There’s been a lot going on at our house lately (just for starters, my microwave broke, then Tad’s car broke, then the oven broke…yet still we have much for which to be thankful!), and my family is coming in this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with us on Saturday and we’re getting ready for their arrival, so I thought I’d share some great blog posts with you that I have read recently!

– “Young women who stay at home with your children, hear me: the scope of your service is not what makes it valuable; bigger is not always better. You don’t have to do elaborate things to serve and to encourage. The smallest of gestures can encourage someone more than you can possibly know. You may not be writing books, going away for weekends to speak at conferences, or traveling across the world to minister to someone, but you can be an encouragement right where God has put you.” Read more here…

– “At our house, we want to invest in our children being unafraid to try things – and this area as a great place for us to make that investment. We want them to have ideas, give it a whirl, and then sit around in a big mess of plastic canvas pieces wondering why they did that. We want them to learn to use their hands, use their minds, and get the two to act together for the occasional wild success. We want them to not be afraid to work – and to learn about the rewards that can only come through making messes.”  Read more here…

– “We’re built for friendship, yes. We have community in our bones. And when we’re desperate and blinded by the taunting mirage of the inner circle we will end up drinking the sand- angry, gritty, bitter and confused.We can fight to find a way in or we can love on the women where we’re at.”  Read more here…

– “We are called not merely to teach right propositional statements, but to cultivate imaginations capable of insight into and communication of the beauty, goodness, and truth of God in the world around us, in Scripture, and in the other fragile, precious human beings we meet. We are called to perceive the storied nature of life, to discern value and meaning where the secular imagination does not. And we are called to cultivate that imagination in children.” Read more here…

– “As we walk through our valleys, we do not have to dwell on our pain. Often it seems wrong and backwards that we would dare to find joy in the midst of suffering. Isn’t that a betrayal of the pain? Shouldn’t we be ashamed that our prayers were not answered? Should we be embarrassed that we believe in a God who, to someone on the outside looking in, seems to have ignored us?
Saying we’re thankful and hopeful in these situations may sound naive and even a bit crazy to those who are watching. But the Gospel never has made sense on paper, has it?”  Read more here…

– “Remember: it’s about the gathering, not about the food. This is the most important thing to keep in mind. I know Thanksgiving might be the most food-driven of all holidays, but the people are always more important than the food. The gathering is what’s significant…that’s what you remind yourself when the turkey’s taking forever or the stuffing’s dry. And it’s TRUE.”  Read more here…

And a light-hearted post to finish things off…

– “First, though, I find a stack of Christmas cards and begin to flip through them—pausing to marvel at how big so-and-so’s kids have gotten. And then I spot it: an apostrophe in a last name that isn’t supposed to be possessive.  I shudder, flipping past the unwarranted punctuation…. Gone is my Christmas cheer! All my glad tidings, replaced with fury.  ‘Did no one teach these people how to make their last names plural!?’ I scream as I chuck the cards into the fire heretofore crackling peacefully beneath the mantel.”  Read more here…

One final note:  Native American Nutritionals is offering FREE SHIPPING today only (11/21), plus, one of my favorite blends, Tummy Rub, is on sale for 20% off! Happy shopping!  (Affiliate links)