on this day. May the lavishness of it make us more mindful of all the Creator and Sustainer has given, rather than neglectful and casual, forgetting Who has made the vines fruitful and the land plentiful.

I saw this quote on a Facebook page and thought it worthwhile to share,

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” ~H.U. Westermayer

I pray that as families gather, as food is eaten, as blessings are lived, that the Lord receive the glory, that the Savior receive the honor, and that His Name be exalted in all the earth amongst believers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

that slow down the pace of regular life, that give a different focus to your days, and that afford a concentration of family time.

We’re trying to take advantage of these holiday break days by doing more of the irregular–sleeping in even though it’s not Thursday. Watching family movies and special history shows that I have been saving up for these lazier days. Baking and cooking special treats and desserts that did not come out of the box but have the phrase “made from scratch” attached to them.

This different focus reminds me to slow down and enjoy what these days currently are that will not always be. One day I’ll be waiting for a boy to get home from college instead of just waiting for him to come down the stairs.

The concentration of family time involves our extended family. Though they live closer now to us than they ever have, the hours spend with them now involve the energy of the holidays. Whispered plans about gifts and surprises are a part of our conversation. Ideas and schemes about family pranks run not just through the children but also through the adults, big children themselves.

Holiday breaks are a gift. Shame on us for when we treat them as stresses or burdens. Participating in the Month of Thankfulness that Rebecca Writes has so graciously hosted has greatly changed my mind in how I want to treat this time of Thanksgiving. Majoring on the simple and simplifying the complicated has given me a more particular heart of thankfulness for how God above all has blessed our family.

I am thankful for this holiday break.

the Lord has made. Not only in which to rejoice, but also for rest in balance to productivity. The Lord who holds reign over all time gives to each of us 24 hours. Hours we can fritter or use to His glory.

I am thankful for this day where throughout there are reminders of His mercies, His requirements and His enduring love.

Rebecca Writes has done an amazing job of compiling all these posts. I hope you are looking through them and thinking of those things for which you are also thankful.

who serve because He has called. Who shepherd because He is shepherding them. Who have a passion for Jesus and show Him to be the love of their lives.

Weekly I have the privilege of gathering with women who demonstrate living faith through the fruitful works of their hands. We laugh and cry with one another and prayers are poured out for each other to the Living God who always shows His faithfulness and Presence in our midst.

With these women, I see a picture of Christ’s body working in the unity of one Spirit, one faith, one baptism, one truth and one Savior. I learn from them as they share their lives and witness as to how God is working in them. I am humbled at the joy found in serving alongside of them.

When I finally knew enough to know anything, I yearned for a spiritual mentor. In these women, I am surrounded by faithful mentoring through their examples and honesty about failures, their hopes and humility for victories and their enduring belief that they know the One in whom they have believed. And they know that He is faithful to keep that which they have committed to Him.

I am thankful for faithful women of God choosing to serve in His kingdom.

It’s been a Month of Thankfulness at Rebecca Writes. Join us. There is still time.

in the fireplace built by my sons to keep me warm on a cold, rainy Sunday.

Thankful for Husband going to the store for medicine for my unfortunate back spasm.

Thankful for the precious man and men-to-be in my household that care for me with tender concern when I am not feeling up to task.

Thankful for the Lord’s sovereign care over all circumstances whether cold, rainy or unfortunate.

with homeschooling groups. I’m only writing this post to assure all of those who worry about the proper socialization skills of homeschooled kids.

Trust me. We get socialized.

Picture 11 cars caravanning with anywhere from two to five kids plus parents for about 45 minutes to a farm where they join eight buses of kids from private and public schools. As I said, we get socialized.

This particular field trip we took yesterday with our homeschool group is one of our favorites because it combines educational aspects with pure-tee fun. That and the moms do not have to do one iota of planning. We just stand around and console each other with curriculum stories in a mass therapy session.

It was a gorgeous day for a field trip. The kids were well-behaved. Mostly. And even with all the crowd of so many kids, everyone pretty much got to do all they wanted to do.

Very early on I found out with homeschooling that you can be as busy and busier than you are with traditional school. It is still about making choices regarding how many activities you are going to participate in, solo or with a group. Some weeks, we do too much. Some weeks, not enough. But the activities are there for the taking. A mom has to choose balance.

I am thankful for field trips.

This post is part of Rebecca Writes Month of Thankfulness.

the names in this post have not been changed to protect the innocent, because the guilty deserve to be charged. I’m feeling no grace here, people.

The Complete Thought household mourns the presence of two completely indoor cats. I could tell you why they are completely indoor, but that would mean a 647 word post on what grief does at the 23rd month, but we do not want to go there today.

Being completely indoor, you would think we could keep away fleas. Hardee-har-har, she maniacally snorts. Once a year we seem to perversely celebrate the Fall Flea Festival. Without candy corn or face painting. I could tell you all the previous attempts that have been made to rid the house and cats of fleas or rid the house of cats, but that would involve a 1,647 word post on what insanity does in the 36th-39th years. And we do not want to go there either.

Invitations must have been mailed out about 2 1/2 weeks ago because the fleas showed up in force on Monday. Knowing that all previous attempts of flea riddance have summed themselves up into full house fogger fumigation being the only cure, I resigned myself to one day this week being (as my mom-in-law does say) “one mell of a hess”.

