Being thankful for hard things

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the fall leaves, the delicious food, and the time spent with family. I love hanging out and playing board games and drinking hot tea. We always start Christmas decorating during the Thanksgiving holiday as well, singing carols as we decorate the tree as a family.

It’s a time of year to remember the events of the past year. Remember the good and the joyful and the blessings. That’s probably why I love Thanksgiving so much. I feel thankful every day for so much, and it’s so wonderful to have a whole day to celebrate the things worth being thankful about.

Our family dove into a new adventure this year, becoming foster parents. We have had two different children join our family during this past year. It’s been good and hard and beautiful all at the same time. This year I am especially thankful for being able to love on my own children, and on these other children as well. They have stretched us and that’s a very good thing.

Opening up your door or your heart, giving your time, your emotional investment, or your money is hard. Hard things are the things most worth doing because growth and maturity come through sacrifice.

Have you tried something hard this year? Have you ever given so generously that it forced you to grow to another level? Please, tell me about it! I’d love to hear your story.

Project Updates:

It’s been a crazy busy time for me this last month. Our family has a string of birthdays and anniversaries all in a row this time of year. I have planned four parties so far, and now the Christmas season is starting!

Whenever I get to this time of year I have the same feelings of overwhelm and failure. I have considered quitting on my dreams a few times. I ask myself why I spend so much time working on improving my skills and creating stories that are not going anywhere.

It’s tough.

I also made a few new pieces of art that I am proud of. They are “finished, not perfect”, better than what I’ve made before. As I look at where I was a few years ago, I see growth.

I know the rush of holidays and birthdays and travels will slow after New Years, and I will find my stride again. I love writing. I love drawing. I love children. I will find a place for my art to live someday, published.

What do you do when you feel like quitting?

Books I’m Recommending:

Middle Grade and Older:

The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien

One of the best books ever. I’m recommending it today because of my Gandalf image I created this past month.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

Picture Book:

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

I set the North Star in the heavens and I mean for you to be free…
Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman hears these words from God one summer night and decides to leave her husband and family behind and escape. Taking with her only her faith, she must creep through woods with hounds at her feet, sleep for days in a potato hole, and trust people who could have easily turned her in. But she was never alone.

Until next time,

Charlotte J. Glaze