November 29, 2015

Sunday of Thankfulness

November 29, 2015

One of the new rose bushes I planted.

 

Our Sunday School class was very well attended with a packed crowd.  Church attendance was a little low.  Many people were traveling and it was a cold, wet day.  Closing out the Thanksgiving weekend, our pastor focused on being thankful.  He shared about his Thanksgiving weekend and the thankfulness of having his children and grandchildren all together.  Then he asked for comments from those in the congregation about what they are thankful for this year.  There were some wonderful things shared.

Morning mist on the hibiscus

 

Often when an occasion like that arises, I hesitate to participate, fearing I might not have understood exactly what the request was.  Yesterday  instead of speaking, I sat there thinking about what I had to be thankful for, and the list was pretty long.  Some I could have shared, but others could not be shared, although they are things that I am very thankful for.  I think God had the people share that He wanted to share.  One man who is new to our church and lives alone was thankful that a staff member included him in his family's celebrations.  One was thankful for a transplant that saved his son's life.  Another was for a wife's eye sight having been restored after she had gone blind.  There were huge things and smaller things that people were thankful for and it was good to be reminded that all matter to God.

New flower bed of fern

 

The pastor asked us to think about where we had seen God moving in a situation during the last year.  Those responses were also heartwarming.  God is good and I love testimony services.  There are two things I especially love about testimony services.  One is that it helps us to get to know others better.  The other is that if we are at a low point in our lives we are reminded that God is still working and that we may just need to be patient as we wait for God's will to be worked in our situation.

Most of new roses planted are pink

 

After church and a business meeting, Ron and I went home to eat some of the Thanksgiving leftovers.  They were just as good as the first time around.  Ron napped during the afternoon and later went to the office to take care of some paperwork for the lady who takes care of his mom.  I spent three hours working in the yard, digging a new flowerbed for some miniature rose bushes we bought a couple of weeks ago.  I know they are rather close together, but I doubt all will make it.  Some are not rooted real well.  I need to enlarge the bed but ran out of strength and daylight.

New flower bed for roses

 

In the yard, I also planted some fern in the flower bed where my chrysanthemum plants died.  I hope the fern does better.  I raised the bed an inch or so hoping that will make a difference.  It has been so wet this year, that the flower bed was staying too damp I think.  I planted the roses in the highest part of the yard.  Years ago when our boys were young, we had a dirt pile in that area where they played for years.  We would use dirt from the pile when needed, but now there is just a slight rise in that area of the yard.  We will see how the roses do there.

Hibiscus plants in full bloom

 

After I hauled a couple of loads of yard debris to the trash pile, put away my tools, and locked up, I went in the house, cleaned up and collapsed into my recliner.  After eating supper I did a little cleaning in the sewing room and still have much to do after Saturday with the girls sewing in there.

 Red roses still to be planted