Praise Post #1-4

I'm going to be joining Jerralea's Journey blog as we number gifts He's given us during the month of November.  Each day I'll be sharing five things that I am thankful for.  Doing that for 30 days will produce 150 things we are grateful for...and it's easy to find those gifts if we take a moment to look.  You are welcome to join in!  Just head over to Jeri's.

 I'm late in joining so here are my first 20 for the first 4 days of November.

1. My husband.  He is an ambitious, hard-working man and a very godly father.  I am blessed to have been his wife for almost 25 years now.
2. My oldest daughter Courtney. She's wicked smart, artsy, talented, organized, pretty, faithful to friends and family, compassionate, brutally honest, brave, fun, a great conversationalist, "nerdy" but the cool kind, and is representing Christ well in her life's walk.
3. My 2nd/last child Claire.  She's also very smart, hard-working, a saver of money, generous with friends, very social and outgoing, assertive, a student leader, a volunteer, a ballerina full of grace and beauty, and  a godly teen who is making good choices so far in high school.
4. My church, Grace Fellowship/Latham.  There is truly a presence of the Lord in each event at our church.  From the cafe area to the communion time.  We are mighty blessed to be a part of this church community.
5. My job.  I get to be a special education aide after years of being a stay at home mom, a part time parenting instructor and counselor for a crisis pregnancy center, and a full time master teacher of PreK special needs children before my youngest was born.  This aide job gives me time in an integrated kindergarten working with 8 special needs children and allows me to use my past experiences and degree all while not having to do the paper work, lesson plans or meetings of a full time master teacher.  Plus, I get the same holidays as my daughter!  A true gift!
6. Books.  Free books from the library.  I love to read.  I can't imagine not being able to go to my town library and getting books.
7. Autumn Colors.  Yes, I consider this a true gift from God. I just love living in the Northeast where we have all 4 seasons and autumn with its rich colors is definitely a favorite time for me.
8. My hairdresser.  She is a true blessing to me and my daughters.  She is always willing to take me at a moment's notice (within reason) and has given me such excellent, reasonably priced service for more than 10 years.
9. The Scriptures.  I love my daily Bible reading time and the Scriptures I see in many devotionals or online reading plans.  The Scriptures comfort, guide, correct, instruct, and cheer us.  It is God's Voice to us.
10. My Crockpot.  On busy days, especially during the school year (Sept-June) I use this a lot.  It's a life saver for working moms!
11. The Adirondack Mountains.  I truly love the mountains.  But there is something about the Adirondacks that have every other mountain chain beat, in my opinion. Maybe it's because I grew up in the foothills of them. Maybe it's because some of our best family vacations have been in those mountains with our camper  and kayaks. Maybe it's because I've hiked for over 30 years in those mountains........ God made them.  He does great work!
12. Music.  I can't imagine my life without being able to sing and play the piano.  Or listen to good classical music. Or good country music. Or good contemporary Christian tunes and hymns.  Music is the universal language.  And it's one of the only gifts we bring with us to heaven!
13. Coffee.  I love a good cup of coffee.  It's my favorite beverage and I drink it all year long.  The stronger the better.
14. Our grill.  I love to grill fish, chicken and steak.  Tonight we are going to use the grill even though it's getting dark so much earlier with the time change. I love being able to walk off my deck and use it before the white stuff gets on the ground.  Having the gas grill is a gift because it makes cooking so easy!
15. Fresh, clean sheets.  There's nothing like them. A blessing to be able to lie down at the end of a very busy day and just sink into fresh sheets.
16. Fleece blankets.  Another cozy gift.....for chilly November evenings and cold, dark winter afternoons.  We have several in the house.
17. Our school district.  We are blessed to live in a very high-achieving (academically) public school district.  My daughter is doing so well and our oldest did very well  too.  The high school has so many courses to offer.  Claire gets to take Russian and Latin.....along with all the required classes.  It's a blessing to have all these choices.
18. Christian teachers.  We are blessed to have some Christian teachers in our district.  Claire's orchestra/violin teacher is a Christian who happens to go to our church.  We have known him as a teacher since 2005 and as a friend since 2006. I appreciate that God gives us Christians sprinkled throughout our public schools.
19. Small group.  I am thankful for the small group I lead and for the small group my husband and I joined last month.  A real gift to be able to "do life" with a community of Believers.
20. My pastor and his wife. I learn something new every time he preaches, which is almost every week.  He is an amazing man of God.  His wife is a friend and I have learned a lot from her, too.  She has helped me figure out marital issues, as well as personal issues, that I struggle with and has been such an excellent role model for all wives. She has shared some of her story with me and I'm able to relate as it is so similar to my own. They are a real gift to the body of Christ.

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR TODAY??