What are you thankful for?

What an amazing holiday. I truly love Thanksgiving. I love to have a holiday dedicated to remembering all that we have to be thankful for. I think too often we have holidays that have been taken over by the consumer world and I really love that Thanksgiving is, above all else, a holiday to say Thank You.

I encourage you all to look at your lives and see all that you have to be thankful for. Family, friends, a home a job, there are many reasons to be thankful. Even when we feel like our world is being turned upside down, it can be helpful for us to focus on those things we are thankful for.

I am so thankful to God for my girls. My girls get bigger and bigger each year and I am thankful I am able to watch them grow and watch them experience so much. With each new thing it is as if I am experiencing it for the very first time. Love it.

I am also thankful to God for my husband. He is amazing and wonderful and I love each and every day we have together. I love the life we have together and the life we are building.

I am thankful for my entire family, my work, for the outdoors, for gardening, for crafts and time with friends. Thank you God for truly blessing my life with amazing things and for giving me a holiday where instead of focusing on the things that I feel are going wrong or the struggles I might be facing, I can rejoice in all that I have to be thankful for.

Claira Mae

This is a picture of Claira Mae. She is the daughter of a childhood friend of mine. I have included a link to a message from her mom about the current struggle she is going through and I urge you to all pray for this beautiful little child and her family.

Friends : Megan & Amanda

There really is nothing like a good friend.

Amanda

Being a senior in high school is such an exciting time. One part of your life comes to a close while another new and exciting part waits just around the corner. This last weekend (as you saw in a previous post) I was blessed to take pictures of Megan out at Scenic Beach State Park. The experience was made even better because Megan brought her good friend Amanda with her. It was great to see these two together who have known each other since 7th grade. They are on such a journey together and I wish them both the best.

Here are a few pictures of Amanda. A truly wonderful young woman.

The Gum Novelty

My oldest daughter came to me the other day at the office and asked me for a piece of gum. This isn't an odd request. In fact it is something she asks every time she comes to the office. I am pretty sure that gum is a drug of some sort that her body is addicted to. I came to this conclusion quite abruptly. The other day when O came to me asking for a piece of gum, this is how the conversation went:

O: Mom, can I have a piece of gum please?
M: Sorry honey, I don't have any gum.
O: But mom I really need some gum. please?
M: O, I don't have any gum so I can't help you.
O: I need something to chew.
M: I have carrots or apples in my lunch. You can have some of those.
O: I don't want carrots or apples. I want gum. I need gum.
M: You don't need gum.
O: But mom, my teeth are soooo bored. They need gum.
M: . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How am I even supposed to respond to that? I wasn't even aware that teeth could get bored.

Megan at Scenic Beach State Park

This last weekend, despite the weather, I headed out to Scenic Beach State Park to meet up with Megan and her mom to take Megan's senior pictures. The weather didn't cooperate as much as we would have liked but we were still able to get some beautiful pictures and we tried to have a little fun along the way to keep us warm.

Megan is a wonderful young woman. I wish her the best as she finishes her senior year and embarks upon the fabulous journey in front of her.

Meet Noah.

I recently came across Noah in a blog by Me Ra Koh and it tugged at my heart. Here is an excerpt from that post.

Dr Tom Curran is a radio personality, and he is in the process of setting up a 24 hour (live) online Rosary where people around the world can meet together online and pray. One of the prayer requests last night was for a family in Michigan where 5 year Noah is in the final stages of his 2.5 year battle with Neuroblastoma…a particularly vicious form of childhood cancer with a 0% chance of survival. (If you’ve read the amazing book Gloria’s Miracle you know how ruthless this disease really is.)

Well, Noah is probably not going to make it to Christmas so the family is going to celebrate the holiday this coming weekend. Apparently, Noah likes Christmas Cards and receiving things in the mail. The request was sent out to have people flood their mailbox with Christmas Cards encouraging Noah in his final struggle! If you could take a moment to send him a Christmas Card in the next few days, it would really be appreciated!

The news about Noah’s early Christmas has spread through a number of radio stations. I encourage you to join those sending Noah Christmas cards. What a great way to show our children compassion and love towards others. I have included Noah's address below. It was given to the Catholic radio show as well as many other blogs.

Noah Biorkman

1141 Fountain View Circle

South Lyon, MI 48178

My prayers go out to this family during this struggle.