I always tend to get a little bit whiny in January. It’s so, so cold! And it has been for three months. And it will be for a couple more months. And our house is old and big and drafty…and it’s hard to stay warm in the house unless you’re doing jumping jacks. By the fireplace. With five layers on.
So I decided that today for Gratituesday I need to take time to be grateful even while I’m cold. So here goes…
- I have a fireplace and a furnace.
- I have a husband who chops wood like crazy and four boys who bring wagon loads of wood up to the house for us to burn.
- We have plenty of clothes so that I can layer us all up.
- The change of seasons and the snow and the cold weather all show God’s power.
- Icicles are beautiful.
- There’s no better time to eat warm soup.
- The boys love playing in the snow and have SO much fun.
- I get to surprise the kids with hot cocoa.
- Hot tea is so cozy.
- We have plenty quilts and blankets and they are soft and warm.
- Winter is less hectic than soccer season and we can all be home together most evenings.
Okay…I’m better now. Making that list warmed me up… :) God is good…every day of the year!
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here! If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment sharing something you’re grateful!
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Maybe I need to move to NE because I love snow!
After two weeks in FL I had a hard time coming back to cold MD. We are supposed to have an ice storm tonight. I’ll remember your post when I am cranky in the AM.
Toni
I am so grateful for true Christian brothers and sisters who allow complete freedom and openness in discussions without criticism or judgment. It is a joy to be together with a Christian family like that! I feel that’s how it must have been in New Testament times when they met in each other’s homes.
I keep meaning to participate in this – ’bout time I got TO it! I like your list. Makes me really appreciate my mid 60s today, even though I was chilly earlier!
Here we have 80 degree temperatures one day and 30’s the next. It never snows though. I love sweater weather!
Oh, I don’t like to be cold! But playing in the snow sure looks fun! I hope you stay warm today, even if you have to put on 6 layers. :-)
Like you, I don’t like to be cold, but I have thanked God many times over for a working furnace, wood for a fireplace, hot water for baths, sweaters and soup to help me stay warm!
We love the snow and the cold and long for it.
You need a small woodstove to put in your fireplace. Warmth! Efficient heating. Even in GA, we have one and it’s what I am most grateful for on a cold morning. Our home is old and drafty, too.
I have a hard time with winter, and our house is cold, too! Thanks for the reminder to give thanks in all things. :) We have a lot of snow today–the kids are loving it. We made your whole wheat pancakes this morning, with blueberries–yummy! We’re going to spend the day baking cookies, playing in the snow, and warming up our throw blankets in the dryer to snuggle under them. And being thankful that we’re together, and have all these blessings.
I love those photos! I keep telling my kids “they’re calling for snow tonight” and then we wake up to nothing, but a cold and dreary day. :)
They are calling for snow on Wed and Fri though, so I’m not giving up hope yet for my girls to make a snowman!
Praying you have a fabulous day!
I’m thankful for snow days!! I sleep with the phone in my bed in faith that I’ll get the call saying school is cancelled! I LOVE being able to have surprise “PJ days” with my boys!!!
Hi there!
I so know what you mean about getting whiny in January. The view from our place looks about the same as yours. Snow and more snow LOL Your reasons to like the season are great! We love to eat baked potato soup and chili in the winter.
Recently I wrote an article about 5 things I do to beat the winter blahs. In case anyone’s interested, here is the link.
http://farmhomelife.blogspot.com/2009/01/here-in-michigan-our-winters-are-long.html
What a really nice list. I am still waiting for winter. I think I am having neighborhood warming!
Roberta Anne
What a sweet post! My cousins grew up in a house that was so cold in the winter if they went to bed with their hair wet it froze to the pillow!
Can you send me some of that snow??
Thanks for the glimpse into your life! Our worlds are quite different in regards to weather. We are going to the park today. It is sunny but chilly (yes 55 degrees is chilly to us!). I love the looks of snow all the time, but I wonder how I would adjust to it after growing up in CA and living here all my life? I guess if I can find one good thing (and there really is only one!) about living in this liberal state it would be the wonderful weather!
I am very thankful that it is not as cold here as it is there, lol! Really, when I sat down to the computer I thought that I was getting cold so I better put on a sweater. Then I read your post and saw the snow you have! No more whining about 50 degree days for me!
Awwwww, what a thoughtful list. I’m sorry you are feeling the chill this winter. We have no real seasons where I live … no pretty fall colors, no beautiful white snow … BUT we are warm most of the year, and that’s a good thing.
Thank you again for hosting Gratituesday. I’m having an ungrateful feeling day, and it was incredibly helpful to be accountable to gratitude by posting along with you.
I have never seen the snow… Uhuk… (Mode: cry)
Thank you so much for your blog! I love it and am completely addicted to it!! Although this comment is late, I just read something in a book called “A People’s Ecology: Explorations in Sustainable Living” and thought of this post you wrote about your old, drafty home:
“Until about thirty years ago, indoor air pollution was a very limited phenomenon. Since that time, two basic developments have changed the way buildings are constructed. First, thousands of chemicals have been incorporated into building materials. Second, buildings are sealed so tightly that chemicals remain trapped inside, where inhabitants inhale them into the lungs and absorb them into the skin. Prior to the 1970s, the typical home in North America averaged approximately one air exchange per hour. Now, in a well-sealed home, the air is typically exchanged as little as once every five hours or longer, and that is not enough to ensure healthful air quality.”
My house is very old and drafty too so I feel your pain and shivering, but at least it’s comforting to know that an old, drafty house is a HEALTHY house!