Happy Friday everyone! Welcome to Friday's Fave Five where we are pursuing a life lived in gratitude for the blessings God gives us. Choosing to set our focus onto the blessings in our lives changes our perspective. Instead of seeing lack, we start to see all that we have. Being thankful and grateful opens our hearts and goes against the cultural norm of always wanting more. Gratitude recognizes that the source of blessing comes not from within ourselves but lies with God, the giver of all that is good. Please join in as we intentionally take a moment to find the blessing in our lives.
~ supper with neighbors ~ we have neighbors a few doors down with whom we have been friends for many years. Our main connection is our faith and our kids. Just like us they had an older daughter, a middle son and a younger daughter and the kids ages were all just a year behind our kids. As life moved on and the kids became adults and went their separate ways to different cities with their careers and families, us parents also kind of lost touch. We'd chat a few minutes as we ran into each other outside but never really had a chance to visit. But we remedied that last week and spent an enjoyable evening over dinner catching up.
~ OCC packing party ~ on Saturday I joined in with a larger church in our city who does a packing party for Operation Christmas Child. It was fun to join in and spend a couple of hours with about 20 others as we walked from table to table filled with school supplies, gifts and toys, clothes and personals filling boxes to the brim for children in hard circumstances around the world. We packed about 350 boxes!
~ feather quilt ~ it's that time of year when the feather quilt made it out of storage and onto the bed. I love that quilt. It's so comfortable and cozy and I usually can't wait for the nights to get cold enough to bring it out.
~ lunch with out pastors ~ we were treated to lunch by our pastors on Sunday and it was a lovely time of catching up with them personally and hearing where the church is heading. We haven't had time with them in a while so it was really nice to be with them.
~ winter tires on ~ I'm thankful for a hubby who takes care of everything to do with my car including switching out the tires. Around here you never know when that first winter storm will hit. Sometimes it's the very beginning of October and sometimes not until well into November but I'm thankful he got the job done before hand.
What have been blessings you are grateful for this last week?
I have a quilt like that as well. It has been unseasonably warm down here but most of the nights have been cool enough to sleep under it if we have the window open. How nice to catch up with neighbors and your pastors over meals.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like we have to be intentional to keep up with neighbors these days. We don't run into each other very much any more.
ReplyDeleteThe OCC party sounds like so much fun!
It's nice to spend time with pastors more than the few minutes going out the door.
Yay for winter tires and a nice husband to put them on.
When i was in undergrad college out in western NY (Rochester area on Lake Ontario) my dad would put snow tires on my car for the winter as i had to drive quite a distance from campus to my student teaching post. Out here in eastern NY we don't need snow tires. Glad yours are all set!
ReplyDeleteHow fun to have two dinner dates this past week: with your pastoral team and neighbors. Very much a blessing.
I love OCC packing parties. When the girls were little, the Sunday school program did that at our church on a Sunday afternoon....we'd all bring various items and sort them and hten pack boxes until the items ran out. One year there were over 500 boxes (we go to a large church so....). It's so special of a ministry.
I hope you have a good, relaxing weekend Susanne.
It sounds like you had a really nice week. So glad you had some fellowship with friends and your pastors. The OCC packing party sounds like fun. It's always good to get snow tires on and other other winter prep chores finished. I hope that you have a good weekend. See you again soon!
ReplyDeleteIf the weather predictors have it right, those winter tires are going to really come in handy! What a nice week filled with relationships and service! Happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe OCC sounds like a great project to be involved in. Nice to have some social events going on. We're on our middle duvet at the moment - I'll probably make it into the winter one when we get back from our US trip. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteTwo dinners with special people for good conversations. That's great!
ReplyDeleteThe packing party sounds like a wonderful way to serve in a ministry you love so much.
Have a good weekend!
It's amazing how paired up you and your neighbors were with faith and family. That dinner sounds like the start of something fun.
ReplyDelete350 boxes is absolutely amazing! What a productive way to get a lot done and enjoy good company, too.
You are well prepared for winter and that feather quilt sounds perfectly cozy. Hope those storms don't come too soon!
I worked the OCC table this pass Sunday. I am allergic to feather pillows. We had to let the cruise line know that so our room with be feather free. We don't cruise until January. Enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteThe church has a lot of influence and groups, here we have charity groups, free food groups, helping the poor etc etc, but the church has nothing to do with it. Maybe because it is a catholic country and the catholic church has no money as you can see at the clothes of the pope and his cardinals, the value of all that could feed a whole country !
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