Welcome to the very last Gratituesday of 2009! I’m so excited for all of us to have a chance to reflect on our year and on all the ways God took care of our needs during the year.
It’s good to look back at the entire year isn’t it? When I think about what I’m thankful for each week during Gratituesday, it’s always great to choose a specific blessing from God in the past few days. But, looking back over the entire year? It’s quite breath taking. And incredibly humbling.
I believe what I’m most grateful for is how God has grown our family into new ministries this year. I mentioned here about how God is using our home for ministry like he never has before. I love how He continues to put guests at our table, and continues to provide plenty food in our pantry (freezer, fridge, etc.) to share. It’s been amazing to experience. I love that our children are naturally learning hospitality. I love that the six of us together are able to bless others while being WONDERFULLY blessed right back!
I love looking back at the ways our marriage and our boys have grown this year. While we have “real moments” all the time…our marriage continues to grow stronger and our boys are turning into awesome young men.
And, as I mentioned last week, I’m so thankful for the job God has provided for Matt and that he loves what he’s doing. I wish I had the space to share all the ways God led us in his perfect timing to this job during the past two years.
———————————————————–
What ways have you felt God’s incredible presence during 2009? What ways has God blessed your family and how has He provided?
Please share!! Write your own Ultimate Gratituesday post on your blog and come link up here. If you don’t have a blog, please be sure to leave a comment to let us know how God has blessed you during the year!
Let’s celebrate God’s goodness together!
Jenn @ Beautiful Calling says
Thank you for the opportunity and reminder each week to count our blessings. I hope to participate even more in the coming year!
The Happy Housewife says
That is awesome Laura-
I love when God provides in HIS timing. It reminds us of who is really in charge!
Have a great New Year!
Toni
Barb says
God has blessed my family and I in sooooo many ways. To name a few He has had blessed us by:
~Protecting us, no car troubles and providing more than enough money to us when we moved from Maryland to Alaska (we drove)!
~Praising God for the opportunity to drive from MD to Ak.(oh and also the beauty of the land and the wild life we saw). The memories we created on that trip with our children are priceless. Our children are old enough (9yo & 5yo)to remember this trip and I am grateful to God for that!!!!
~Making wonderful friends in CHRIST that has taught us how to open our doors to those in need…even if it is just sitting at our dinner table eating a meal together.
~Putting on my heart to homeschool (which I have decided to listen =)
~My husband and I have a wonderful marriage but God has showed us areas that we could do more in. I didn’t know we had weaknesses but He does ;)
GOD IS GOOD!!!
Jenny says
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to share our blessings. God is good all the time!!!
Kelly says
Thanks for hosting this! I’m in a somewhat tumultuous time right now and it was really, really good to reflect back on the year and the blessings we’ve received. It’s especially powerful to reflect on things we often take for granted–like, as you said, food in the pantry.
Shelly W. says
I am thankful for so many ways God has provided, shown us His love and blessings, and brought us closer together as a family.
I am truly thankful that my 6yr old accepted Jesus this past year, asking me to share in such a sweet time of prayer with her.
I am thankful that despite being self employed in such a rough economic time, my children know no want and know no difference.
AND…I am most thankful for the wonderful, selfless man that the Lord decided to put in my life. My husband and I will soon celebrate 8 years of marriage, and I could not have asked for a better partner.
God is Good – ALL THE TIME!
Jessica says
Okay, I know this is supposed to be an uplifting post, but I know that not everyone had a 2009 without trials. I’m praying that those people can find hope with me in these thoughts:
Sometimes the biggest challenge is finding gratitude in the midst of suffering. We don’t really want to thank God for anything. All we see is the pain. But the real truth is, if I can somehow see over it, what is evident are the arms of Jesus that are holding us tight no matter how much we fight him. So I am thankful for my Savior. That he won’t give up on or abandon us. That he too is aquainted with grief. He is holding us up, giving us the strength to breath. When hope is hard to find, I am holding out hope that this new year will bring new moments of Christ’s faithfulness, and that we will experience the “joy of the Lord” like we’ve never known before.
Sherry says
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share about what God has done this year! There are so many blessings that He has poured out and I’m thankful for each one. My God bless you this next year!
Sherry
Kathleen @ Southforte Farms says
Happy New Year to everyone!
Christi Wilson says
Thank you Laura, for all the opportunities to share God’s goodness in our lives; and for sharing what God has done in your life, as well!
