sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving from the Strouse House!

We have had a day full of wonderful blessings! God has been so gracious to us, and we owe everything to Him!

Living so far from both of our families is very hard...especially on holidays. We do try to travel to be with Jon's family or my family as much as we can. This Thanksgiving, however, we were home. We both have missed spending the time with our loved ones, but have felt especially comforted today. It has been a lovely day, and we are so grateful to have each other.

At dinner, Jon read Psalm 147, and then we all mentioned what we are most grateful for. Aside from the Lord and our salvation, it went something like this:

• Jon--"my family"
• Leigh Ellen--"Jon, Jacob, Jon's job, our home"
• Jacob--"BASEBALL"

There are really just too many blessings to name. It is so easy sometimes to dwell on the difficult times and problems of the day, but when we stop to think, we really have so much more going right in our life--so much more to be thankful for--than we really ever realize!

"Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. ...Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: ...The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Psalm 147:1, 7, 11

on this Thanksgiving Eve...

Wow, what a week! The time has flown by, and "busy" just doesn't seem to accurately describe the days. Our family is definitely looking forward to a few days of family time!

On this Thanksgiving Eve, we have begun to slow our hearts and minds as we prepare for a special day tomorrow and weekend together. I prepared a few dishes tonight for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast, and we all made "No-Bake Cookies"--Jon's favorite! Jacob had so much fun! He got to help stir the ingredients, spoon out the cookies, and make it "snow" on the cookies! All without too big of a mess--yeaaaa!!!

We have just settled down with a movie, popcorn, and of course, our cookies. You're suppose to get to stay up late on "vacation" nights, right?

I'm very excited about our meal tomorrow...and of course, the desserts. I'm especially excited about spending the whole day with my precious family!

let it snow...

It did indeed snow today...well, more like "flurried." Jacob loved it! He kept wanting me to open the window so he could touch it. I hope we get a good snow this year. We would love to build a snowman!

Snow is not the only thing falling around here these days. Something else we can all be thankful for this Thanksgiving is the drop in gas prices. I saw it for $1.97 tonight. I never thought I would see it below $3.00 again, much less below $2.00!

Speaking of being thankful, we are so grateful for our little boy and his precious personality. Tonight, while Jon was working on some plumbing in our bathroom, Jacob was being Daddy's little "helper." Instead of helping, Jacob decided to brush his teeth. While he worked, Jon heard from the sink, "In the name of the Father..." Jacob was baptizing Spiderman (his Spiderman toothbrush). I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

what's the rush...

I love the fall...the colors are so beautiful! Our blog was previously Christmas-themed, but I just couldn't bring myself to slight Thanksgiving. With only a week and a half left to enjoy this season, I decided to stay focused on thankfulness and God's blessings.

In October, when the leaves were most colorful, our Autumn Blaze maple trees were gorgeous! Jon took pictures of the leaves, and I've enjoyed using them as my desktop background...as well as for the banner on this blog.

The leaves are actually all gone now...and it's starting to look a little like winter. In fact, the news predicts POSSIBLE snow flurries in the morning.

We're usually in such a hurry to get to Christmas, but I just want to slow down and enjoy the everyday blessings that God has provided!

His Name is Wonderful...

Sundays in our family are spent resting...and reverencing our Lord and Creator. Worship at our church today was centered around the Name of Christ. He alone is Holy and worthy to be praised! The praise we give Him now cannot compare to the throng of voices that will lift His name when we see him face to face. It won't be long 'til that day comes. Christ's return is imminent, and we must be diligent to share the Gospel with others. Our hearts were challenged to be more "soul-conscience."

Jacob has also been learning more about God and His Word through our church's AWANA ministry. He loves to say his verses each week...he usually volunteers to go first (we're told).

Usually our Sunday afternoons are spent napping! However, today we enjoyed making Christmas placemats with Jacob. We cut Christmas pictures out of magazines and let Jacob "design" the mats. After a little glue and glitter, he has masterpieces to be proud of.

While candy canes and gingerbread are fun novelties of the season, Salvation in a manger should truly be our focus.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. -Philippians 2:5-11

letting go...

Today has been a productive day at the Strouse house. Among other tasks, I finished staining the deck while Leigh Ellen reorganized and de-cluttered the kitchen cabinets. De-clutter, now there's a concept. Would one consider a "collection" clutter?

All of us have something we love to collect. For me, it's cups. Cups, you might ask? Yes, drinking cups. It's not so much that I like to collect them, I simply hate to throw away things that can be used as cups (Mason jars, Gatorade bottles, etc.) Today, I resolved to discard a part of my prized collection. Sure, you can never have enough drinking vessels--I mean, what if we had 60 people over for a party--someone would need the Mason jar! But in the end, I realized...less really is more. Hmmm??? Now, to tackle my sock collection.

the "snow-people"...they're back!

Where is November going? Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and then...

Yes, the question still lingers through the ages...have you been naughty or nice?

Today in the Strouse House, we began preparing our home for Christmas. Jacob and I made Christmas tags for presents. We traced his hands, cut them out, and decorated them with glitter. He had a ball!

Tonight, my wonderful husband gathered all of the Christmas bins from the attic. The tree is in place, the mantle adorned, the stairs have garland, and there's Christmas surprises all around the house. It was a Strouse Family night-o-fun. Just like last year, Jacob's favorite Christmas novelty is a 12" plastic snow globe that plays Christmas music. It was a musical battle all night between Josh Groban and the "snow-people" in the snow globe. We ended the night with popcorn, cookies, and The Polar Express.

I'm so looking forward to this Christmas...more than any other year. Our family is preparing our hearts, even now, for the advent of Christmas.