Category Archives: Gratitude Community

Autumn Marks Its Season

Janis Van Keuren

         Autumn stirs my senses and beckons me to embrace its vibrancy like no other season of the year.  Pumpkin orange, sun-fire yellow, burnt cranberry, maple-leaf red encircle me like a forest of color.  Candles glowing dance with fragrances of autumn leaves, apple cider, and pumpkin pie spice.  The whole house tingles with the season’s sensations and the anticipation of holiday celebrations.     Gratefully, the Lord has created beauty for each season of the year and each season of our lives.  … Continue reading →

The Blessing of Hubby

Janis Van Keuren

     And the Blessings Flow One Upon Another for those Who Are the Lord’s      Today is Hubby’s birthday but we celebrated on Sunday when all could relax and enjoy our time together.  I made his favorite meal, Beef Stroganoff with basil green beans, noodles, and crescent rolls.  We set a festive table in the dining room with crystal goblets and burning candles, dripping burgundy wax into the holders.  Youngest picked up the ice cream cake for dessert while oldest … Continue reading →

He is Our Provider

Janis Van Keuren

Google Image         Ever since I read Ann Voskamp’s heart-wrenching stories of hopeful, wondering, accepting round-eyed children and saw the vivid tear-stained faces of poverty in Guatemala, I have been asking myself, “Do I really NEED another tee-shirt, a fragrant candle, one more pair of shoes, or__________________ (fill in the blank)? Or is this just the disease of materialism fanning the flame of WANT within me and telling me that it is okay to be self-indulgent, satiated, and hungering … Continue reading →

The Blessings of Family and Friends

Janis Van Keuren

Hubby and the two-month old    The closeness of family and friends, the fellowship with other Christians–immeasurable blessings that filled my week.  When you live a state away from all the family you grew up with, you treasure the moments and new memories being created with the next generation of family.  Hubby’s cousins’ children have been living nearby for a while but we’re drawing closer together as they have children and celebrate special occasions.  We joke that we have become … Continue reading →

Pulled Taut

Janis Van Keuren

Goggle Image by Chidrencherished.com          It’s been a week of waiting, and trusting, and hoping in the Lord.  Waiting to see His plan and purpose unfold for my life.  For the past few weeks I have been working as a special education teaching assisting for a local elementary school.  My days have been filled with the wonder of children learning, the frustrations of children struggling, and the joy of being in their midst to help them along the way.     I’ve … Continue reading →

Resting in Him

Janis Van Keuren

          As life whirls around us, we teeter attempting to keep all the activities in our life in balance.  Our pride keeps us jumping from one project to the next, proving how adept we are at handling the numerous activities to which we have said, “yes.”  We rush around, “keeping the plates spinning”, as our pastor put it this Sunday, until life falls apart and we crash along with the plates and activities.       We have not learned to … Continue reading →

Beneath His Love

Janis Van Keuren

          The smell of wet pine needles mixed with a potpourri of wild flowers, ferns, mountain meadow grasses and mud produced a heady fragrance beyond anything one could find bottled on a store shelf.  I inhaled the aroma deeply, stirring imaginations of cozy winter cabins warmed by fireplaces ablaze with crackling wood.      White tennis shoes contrasted with deep dark brown dirt as we trod up the gentle slope.  A neatly manicured trail led us along this sky-high peak at … Continue reading →

It’s the Little Things

Janis Van Keuren

      In the wee hours of this morning, I recall the blessed weekend spent with family.  It’s the first Sunday in a couple of months that we have been together the whole day.  It’s the little things that bless our days abundantly.     Little things like:     174) the early morning sunlight glinting off the open blinds its welcome to the new day     175) for a friend and sister-in-the-Lord helping with my back at Bible Study, even though I looked silly … Continue reading →

A Profusion of Blessings

Janis Van Keuren

     August in the monsoon desert brings a mixture of blessings and stifling heat.  I search for godsends round the corner,  gasping at the purple profusion of blossoms dripping from roof-high bushes.  A gasp that draws in the hot, thick, humid breath fills my lungs.  The beauty washes the August air with a refreshing breeze.      Swiftly, ominous desert clouds smother the sun-soaked sky, rolling gray clouds cross the horizon.   Temperatures drop, humidity rises, hope for rain abounds.      … Continue reading →

Heaven’s Bounty Gushes Forth

Janis Van Keuren

Monsoon Raindrops Gushing Down from the Patio      Rain poured from the heavens saturating our parched desert the other night.  With delight we flung open the door and stood transfixed on the patio, rejoicing at the refreshing blessing.  Plants covered in the dirt and grime of summer’s dust and heat were washed clean.  Mini lakes quickly formed at the edge of the patio as the earth gasped to gulp in the water.      Water, that brings life to the … Continue reading →