I have posted on my site today how God took a “not-so-good” relationship with my Mom and turned it into a blessing before she died this year. I truly was able to feel His Ultimate Peace during this time!
Thanks Laura & May God BLESS You in the New Year!
melanie says
God is good.
Trying to elaborate and be complete is overwhelming, but I tried. =)
Blessings to you! So glad to have ‘met’ you this year!
Crystal says
I am grateful for a few diffrent reasons then i am also terribly sad and depressed
I am grateful that a man at the grocery store a few weeks ago wanted to pay for my almost $300 bill all because he wanted to give a helping hand for christmas even if it didn’t need the help that was amazing
I am grateful that my grandmother gave me the gift she did for christmas it was wonderful and i will cherish my geneology book forever
I am grateful i was able to go and pick up my fathers dog yesterday from the SPCA in roseburg oregon and that she is sweet and healthy and nice
I am grateful and sad that i got to view my fathers body before he was cremated yesterday even if it was the hardest thing
I am sad because my father passed away Dec , 27 09 at the age of 48 he was homeless and died of hypothermia (long story) foul play may have been involoved so i ask for prayers for him (ronald lee elliott jr) thanks for reading guys
Danielle says
I hope you let him pay for the food. i never turn down a blessing. if that person was prompted by the holy spirit to pay for the food, it would have been a double blessing.
I’m sorry to hear of your father’s untimely death. May the peace that passes all understanding be with you and your family during the season.
Holly says
I praise God every day for my husband’s job that provides a paycheck we can live on, affordable benefits and most of all, give him back his sense of accomplishment and confidence in providing for his family.
I thank God for our health and happiness. I praise Him for leading us to affordable housing in a good neighborhood, which enabled us to live on our own again. We really needed that.
I thank God and praise Him for using people in our lives, even non-Christians, to show His providence and love for us. For miraculously filling my pantry like the widow’s oil, every day there is miraculously something there to feed us a warm, healthy meal even though I can’t go grocery shopping for another week. Hallelujah, God is GOOD!
Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads says
Your hospitality ministry has been an encouragement to me. We’re currently taking some baby steps in that direction. I want to have an open home, but I’m struggling with perfectionism. Thankfully, the Lord is working on me. :)
Gillian says
I’m thankful for the time this past Thanksgiving and a week ago that I got to spend with my Pawpa (Grandpa). He has been very up and down and I was so greatful to have some “up” time with him! He passed away today.:( So thankful for his legacy!
Jill Roper says
Looking back on 2009 I am just so thankful that my hubby and I are still standing. In 32 years we have never been so challenged both physically and emotionally. We are thankful we can turn to a new year and hopefully with time we can absorb all the lessons from 2009.
God Bless you and your crew Laura.
Becki says
I am most grateful this year for one thing. So still be with my son.
On Good Friday, my 10 year old came down with severe bacterial meningitis. They rushed him right to the Pediatric Critical Care Unit, and prepared me for the likely possibility of his death. He was soooo sick, and we had caught it rather late (although I had taken him to the doctor just the day before.) But God gifted me with a more time with my son. Each day he got a little better, so then they prepared me for the likelihood of significant lasting affects, which may include deafness, blindness, mental retardation among many others. The lasting mental affects really tore me apart. Josiah is extremely gifted, working on becoming a member of Mensa. So see him struggle would have been painful for all of us. But despite all the warnings, and the long rather strenuous road to healing, Josiah is perfect in every way today.
So in 2009, I am most thankful for every day that I have had with Josiah and with my other children since that day. I am greatful that they are all saved. If something had happened to Josiah, I would have missed him terribly, but I would have the assurance that my family will together again…when it really matters.
We were a little obsessive when we named our children. We poured over baby name books and prayed. I believe that God helped us select our childrens names and that they are significant. The meaning of their names describes them very well. Josiah means, “The Lord heals”.
Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home says
Thanks for always hosting, Laura! I love this carnival and the focus on all that we have to be grateful for!
And it’s wonderful to hear how the Lord is using your home and family for ministry purposes! Very, very cool. I think that doing ministry with our kids is one of the very best ways to do it. :)
Jennifer says
And it must be time to go to bed… Mr. Linky is not cooperating tonight… of course, the problem is likely me and not him. Well, the link for this week’s Gratituesday says the same thing as my link for last week, but it links to a different page – go figure. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong (other than staying up much too late!) And so now, I will gratefully head up for a a few hours of sleep before my little guys are up and running full-strength in the morning.