Yee-haw, Sleep In Thursday was picked. Because “hesses” aren’t really fun unless you’re also overly tired. You and the three boys that is.

Oh, and lest I forget, Flea Riddance 2009 also includes the special premier event of force feeding flea shocker pills to two cats. I’ll be there in a minute.

This morning I rose way too early to get started on all the prep work. Everything we’ve ever put our mouth on, might put our mouth on, or would like to put our mouth on has to be covered, hidden, or plastic wrapped. This explains why I find the bananas in the oven at 375 next to the plastic microwave cover. All on fire.

I had purposefully neglected to tell the boys that Sleep In Thursday was canceled last night because I could not handle the truth. Waking them this morning was all sunshine, guns n’ roses. I did go so far as to bribe them with day old vanilla iced doughnuts though to try and take the edge off. Starbucks with Vanilla Chai Spice for me.

Then preparations for the cats were next. I had put off the deed as long as I could. Chess rounded them up into the kitchen so I could prepare the concoction of flea shocking stuff. Blue or Puff Daddy or Stupid Cat or Duke of Hazards will eat anything hidden in Fancy Feast so he was quickly choking down his potion. But Raisin or Khaki Cat or Me-ow or Still Stupid But Older and Knows Mom’s Tricks Cat was very wary of her potion. She sniffed it and nonchalantly began to slouch away.

Chess caught her again so the real fun could begin. First I tried to take the pieces of pills and manually put them on her tongue. She spit them out. I put the pill pieces into wet cat food and put them on her tongue. She spit them out. I put the pill pieces in wet cat food and with one hand prying open her mouth and the other hand with wet-cat-food-pill-pieces-slathered finger that I stuck at the back of her throat. And she spit them out.

This was repeated 631 times. With baby spoon. With more than one finger. With more cat food. And, she spit them out. Meanwhile, Blue is thoroughly enjoying himself in this show and hoping he could get in on the action. So he did by licking up the wet cat food Raisin had spit out onto the floor and Chess’ pants and my shoes.

So I just gave him her bowl and went at her with the second pill. Which mercifully I got into her on the second try. Probably because I was finally holding my tongue right.

Into the boxes they went. Clean the cat food spit upon kitchen and out the door to board the pets. Did I mention our two guinea pigs as well? Oh yes, I gave Pele and the Chairman the job of getting them into the portable pen and into the minivan. There may have been some yelling of instructions.

17 hours and 43 minutes later we are cleared to return home for the super! fun! job of cleaning up all the dead bugs that were apparently co-existing quite happily with the fleas. On the way back home with all the now flea free pets, the boys asked if I could smell that funny smell. I’ve had olfactory fatigue with that van for so long, I answered no.

Once home, Chess took the cat boxes straight up to the laundry room, their home for the day, and we began to unload them. Raisin was out first and looking for who she wanted to bite first. Next came Blue, who as I opened his box, the “smell” hit me. He had pooped and peed in. the. box. In the 12 minutes it had taken to pick them up from the boarding place and drive back home.

Ohmygoodness. So now I’m holding big, puffy, long-haired stupid cat with a big wad of youknowwhat attached to his back end, his back legs pedaling which is spraying the youknowwhat around and we do not have the litter box ready yet. Chess takes off running to get it. I’m yelling. Blue is yowling. And Raisin thinks maybe she should bite me for canceling Sleep In Thursday. And also for repeatedly sticking my finger down her throat.

I swing youknowwhat fuzzy buttocks over to the linoleum side of the laundry room and wait for Chess. He arrives just in time to see USA Network call and tell me they have decided to do a spin off of Monk, with me as the star. It was nothing but bleach time then, baby.

Clean the cat. Clean the laundry room. Clean the sink. Clean the cat again. (Why can we put a man on the moon but cannot teach a cat to use a bidet?) Clean and scrub and clean and scrub my right hand. Which, btw, I’m only using now for typing and then will never use again.

Fall Flea Festival 2009 has ended. Hopefully. I’m smacking into next year the next one that scratches. And that goes for the humans too.

I am thankful for dead bugs. And it only took me 1089 words to say it.

is perfectly faithful to His people in every challenge of life.

When human resources fail, Jesus shows Himself to be always sufficient and never fails those whom He loves.

When human resolve fails, God shows Himself to be the One who strengthens those whom He loves, those whom come to Him in prayer.

When human efforts fail, Jesus shows Himself to be perfectly faithful to come to those whom He loves at the exact point of need.

I am thankful that He has shown His perfect faithfulness in my life this week.

The Month of Thankfulness has only a couple of weeks left. Look and see at Rebecca Writes what many things there are for which to be thankful.

Prayer in the closet, prayer in the car, prayer in the shower, prayer kneeling in a circle of friends, prayer whispered at a child’s bedside, prayer that is cried, prayer that is groaned, prayer that is exultant. Prayer that brings you into the presence of God. Prayer that breaks your heart, humbles pride and restores life. Prayer for the unsaved, and prayer for the spiritual growth of the saved. Prayer for God’s will to be done and prayer that personal will be subdued. Prayer for brokenness and wholeness, for justice and mercy, for conviction and forgiveness.

I am thankful for prayer.

choose to be thankful even when the creek is rising, the cows won’t give milk, the chickens quit laying and the dog ran off.

His Spirit within us gives the ability to choose to be thankful. That is my exercise today.

Choosing to be thankful.