30 Days of Thankfulness

But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.
~ Psalm 13:5-6, NL

I am thankful for the time this past month that I have had to reflect on my life, the relationship I have with my Savior, the family and friends that pray for me daily, the things I can do to make this place just a little bit better for others.

I have so much to be thankful for and even though this has been a very tough month for me and my family; in so many ways I am stronger and will continue to trust in the Lord knowing He will help get us through.

It is now time for us all to remember Jesus is the reason for the season.

I am so looking forward to being in Oklahoma with family again this year for Christmas! 19 Days and counting!!

Day 29 - Thankful for a Snow worthy Car

Stuttgart got hit by an early snow storm and with 8+ inches on the balcony and more coming down, I am grateful for a car that gets me to and from without being exposed to the elements.

A co-worker (newly arrival in Germany last week) had to catch the bus with his wife and 3 daughters this morning and walk in to the school. They made arrangements for the school bus to pick the girls up at the hotel in the mornings so they wont have to be out in this weather every morning.

We offered him a ride home this evening...been there; dark at quitting time, car not here yet, living out of suit cases, with most of your winter clothes in your unaccompanied baggage somewhere over the Atlantic, l all in a winter snow storm~

Yes I an thankful for a warm car that gets me where I need to go!

Day 28 - thankful for our family traditions

Today is Christmas tree decorating day at the Mitchell’s. For many, many years we decorated the Christmas tree on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Alan would take care of the pizza; home made, delivery or take-out. I would pass out the current years Christmas ornaments. Sean would put the lights on the tree, all the ornaments (from years past) would be laid out and everyone would put them on the tree. The cane canes would go on after all the other decorations. And usually the boys would but the angel on the top of the tree together! IT was a fun way for me to start off the Christmas season and a good family evening for us all.

After the pizza was finished and the tree decorated, we would light some candles, turn off all the lights except the tree and play a few specially selected Christmas songs. I encouraged everyone to wear their comfy clothes and even gave out flannel pants one year for everyone to wear on this family evening. As the boys married their wives and children joined us in this now second generation family tradition. 9 years ago I started a new tradition of giving grandchildren their December pajamas on this evening.

This year however is the second in a row that has been a little different. This year’s ornaments and December pajamas were passed out in October because that’s when I was in Oklahoma! This year there will be no Christmas tree decorating evening at the Mitchell house (we will be on our way home from London). But we do have a tree; our tree (complete with 220V lights) is very small but it is decorated with love and memories of our past years tree decorating evenings!

Maybe I will be back in Oklahoma next year in time to resume this annual tradition, but if not we will make do the best we can.

Day 27 - Thankful for those that came before me

Touring England and Germany throughout November I have often thought about distant relatives that might too have walked these same paths. Their footsteps eventually lead them to leave their homeland for a promise of new life in new country. What faith they must have had in God to pack up (or simply walk away) from their homeland and make this journey. How grateful I am to have such great names as Oneth, McKitrick, Alspaugh, Lucas, Hoge, Gilbert, Sullivan, Whitaker, Hunter, White, (to name a few) in my family tree...

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Day 26 - Thankful for My Cousins

Cousins are often the first friends of our lives.... As you grow up, they are still your friends and can sometimes stand in as your brothers and sisters..... I have some of the best cousins in the world! They may not be a part of my daily life, but they are never far from my thoughts ...and memories!!!! ( I have a niece to thank for this entry)

My cousins range from 62 to 28 in age! There are 13 of us on one side of the family and 12 on the other side (counting my 3 brothers and I are in both sets). I am one of the youngest in one set and one of the oldest in the other set.

We all have a footing in El Reno as both of my Grandparents raised their families there. Our families have grown beyond the capacity for hosting sit down meals in each others homes and unfortunately these days the times we do all gather is normally a sad occasion. It has been hard to stay in close contact with all of the cousins but with facebook we can get frequent updates and share in each others lives even while being miles apart. I love seeing pictures of their children and their children’s children. I see reflections of us (from our youth) in these pictures.

I am thankful for such a great group of cousins. I cherish these family bonds and am thankful for each and everyone.

We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds. ~ Psalm 75:1, NLT

Day 25 - Thankful for my health

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. ~ Psalm 28:7, NLT


I am thankful for good health and being able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with family and friends.

We haven’t had a normal Thanksgiving the last 3 years.

2009 I was in Germany and everyone else was hovering around the hospital in Norman in between meals.

In 2008 Alan and I were both very sick with some type of flu and we ate mashed potatoes for our meal!

In 2007, Alan was admitted to the hospital the night before Thanksgiving very ill from some type of virus and then the rest of us (including me) started dropping like flies shortly there after with the same thing in varying degrees of severity). I don't think I ate anything that year!


This year after a Thanksgiving dinner on Post we are headed to Hieldelburg, Germany to get on a bus headed for London! We will be in London Fri-Sat and head home on Sunday.

And who knows hopefully next year we will be back in Oklahoma healthy and ready for a Thanksgiving meal!

Day 24 - Thankful for suitcases on wheels

I know it sounds sort of trivial, but over then next 6 weeks we are going to be doing a lot of travel. And wheeling full suitcases around is so much easier than carrying them through busy streets, bus and train stations, airports and customs lines. As we pack for this weekends trip I am thankful not to have to lug/drag this bag around; instead we can simply glide it along as we go.

Well after we get it down the first flight of stairs that is. ...