Little "C" Faves that Equal Big Blessings

The first week of November has come and gone....we are heading quickly towards the "holiday season".  Autumn goes by so fast!  In another month it will be almost winter....and Christmas.............

This past week had some unusual faves that really turned into big blessings for me....all of them were totally form God.

I'm joining in with other bloggers to find Five Faves from our week and linking up at Susanne's, our gracious hostess.

FIVE FAVES

CLEANING DAY!  Because I have hiked almost every weekend since the end of August, I really needed a weekend that didn't involve driving to the mountains.  Last Saturday was very cold and I had much to do around the house so I stayed in and cleaned all day.  I got caught up on vacuuming, dusting, organizing closets, putting away all summer clothing and taking out the rest of my autumn and winter clothing....and even organized my hiking clothing/gear into a new bin with easier access which led to re-organizing my closet.  I did a quick power walk for some fresh air and then did some more cleaning. It felt great to get all caught up and have all the mopping done and  the wood shelving and furniture sparkling and shining.  That day turned into a great blessing because of the next fave..............

CHAT TIME! Late Saturday afternoon, after spending the bulk of my day cleaning, my friend and neighbor, M. came over to chat with me about some spiritual matters she was dealing with. It had been quite awhile since we'd been able to just sit and chat, and because I had spent all day cleaning, running errands, dusting and straightening up, my house was orderly and peaceful.  Dave was out at a writer's workshop and Claire was nursing a head cold in her bedroom. We sat and talked for an hour!  It was so good to have that time to re-connect. She is a blessing to me and I love how she has been growing in God. I loved hearing of her experiences with a recent retreat and she is the fruit of some praying I had been doing.......I love when God shows us the fruit of our prayers!

CHURCH!  During our church service, we had communion (we do this the first Sunday of every month) and as always, our church is so quiet and reverential during this time.  It is a time for deep reflecting....and prayer. The sanctuary/auditorium is quiet and everyone is respectful. For some reason, I was moved by the sight of one man who had his head bowed, praying. He was deep in prayer. His actions nudged me to pray for a certain teacher I know who is battling a physical issue.  He is one of Claire's teachers, the husband of a woman in my small group, and a Believer who goes to our church.  There was just something about that man praying...a man I didn't know...yet God used him to nudge me into prayer. I can't explain it, but every week when I am in my church, I either learn something new from our senior pastor, or I experience something intensely spiritual. I thank God for this!

CLAIRE TIME! My youngest daughter and I had Tuesday off due to Election Day (the schools in our district are used as polling places so for security reasons, the students are not in session) so after sleeping in, doing some baking and reading, I took her shopping for a birthday gift for a friend. She and I had a lot of fun browsing for her friend, and it gave us a chance to catch up on what she is feeling about high school, orchestra, dance, her friends, etc.  She doesn't say much these days....but when she does, I am blown away by her maturity level and thought process. I am so thankful that I get to be her mom and that we had part of this day together.

CARD! I received a letter in the mail from Dave's 2nd cousin, MaryJo. She is actually the wife of his 2nd cousin and she and her husband are the only relatives on Dave's side of the family who are Believers that we know of.  MJ and I write back and forth throughout the year (they live in central PA) and we only see them every couple of years. She doesn't like email, texting, or FB so we write letters and cards the "old fashioned" way...which is actually a fave of mine!  I find that letter writing is a lost art. I'm glad she likes to communicate in this way.  She is someone I admire and look up to and we have so much fun when we do get together. We are hoping to get down to see them next summer, possibly.  Her letter brightened my day and I thank God for this relationship. The blessing that came from the letter is that it brought hope to me about sharing the Good News with the other T----family relatives over Thanksgiving.  She is always very encouraging and I am blessed by her.

BONUS FAVE!!  My husband totally surprised me with a new laptop COMPUTER this past week. He bought me a Dell Ultrabook (I had wanted a Macbook Air but it is just too much $$$!).  He said it was an early birthday gift....over a month early! In reality, I think he was tired of hearing me complain about how slow my EEE Netbook was acting.  Even with a brand new battery, it was still slow to download photos and upload my pictures to make a photobook, etc.  I am one happy and thankful person!!

That wraps it up for me this week. If you are interested, I am doing a 30 Days of Thanks for this month and I write a post each day, giving thanks for something/someone.  I then link it up on Facebook so some of my friends on there can find it. Whomever has the most points at the end of the month, will win a free gift!  To get a point, all you have to do is comment after the post, sharing one thing YOU are thankful for.  If there is a tie, my daughter Claire will put the names in a jar and pull one out to declare the winner!  So feel free to check back here and jump on in giving thanks as we lead up to Thanksgiving Day here in the USA.

Enjoy your weekend!!