Gratitude Journals

I used some scraps from my collection of old Christmas cards and a family photo for mine.

Alathia is in a kitten/puppy/bunny stage so these stickers we had in the homeschooling box worked for her notebook!

Jeremiah's Gratitude Journal

I absolutely love reading the blog Holy Experience. I found it through another favorite blog of mine, The Homespun Heart. When I read Holy Experience, my heart feels squeezed, I feel infused with truth and encouragement in my role as a mother.

One of the main things Ann Voskamp posts about at Holy Experience is her experience in starting a Gratitude Journal, which she calls 1,000 Gifts. When she set out to find 1,000 things to be thankful for, she began to fill her days with thankfulness and praise and she has long since passed the one thousand mark! I loved her idea so much I made some simple journals out of some notebooks in our stash that were purchased on a back-to-school sale for 8 cents each.

Every day it is a delight to see what my children draw in their journal. They draw while I read from the Bible for a while. It helps them listen better. My daughter, in typical girl fashion makes everything into families. One day she was thankful for wolves and rainbows (drawing a family of each), one day circles and dots (with a daddy, mommy, and baby circles), one day for princesses and girl baby dolls, cat families, the moon, and a house. Jeremiah, being a typical little boy drew snakes and lizards the first two days and I have to remind him daily that he needs to pick something new besides snakes! So he's moved on to giraffes, hippos, and other animal favorites!

Eventually, I may move Gratitude Journal time to the end of the day as I like the idea of closing the day by thanking God for something memorable and sweet that happened that day and recording it for posterity. But for now, it fits in well with our morning school routine.

I have sooooo much to be thankful for! For strong arms enveloping me in a hug at lunch time, for a sugar plum princess ballerina dress for my daughter's December recital, for a new watch, for a mountain sunset, for a free Happy Meal coupon, for fresh ground pepper on sauteed vegetables, for sweet conversation with friends, for tears shared together with a friend in pain, for the taste of fresh breadsticks, for beautiful September days, for lazy fall picnics, for bike rides to the park, for kissable baby cheeks, for the beauty of music, for clean Carhardt jeans, for frozen blueberries on top of oatmeal waffles, for a washing machine, for clean dishes every morning from the dishwasher, for pumpkin cheesecake and mini marshmallows in a steaming cup of cocoa, for God's never-ending patience with me, for a baby who loves to clean up library books, for friends who understand and save time for a chat, for kids who spontaneously give each other foot massages, for creativity and the ability to create, for authors who pierce my heart with deep truths, for excellent printable coupons, for giggling kids, for lush parks, for new beginnings, for the chance to watch God work in the lives of those around us, for trials that grow us, for the ache that means the friendship was a great one, for lotion that is neither greasy or watery and gets the job done, for that twinkle in Grandpa's eye when he laughs, for a Grammy who invites Ali to share lunch and recess with her at school, for the magnificence of autumn..........

I could go on and on but I'd better stop lest this post get too long! The more I look for evidences of graces in my life, the more I see them.