Cup of Gratitude, Plate of Thanks
Hello wonderful readers,
Happy Monday!
I hope you are all having a wonderful start to your week and staying warm! Here in Wisconsin, the first snow fall has already passed and it looks like a mild winter wonderland outside. Snow is sprinkled on the ground, the wind can make your eyes water, and the hot drinks are being consumed (possibly multiple times of day!).
Winter is a beautiful time of year with multiple changes, not only on the outside, but also on the inside. The Thanksgiving holiday has passed, holiday shopping is in full force, and the New Year is quickly approaching. I previously discussed on the blog in the "Maximize the Holidays with Minimalism" post, that we have adopted a family through the Salvation Army to buy gifts this holiday season.
This is the first time our family has adopted another family together, and it is something I would highly suggest you all to do next year. I will not share the family's name on the blog, but I did want to share some realizations we have experienced through adopting this beautiful family.
We received our adopted family prior to the Thanksgiving Holiday, and we instantly opened the attachment to see the items the family desired. We adopted a family of four, three kids and one parent in the Sheboygan area. The list and family was assigned a number in the 125-150 range. This number instantly pulled at my heart strings. I am not sure how the numbers are assigned, but the fact that there are over 150 families within our community that need help buying gifts, and giving their children the holiday they deserve is staggering. I am originally from Madison, Wisconsin, which is vastly larger than Sheboygan. I knew the needs of Madison were large, but I am shocked at the intensity of the need here in my new home town. I wish we would have been able to adopt every family and give all of the items on their lists, but I do feel good knowing one family will be able to open gifts together on Christmas morning.
While we continued to read our family's lists, I stopped on one item and my eyes started to swell with tears. We were able to adopt the entire family and that includes the parent(s). The parent on our list had asked for cups and plates...Let me say that again so I can portray the feelings I had when reading this for the first time.
The parent on our list asked for cups and plates for their family to eat and drink out of...
This parent could have listen anything. A new game system, more clothing items, but this parent wrote down cups and plates. This was items we knew we had to buy this family, and it was actually the very first items we went to the store and purchased.
The evening after we read over our family's lists and ate dinner, I again had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. We are fortunate enough to eat on glass plates and drink out of glass cups. We are fortunate enough to say "we don't need anything for the holiday". We are fortunate enough to be in a position to bless another family with gifts and items they really need. We are extremely fortunate, in every sense of the word.
Other items that were listed on our family's lists that made me smile was art supplies. The two younger children on the list mentioned wanting multiple art items. The reason this brought a smile to my face is that children today still enjoy the creativity and exploration that art offers. In a world that is so highly impacted by electronics, these children wanted to color and draw. These were items again we knew we could not pass up, and we purchased this family a large amount of art supplies so they can enjoy them many times over.
As stated previously, these lists were read prior to Thanksgiving and greatly instilled a sense of gratitude and blessing within us. Even when Thanksgiving day came and went, these feelings would surface every time we read over the lists and purchased the items for this family. We are constantly reminded that we are blessed and fortunate, not only today, but every day moving forward.
This year has been one of great tragedy as we learn to navigate life with my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, but this family of four allowed us to focus on them this holiday season and reminded us what the holidays are truly about - love.
A holiday that we spend so much time prepping for with cooking, cleaning, decorating, and buying gifts - I ask you, no I plead you, to hug your loved ones, tell them you love them, and take some extra time to just sit back and appreciate all of the blessings you have in your life. It might be as simple as a cup or a plate.
Thank you all so much for reading this week's post.
As always, I greatly appreciate each and every one of you as you travel through this blogging journey with me. I love reading all of your comments and I adore seeing you share the posts with your family, friends, and loved ones. I could not do it without you.
Thank you.
Subscribe, comment, share.
Share your story, light the way, make a difference today.
Happy Monday!
I hope you are all having a wonderful start to your week and staying warm! Here in Wisconsin, the first snow fall has already passed and it looks like a mild winter wonderland outside. Snow is sprinkled on the ground, the wind can make your eyes water, and the hot drinks are being consumed (possibly multiple times of day!).
Winter is a beautiful time of year with multiple changes, not only on the outside, but also on the inside. The Thanksgiving holiday has passed, holiday shopping is in full force, and the New Year is quickly approaching. I previously discussed on the blog in the "Maximize the Holidays with Minimalism" post, that we have adopted a family through the Salvation Army to buy gifts this holiday season.
This is the first time our family has adopted another family together, and it is something I would highly suggest you all to do next year. I will not share the family's name on the blog, but I did want to share some realizations we have experienced through adopting this beautiful family.
We received our adopted family prior to the Thanksgiving Holiday, and we instantly opened the attachment to see the items the family desired. We adopted a family of four, three kids and one parent in the Sheboygan area. The list and family was assigned a number in the 125-150 range. This number instantly pulled at my heart strings. I am not sure how the numbers are assigned, but the fact that there are over 150 families within our community that need help buying gifts, and giving their children the holiday they deserve is staggering. I am originally from Madison, Wisconsin, which is vastly larger than Sheboygan. I knew the needs of Madison were large, but I am shocked at the intensity of the need here in my new home town. I wish we would have been able to adopt every family and give all of the items on their lists, but I do feel good knowing one family will be able to open gifts together on Christmas morning.
While we continued to read our family's lists, I stopped on one item and my eyes started to swell with tears. We were able to adopt the entire family and that includes the parent(s). The parent on our list had asked for cups and plates...Let me say that again so I can portray the feelings I had when reading this for the first time.
The parent on our list asked for cups and plates for their family to eat and drink out of...
This parent could have listen anything. A new game system, more clothing items, but this parent wrote down cups and plates. This was items we knew we had to buy this family, and it was actually the very first items we went to the store and purchased.
The evening after we read over our family's lists and ate dinner, I again had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. We are fortunate enough to eat on glass plates and drink out of glass cups. We are fortunate enough to say "we don't need anything for the holiday". We are fortunate enough to be in a position to bless another family with gifts and items they really need. We are extremely fortunate, in every sense of the word.
Other items that were listed on our family's lists that made me smile was art supplies. The two younger children on the list mentioned wanting multiple art items. The reason this brought a smile to my face is that children today still enjoy the creativity and exploration that art offers. In a world that is so highly impacted by electronics, these children wanted to color and draw. These were items again we knew we could not pass up, and we purchased this family a large amount of art supplies so they can enjoy them many times over.
As stated previously, these lists were read prior to Thanksgiving and greatly instilled a sense of gratitude and blessing within us. Even when Thanksgiving day came and went, these feelings would surface every time we read over the lists and purchased the items for this family. We are constantly reminded that we are blessed and fortunate, not only today, but every day moving forward.
This year has been one of great tragedy as we learn to navigate life with my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, but this family of four allowed us to focus on them this holiday season and reminded us what the holidays are truly about - love.
A holiday that we spend so much time prepping for with cooking, cleaning, decorating, and buying gifts - I ask you, no I plead you, to hug your loved ones, tell them you love them, and take some extra time to just sit back and appreciate all of the blessings you have in your life. It might be as simple as a cup or a plate.
Thank you all so much for reading this week's post.
As always, I greatly appreciate each and every one of you as you travel through this blogging journey with me. I love reading all of your comments and I adore seeing you share the posts with your family, friends, and loved ones. I could not do it without you.
Thank you.
Subscribe, comment, share.
Share your story, light the way, make a difference today.
Namasté.
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