Gratitude Psalm 105:1

Let’s begin today with a couple of announcements.

1. We received our preview copy of Trusting God When Life Gives You Crap yesterday! After we review it and make any final changes it will go to print! Let me say that again–“Go to print!” I can hardly believe it!
2. You can Pre-order Now! Just thought I’d say that just in case you missed the banner or the big front/back covers on the home page. Click above and it will take you to the shopping cart.
3. Free Thanksgiving Bible Study link in the P.S. today from Sarah Frazer, missionary in Honduras. (Check it out below!) Thank you Sarah for letting me share this with my readers!

Announcements over–let’s get on to today’s blog.

It’s November and that always represents 2 very important things in my life: Thanksgiving and National Adoption Month. Be on the lookout for adoption stories all month long on the blog because we celebrate life and adoption here!

This year I decided to combine both and let you know why I am thankful for being a mom of my kiddos.

This Friday, November 6th, Austin’s birthday, I will earn the badge for being a mom for 27 years. What???

Out of all the job titles I’ve had over the years, “MOM” has brought me the widest range of emotions.

love * delight * fear * panic * pride * joy * anger * hurt * amazement * contentment * inspiration * amusement * sheer exhaustion * happiness

and So Many More . . .

When Jordan arrived one year after Austin, we were delighted and terrified of having two littles to take care of, chase, love! Just a short 21 months later, Zach made an appearance and we knew for sure we arrived in the land of “Chaos” but sheer “Joy!”

Fast forward 6 years and Leighanne joined our family via the beautiful yet incredibly difficult journey of adoption.

Two uncompleted adoptions later–one from Kazakhstan and one from the U.S. Foster Care System, and we thought our family’s growing days were over.

Then came the year we adopted Hannah and Sara. The actual adoption process grew my faith in Jesus by leaps and bounds, and adopting older children has brought its challenges–definitely no doubt! They would agree with this statement also! BUT the rewards have also been worth all the difficult and hard places we have visited the past 9 years.

Now let me get to the things I am THANKFUL FOR!

Our verse comes from Psalms 105 and it reminds us to enter into a time of remembrance. If you read the whole chapter, it gives detail after detail of how God kept His covenant with the nation of Israel and worked on their behalf to fulfill His word.

We need to enter into a time of remembrance and take note of the things the Lord has done for us and taught us on our journey.

Here we go . . .

1. Each child has their own unique personality and purpose. We have spenders, savers, and some in-between. We have those who are driven, some who are laid-back, and some still trying to figure out exactly who they are going to be in this world. We have a few who are extremely competitive and some play for fun, Who am I kidding? Most of my bunch is extremely competitive! Ha! My point is this. I’m thankful God gave them their unique personalities–they each bring something to the table and the Lord has a great purpose for them all!
2. Family keeps loving you no matter what. This is the truth! We may not always like each other at the moment, but family sticks together like a PB and J sandwich! We have had our share of some tumultuous times over the years, but in the end, we can always count on each other even if we don’t agree. Grateful beyond words!
3. There is always room for more. Nope! No more plans to expand by adoption, but it seems our family is constantly growing whether by marriage or birth. (A side effect of having 6 kids!) We seem to find space, and make room in our hearts for the ones God sends our way. This growth is sometimes a challenge to us all, but it is worth the bumps, knocks, and bandaids. I’m praying the Lord will give me more years to enjoy the expansion! Welcome to the family Cason!
4. Dark days point to the Light. While going through those yucky, difficult days is absolutely no fun at all, they point us to the Light and who Jesus is for each of us. It’s because of the awful days, that I am so much more thankful for the beautiful, carefree days! Take time to be thankful for the good that comes from both.
5. Kindness is more important than being right. I’m thankful that we still get to work on this. Even at age almost 51–I still battle with this struggle. I do believe that the Lord is slowly helping me to improve, but I still have a long way to go as a mom in this department. Believe it or not, I have kept some of the comments I wanted to make in my head instead of letting them flow out of my mouth, but I also made some comments I wish I could take back. I’m thankful for the Lord giving me grace in this area.

What about you? What are you thankful for in your life at this moment? How is God growing you to become more like Jesus?

Take some time today to reflect on some things you are thankful for and how God has grown you over the years. You never know–you just might be surprised at the changes you have made.

P. S. I am including a link to a missionary’s blog from Honduras. She and her family moved to Honduras right before Covid-19 hit the country. She has made a fabulous Bible Study for the Thanksgiving Season. Click here to go to her blog and subscribe to get the FREE Bible Study. I’m doing it and think you might love it!