Walnuts and Thankfulness

We have a wonderful walnut tree in our back yard. It shades the upper yard, is fun for the kids to climb in, holds my wind chimes in the summer just perfectly, is a shelter for the birds and squirrels and gives us delicious walnuts in the fall! They are so good. (Well, I know some of you are saying that they give you cankers—and they do!) They are great in homemade candy and spice up my granola recipe. They are just all around good!

As you can tell, I LOVE this tree.

Each day as I gather the nuts and peel off the husks, I am filled with gratitude. God gives us so many blessings. Whoever thought up this creation had good ideas! The world is full of so many things that make our lives better—all given us by our Creator.

You are part of those wonderful creations, and I’m grateful that I know a little more about you from your comments. You are all so deserving, but the random ‘draw out of the hat’ revealed number 22 as the winner. Congratulations, Cynthia. I’ll be in touch.

For those of you who didn’t win, the book is available at http://www.christymonson.com/

or on Amazon. Thanks again for being great bloggers.

            Christy

            PS I just found out about http://bookblogs.ning.com/ I’m signing up! How about you?

Gratitude A-Z

First, let me apologize for not posting on Tuesday. I had a little mixup with one of my bloggy partners. Watch for her contest later this month. She's giving away a copy of her new book, Texting Through Time. Possibly a great Christmas gift for someone on your list.

Second, I apologize to Carolyn for posting on her day. She'll probably be posting any minute now. Love ya, Carolyn.

Third, I'd like to mention some things I'm thankful for. Here's a light-hearted gratitude list from A-Z. If I draw a blank on any letter, maybe you can fill it in for me.

A I'm thankful for ANGELS. They help me every day. I love the earthly angels, and the unearthly ones.

B I'm thankful for BOOKS. They take me to amazing places. My BODY also takes me to amazing places. She is a great friend.

C I am thankful for CHOICE. Today I am choosing joy.

D I am thankful to be DIFFERENT. Who wants to be the same?

E I am thankful for ELECTRICITY, one of the truly great inventions.

F I am thankful for my fabulous FAMILY and my adorable FRIENDS. No explanation needed.

G I'm thankful for GRANDKIDS. They are some of my favorite people. My favorite person is GRANDPA, because he is my best friend.

H I'm thankful for my HOME. It's a great place to be.

I I am thankful for IMAGINATION. It brightens my days.

J I am thankful for JESUS. What an incredible man.

K I am thankful for KINDNESS. Kindness rocks.

L I am thankful for LOVE. It still makes the world go round.

M I am thankful to be ME. No one else can do it.

N I am thankful for NATURE. What a wonderful gift.

O I am thankful for OMELETS, because they are yummy.

P I am thankful for PRAYER which strengthens me, and fills my heart with PEACE.

Q I am thankful for QUIET, which softens the corners of a noisy day.

R I am thankful for RAIN which washes the earth and waters my thoughts.

S I am thankful for SUNSHINE. Who isn't?

T I am thankful for TODAY, which is always fresh and full of promise. TOMORROW is good too.

U I am thankful to live in the USA. With all our problems it's still the greatest place on earth.

V I am thankful for VIRTUE. It's hard to find sometimes.

W I am thankful for clean, clear WATER. May we always have plenty.

X I don't X-ACTLY know what to say for X, except I am X-TREMELY thankful for the good stuff in my life.

Y I am thankful for YOU because YOU are awesome. YOU totally Rock.

Z I am thankful for the ZIP and ZING in my world. I hope it never goes away.


Isn't that amazing. I made it through the alphabet, and I barely scratched the surface. I have a lot to be thankful for. It's a great day for gratitude.

What are you thankful for?

Linda Garner

A Voice of Thanks

With only two days until Thanksgiving, today I want to raise a thankful voice. I have been thinking about how blessed we are and yet how much we whine. Well, probably not you. I know you never whine, but some people do. I’ve heard them.

I took a trip down memory lane this week and thought about all the good things in my life. I thought about my Mom and the contrast between her world and mine. Mom lived long enough to enjoy lots of the things I enjoy, but it wasn’t always so. Mom grew up in a world where water was hauled in from outside. If you wanted it hot, you heated it. If you wanted a bath, the bathtub also had to be hauled in and the water heated, one steaming kettle at a time. The bathroom was located outside as well. I heard many a tale of scary late night trips to the outhouse in the dark and cold. Laundry was done on a washboard with homemade soap. It was hung on a line to dry, and then ironed with a little flat iron which, yes, had to be heated on the stove. Eventually Mom got a wringer washing machine which really simplified the chore, but it was still a long process.

My mother loved to write, but she seldom found time when she was young. Cooking and housekeeping were full time jobs which sucked up all her time. We children were the poems she longed to write. Later in her life many helpful servants found their way into her home and then she had time for her passion.

I was a transition child. I remember the wringer washer, the outhouse, the baths in the number ten washtub. I was young when we traded our outdoor bathroom for an indoor one. I remember playing under the clothesline with sheets and undies flapping in the breeze. It made a nice open tent for us to play in. I remember the line dried frozen clothes being brought in to thaw in winter weather. I remember dampening the clothes and rolling them up to wait for ironing day. Today, I rarely iron, and when I do I use a steam iron or a spray bottle. No more dampening, no more rolling them up, and no more ironing day.

I remember when air conditioning meant opening the windows; when central heat was from a coal furnace which had to be lit each morning and the coal shoveled in. I remember when watering day was when the ditch was full of water and you spent the day irrigating. I remember when going to the movies was a big event and when eating out meant having a picnic in the backyard.

