moral code; but as instructions on how to live in community with each other. It’s been interesting thinking through that thought & wondering if & how that changes my view of community.

But for now, I’m thankful for community. That we don’t go through this life alone.

That there are others around me to remind me that I am ok just the way I am.

That there are others around me to challenge me to think outside my box & myself.

That there are others around me that don’t think like me, & didn’t grow up with the same experiences that I have had.

That there are others around me to give me hugs.

That there are others around me.

Today I am thankful for our friends Justin & Shelli.

At church this morning, we got to see them on skype. And it was such a blessing to see their lovely faces & hear their infectious laughter.  We miss you, Jones’!

Today I am thankful for getting to spend some time with old friends over the past few days. They are a blessing in our lives.

We started painting our living room this week. The room is being transformed from off-white to gray & maroonish-red with white trim. (And as Luke so lovingly pointed out, the gray & red are quite close to the Siloam Springs Panther colors.) You all know how patriotic Ben is with his alma mater.

(That was a joke.)

Here are some pics of the progress so far.

Today I am thankful for provision. God’s provision to be more precise.

So today…Thanksgiving Day…I am thankful for:

• a table over-flowing with food
• friends & family to share said food with
• that we are so comfortable in our new home in Tulsa
• that we still find comfort in visiting with our old home at NLR
• that we have wonderful family both near & far. (Hi mom!)

And we carried out a newer Thanksgiving tradition today. The 5th Annual Casserole Crawl-our very own version of a 5K.  (We all meet at NLR, someone shuttles us all down the road 3.1 miles away from camp, we all run/walk/bike/walk backwards to the finish line; where no one really keeps track of finish times.) It’s just a fun way to burn some energy & build up an appetite before gorging ourselves on Thanksgiving yumminess. We had a great turnout again this year!

It’s harder to feel thankful today. When I left the house on Wednesday morning, this is how I found our car:

But I’m really trying here to be thankful….  so more on the car in a later post.
Today I am thankful for the sweet old lady at Mod 50s Modern. It’s a really fun vintage/antique store. I went in today because they were having a sale & I had seen some wonderful fabric in there a few weeks ago. She was very friendly, and just interacting with her helped take my mind off the car.

So I bought 4 yards of fabric at just $3.50 a yard! And this is not just any old fabric. Remember how this is a vintage store? Well, the saleslady told me how the owner of the store found it at an old lady’s house several years ago…rolls & rolls of fabric from the 1940s & 1950s. And it’s beautiful! So I bought this…

…which I plan to use to make some napkins.

And this…

…which I plan to use to make a curtain between our dining room & kitchen. (There is no actual door there & we share the kitchen with the other person who rents out the apartment across from ours.)
And this…

Which I plan to use as a table cloth. It’s a small piece of fabric (that will fit our small kitchen table quite nicely.) It was used as a sample of some hand embroidery that some fabric company was selling.

I just really love that these fabrics are authentically old & have some history.

And today I am choosing to be thankful, which is proving to take more effort than most of the days from this month have.

Today I am thankful for the Leadership team at Garnett Church of Christ (where we are now.)

Last weekend we spent Friday night & Saturday night with them on a Leadership Retreat. We focused on the 4 “f”s. Food, Fun, Fellowship & Future. We really had a great time laughing with them, dining with them, and discussing with them where this church has been recently, and where it is going.
One of the things I kept thinking is that it is just such a blessing. A blessing to have been so warmly welcomed within just a few weeks, really. A blessing to have them already trying to figure out how we can stay longer than our 10-month internship. A blessing to laugh with them & to see them interact with each other. A blessing to hear them talk about some of the hard times they’ve gone through as a congregation. And a blessing to hear the excitement as they heal from those hard times & look to the future.

Today I am thankful for my friend, Beth.

She is a blessing in my life, and tonight, I get to host her in our new home in Tulsa. She’s spending the night on her way through town & I am soveryexcited. I have a wonderful evening planned of taking her up the street to one of my favorite coffee shops & talking for hours & hours as we catch up on each other’s lives. (And then we’re going to let her sleep on the couch in the torn-apart living room b/c we decided that last night was a good night to start painting that room).    But at least this time she won’t have to sleep on an air mattress that has a hole in it. (She was the lucky guest to discover that for us last time she visited.)

(me, BethSchuette, Marla, Brandi)…some of my favorite girls!

Today I’m guest posting on my own blog for Beth. Today’s giving thanks if for my brother who’s birthday was this weekend.

So, I’m thankful for countless hours of playing with legos:

Im thankful for nice hats:

I’m thankful for a  friend in my wedding:

Lots of UF

I’m tankful for more nice hats:

I’m thankful for getting to hang out in FL and CO:

I’m thankful for a good friend!

Happy Birthday!