Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! Someone once said it takes 12 hours to shop for the Thanksgiving meal and prepare it, but only 20 minutes to scarf it all down. Then we sit around in a food coma, and take 4 hours to clean up. This would explain my bloggerly absence this week, especially if you factor in housework. But back to writing! I enjoyed these literary quotes on gratitude:

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~ Edward Sandford Martin

Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert

The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings! ~Henry Ward Beecher

O Lord that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~William Shakespeare

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” ~William A. Ward

Thankful: For God’s faithful provisions in every aspect of my life; for you, gracious reader; for technology and its use for His glory; for every heart connection made via this blog, for life and love and joy in our Savior! God bless you, friends.

What are you thankful for today?

“Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it.” ~ A.W. Tozer

Folks may scoff at the annual Christmas letter or think it a “bore” but I look upon this cozy tradition with thanksgiving in my heart. Sending and receiving these updates preserves a bit of family history and keeps our hearts connected. But sadly, busy schedules have caused many to stop sending out cards, much less newsletters. While writing and reflection requires a bit of effort, it’s time well spent if you ask me. Surely our children and family members will appreciate these yearly bits of “biography” long after we’re gone.

The writer-at-heart and family historian realizes three purposes in the Christmas letter:

1. It records a chapter in the life of the family for that year.
2. It connects friends heart-to-heart who don’t want to lose touch.
3. It’s a tangible record of how God has been faithful to us.

Even though it’s a challenge sometimes to share our family’s adventures-in-living without being too newsy, it can be done! Some rattle off amusing events in bullet fashion, but years ago I decided to make this fun. Our Christmas letter arrives with columns, headlines, and bylines, just like an old-fashioned newspaper. It’s called The Gaines Gazette. Mr. G. and I are “the editors,” of course. Instead of clip-art, we use family photos to break up the text; we share recipes, or a meaningful quote or scripture. By keeping our ‘publication’ one-page, and hitting just the year’s highlights, we tend to focus on the blessings instead of tribulations. But if that sounds like too much work, do it your own way!

Yes, maybe we write these newsletters more for our own benefit than anyone else’s. That’s okay, too. One thing is sure, each letter contains a harvest of special memories and feelings. As we reflect over the changes in our lives, we recognize the faithful hand of God, bringing us through yet another year.

Will you be writing a Christmas newsletter this year? What would you share with an old friend over coffee if you hadn’t seen her all year? How did this year make you thankful? Share it. Use your creativity to make it warm and personal.

Whether a holiday newsletter is something you do or not, I’d love to hear about your Christmas traditions!

Some Helps:
Wiki’s Write a Christmas Newsletter
Create a Christmas Newsletter w/Google Docs
Make a Christmas Newsletter Easily & Quickly

“The Bible was written in tears and to tears it yields its best treasures.” ~ A.W. Tozer

“Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go next.” ~ Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

“The closet communion with God comes, I believe, through the sacrament of tears. Just as grapes are crushed to make wine, and grain to make bread, so the elements of this sacrament come from the crushing experiences of life.” ~ Ken Gire, Windows of the Soul

Much of my life has been distilled through tears. Out of heartache and disappointment, pain and travail, we discover wisdom in surviving defeat. What has God shown you through your own tears? Can our tears help us write better?

When I was but a timid little girl, one particular book called me out of the trenches of a soul-damaging environment. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - remember that one? That story ministered a dream to me; I read it again and again with hunger. Little did I know that a writing window had opened before me.

Now, this may sound strange, but looking back, it’s like God spoke to me through the character of Jo, who desperately wanted to become a writer. Only she wrote what she thought would sell, not the things she was passionate about. I did this, too, for awhile, trying to establish myself as a freelance writer. But it neither sold nor satisfied. Today, a fictitious character in Jo’s life (the professor) echoes more truth to me:

“…you should be writing something from your life, from the depths of your soul. There is more to you than this,” he said, pointing to the newspaper story, “if you have the courage to write it.”

As I read this again, I’m encouraged to keep writing what only I can write because of what God’s done in my life.

So the story continues: How God took a timid little girl out of the soul-damaging trenches, healed her, gave her life, and set her free to write and encourage others.

If I can do this, with His help, so can you.

“Write down the revelation and make it plain…” Habakkuk 2:2

Scrambling here with fall projects, appointments, writing, and preparing for our youngest granddaughter’s visit - always a sweet time. What projects keep you busy lately? How do you still your soul in the midst of activity? More on this later . . .

“The problem is not entirely in finding the room of one’s own, the time alone, difficult and necessary as that is. The problem is more how to still the soul in the midst of its activities.” ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea