Friday, September 14, 2018

Friday five

 (Above photo is from a previous fall retreat at The Wilds of New England)
The Fridays sure do come around quickly! I'm thankful to be able to take this opportunity to praise God for five things He's blessed us with in the past week.  Thankful too for the Best of My Days cards by Ashley at Under the Sycamore.  As I mentioned in a previous post, each December Ashley has offered a new set of these to download and print for free.  Each card has a month's worth of numbered spaces, one for each day of the month, on which one writes the best thing that happened on that day.  As I noted before, getting serious about this simple journaling technique in August has really increased my gratitude and helped me to notice more of my blessings each day.  Some days it is awfully difficult to pick just one thing!  Anyhow ... on with this week's Friday five:

1.  Visitors at church both on Sunday and Wednesday evening.  Sunday's visitors had just moved here from a western state.  Interestingly, in conversation we found that they now live on our street!  Wednesday night's visitors live in another region of our state, but have family near our church and have previously visited on a couple different Sundays.  It was a blessing to have them there unexpectedly on a Wednesday evening.  When your church is as small as ours, visitors are a huge encouragement!

2.  Getting my dining room and entry area decorated for fall.  I ordinarily wait until the first day of fall, but this year I needed to get it done early.  The pic I'll share will be from a previous year, since I haven't found time to take photos of what I did on Monday.  And now I see that I left out many fall items that I usually use.  No matter, what I have done is pretty and I can add more later if I choose.  For now, the fall decor is making me smile every time I look at it.
3.  Celebrating my hubby's birthday with our daughter's family on Saturday evening.  Always fun to spend time with these kids.

4.  My hubby had a day off due to rain on Tuesday.  We got lots of errands and other tasks accomplished, went out for coffee after voting and actually went out for an early supper around  4 or so.  It was a treat to be able to spend extra time together! 

5.  Strength that God gave for a very busy day yesterday and one that is equally busy today.  I've felt rather tired and not up to all that I need to do, but God has given strength beyond my own.

In a few hours I'll be heading off to a ladies' retreat at The Wilds of New England.  To my delight, the speaker this weekend is Denise Cunningham, who happens to write the blog RefreshHer.  I am so looking forward to meeting Denise in person and hearing all that she will share from God's Word.  No doubt when I write my Friday five next week, this retreat will be one of the blessings I'll be counting!

14 comments:

  1. I look forward to your post about the ladies retreat!! The Wilds of New England is so pretty. I have watched some of Denise's instagram films of the area. She also posted about a trip to King Arthur Flour.....looks like a place I would like

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    1. Oh, I'm sure you would like King Arthur Flour, Arlene! It has been years since I've been there even though it is probably less than an hour and a half away. Denise told me she found some bread bags there that will be perfect for her sourdough bread!

      It was such a blessing to meet her and her husband. Her sessions for the retreat were simply wonderful. I will post eventually about the retreat ... just not sure how soon I will get to do so. The next couple of weeks look very busy!

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  2. What a little cutie pie handing you a leaf! Happy Belated Birthday to Mr. Across My Table. I am sure that your retreat will provide you with a refreshed spirit, body, and mind. (It really looks nice there.)

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    1. I always enjoy a Ladies Retreat, a great time to reflect and refresh. I haven't put up any fall décor yet, but I'm in the mood! Maybe tomorrow! Enjoy the retreat!

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    2. I really did, Mary. It was a wonderful time. This place is like a taste of heaven on earth.

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    3. It was such a wonderful time, Vee. Denise's messages were such a blessing. They were all based on the book of Ruth but very non-traditional ... not what one might expect. I learned a lot and was so encouraged. Hope to share more soon. And yes, it is very, very nice there. Just so beautiful. As my 17-year-old granddaughter (who went with me) said, "I just like being here."

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    4. I found a link you had sent me back along Refresh-her or something like that. She told about her weekend and had me wanting to do alll that she had done. I have been wanting to visit King Arthur for a long time. ☺️

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    5. They packed a lot into that weekend for sure, and it all looked like fun. It's been years since I've been to King Arthur. High time for another visit! 😁. It's only a little over an hour from here.

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  3. Ladies Retreats are always so uplifting, enjoyable, and filled with food, fellowship, and joy! I hope you have a wonderful time!

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    1. I did have an absolutely wonderful time, Gina! So glad I carved out the time to go.

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  4. Such a sweet little one!! Your fall photos are really nice and an inspiration to get some of my fall things out. Looking forward to reading about your retreat!!

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    1. Thanks, Terri! I will do my best to post about the retreat soon! It was such a blessing meeting Denise and hearing her teach. The things that she shared were so encouraging and challenging!

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  5. Your autumn decor is lovely. I am especially intrigued with the gourds under the glass cake dome. I could do that! Just need to buy some gourds. Thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. Thanks, Barbara! As I mentioned, this is from a previous year. This year, I have the gourds under the cake dome again, but this time it is our dining table centerpiece. The gourds are faux and miniature. I can't even remember where I bought them, I have had them for so long!

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