I’m glad for these memories because they help me remember how blessed I am. I am thankful for so many little things that we never think about. Maybe they aren’t little things at all. We don’t think about them, because we don’t need to, but that doesn’t make them little. I wonder how much we would think about them if they weren’t there.

Thank you for the sunset you sent me yesterday.
Thanks for sending me a friend who had kind things to say.
Thanks for time to take a walk and breathe the autumn air.
Thanks for my sweet husband and his warm and tender care.

Thank you for a hundred things that bless my life each day.
Thank you for the peace I feel each time I kneel to pray.
Thanks for friendly neighbors who wave and smile at me.
Thanks for this great country and for my liberty.

Thanks for all the little things I never speak about.
For this cozy cottage that keeps the winter out.
Thanks for my kitchen table, these chairs, and for this bread.
Thanks for blankets, bed, and pillows for my weary head.

I thank you for clean water when I thirst and need a drink.
I thank you for sweet music and for books that make me think.
I thank you for my hands and feet and for my eyes and ears.
I thank you for the laughter. I thank you for the tears.

Thanks for all my memories and sweetness in my life.
Thanks for the adventure that adds a little spice.
Thanks for always loving me and for Thy watchful care.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for always being there.

May your Thanksgiving Day be warm, delicious, and thankful…full of thanks.

Linda Garner

Children's Voices

I would like to preface today's post with my thanks to those of you who responded to last week’s post “Make a Difference.” Each of your responses was very meaningful to me. My publisher has invited me to share your responses with him, which I am delighted to do. It’s not too late to post your response. Just scroll down this page to the piece entitled Make a Difference and add your thoughts. If you prefer you can respond directly to me at can.u.make.a.difference@gmail.com. My publisher is moving forward, and I believe that my book will be published. Still, it’s not a done deal, and it may be that your response will make a difference.

My 9 year old grandson, Aaron, entered “The Write Stuff Thanksgiving Essay Contest,” a writing contest sponsored by Mimi’s Café. His teacher used the contest as a writing assignment. Aaron wrote some tender thoughts about his little sister and about modern medicine. Aaron is one of 15 finalists selected out of over 1200 entries. We are thrilled. Tomorrow he will read his essay at a special gathering at Mimi’s, where all writers will be honored and fed, and three winners will be awarded a $1,000 savings bond.

I would love to share Aaron’s essay with you. I will need to get his permission, and perhaps Mimi’s.

I am grateful to teachers like Aaron’s who nurture the creative voices of children and to organizations like Mimi’s who lend their support in such a big way. I am also grateful to both for nurturing gratitude, in a world that often emphasizes entitlement, and rewards greed. Encouraging young voices is a noble work. Encouraging gratitude is just as noble. I am thankful to those who taught me be thankful as well as those who encouraged me to write.

In honor of the Thanksgiving Holiday perhaps each of us can make a difference, by encouraging a young voice and planting the seeds of gratitude. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, teacher, brother, sister, or friend, you can make a difference in a young life today. Here are some ideas to get you thinking.

1. Gather magazines, scissors, paper, and glue, and allow kids to create a Thankful Collage. The collage can be on a flat piece of paper or it can be glued on a three dimensional object such as a box.

2. Use the child’s name to form a Gratitude Acronym. The child will write his name vertically on the page and then write down something for which he is thankful beginning with each of the letters. For example:

Library
Imagination
November
Dancing
Art


3. Help the child create a simple Thanksgiving Crossword pattern using their name as the basic structure. This is similar to the acronym except that the name letters can appear anywhere in the thankful words. Don’t worry about vertical lines, except for the name. For example:

my Life
spaghetti
angels
my bedroom
U.S.A.

The name letters L i n d a are supposed to line up vertically. In case it doesn't transfer well, I hope you get the idea. It's also fun to use your last name and get everyone involved.

4. Encourage a child to write a Thankful Poem. If he doesn’t know how to start give him a simple beginning and let him take it from there. Here are a couple of starting ideas.

Thank you for the good things that come to me each day.
Thanks for friends I see at school and friends who come to play.
Thanks for…

Or

I am thankful for the sun
And for each drop of rain
I am thankful I can run
…

Remember that poems don’t always have to rhyme either.

If the child can’t handle the writing, you can be a scribe, or you can create together. Feel free to post your poems on the blog, so that we can enjoy them too.

5. Help a child start a Gratitude Journal. Get a small notebook. At the end of each day the child will list 5 things he/she is grateful for. The list can be one word items or detailed sentences. Each day's list will be unique, according to the events of the day. This is such a great habit for kids and adults. I highly recommend it. It encourages us to look for the good things in our lives, and appreciate our blessings.

6. Encourage the child to think outside of the box. The Thankgiving Day box usually has 4 predictable sides; home, family, food & clothes, friends. Good things to be sure, but let’s encourage the kids to dig a little deeper and think of something a little more personal; a little more specific.

Recently I had this sort of talk with some kids. We talked about digging deeper and giving more personal answers. It was really fun to hear what they came up with. Some of the especially meaningful ones to me were music and hands. The music girl even named a specific song that had touched her life. What profound thoughts they stirred in my head as I realized how deeply grateful I am for these precious gifts in my life. When was the last time you thought to be grateful for your hands?

Today is a great day to be thankful. Today is a great day to encourage a young artist or writer. You can make a difference.

Linda Garner