December 8, 2013

Multitude Monday #4378 - #4402...

"Send me your light and your faithful care,
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
    to the place where you dwell. 

 Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God."

Psalm 43:3, 4 


Today along with the Gratitude Community I list His endless gifts as I draw near to Him...


...brothers and beautiful smiles...
#now, #brothers



...hearing and seeing Micaiah's heart for his brother and how he offered to help him learn to read...
"Mom, maybe I could help him learn to read because I'm a kid and that may make a difference."

...a friends beautiful refinishing work on an old buffet for our dining room...

...that Joshua was brave and made it through his oral surgery...

...in laws that drive hours to help with childcare for a few days...

...time to run errands alone...

...a difficult meeting that brings clarity...

...my mom's physical and emotional support after the meeting...

...seeing this perfectly timed quote by Ann Voskamp...
"Tears are never a sign of weakness. Tears are always the sign of an open heart."

...my husbands business mind and how his explanation regarding this difficult meeting put things in perspective...

...a perfectly timed text followed by a phone call from my dad...

...honest, authentic conversation that brings tears around the dinner table with some of our closest friends...  
#Christmas #dinnerParty with the most authentic friends...@jlagreca, @andreammaurer, @timmaurer, @joshglaser9
...fire in the fireplace, candles lit, surrounded by friends...

...a lovely visit with the previous owner of our home...

...Eli and Joshua helping Daddy light the advent candle at church... 
Lighting the advent candle this weekend at church while Daddy leads worship...#latergram

...a late night phone call with my aunt...she's always been more like a sister to me...

...an incredible sermon on JOY by George Hopkins on Sunday that challenges me to think on the question...
"Do I delight in the JOY that's sustaining?  
Or am I putting my delight in things that will fade away?"

...and then he continued with Psalm 43:5...
"Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God."

...and he followed up with "There are times in our lives when we need to preach to ourselves.  Sometimes we need to sing to ourselves and let that song be our own song.  And say to ourself 'Soul why are you so downcast?  Hope yet in the Lord, for He is still present and He is still near'"...

..."Joy  to the World"...


...freshly fallen snow...a reminder that He makes all things new...

...the boys delight in the first snow of the season...

...arriving home safely...
Such a joyful blessing after a long difficult week... #firstsnow, #1000gifts

...hours of sledding, fort building fun outside into the dark of the evening... 


 

 




1 comments:

Jennifer Dougan said...

Hi Jenna,

Hope your boy is feeling better now. The Christmas photos are lovely.

How fun for you to be able to savor seeing your sons "get" the joy of giving too. We had fun teaching my youngest that truth this year too. I smile just thinking of it!

Have a great new year,
Jennifer Dougan
www.jenniferdougan.com