I wanted to clarify something I wrote yesterday (I don’t think very highly of myself).

Duck…Mom…I didn’t mean to hurt your hearts. There are lots of thoughts running through my head and sometimes they aren’t very pretty — that’s just the truth. The other part of the truth is those lies come from the devil. (Mom, you can’t take any responsibility for that!) The ones that whisper who do you think you are to want to talk to Ann? You don’t have anything to offer her. Best just leave her alone.

In truth, I let those thoughts talk me out of meeting her and it’s entirely possible I missed out on a blessing from God. I do that sort of thing a lot when I’m not doing my quiet time or reading God’s word. I become lazy in focusing on the Truth and fall for the lies.

Duck and I had a great conversation last night. He told me how much he loved me and how I’m beautiful on the inside as well as the outside — “you have a heart of gold” he said. I needed to hear him say those things to me — to remind me — but it was also a little uncomfortable for me to receive those words.

You see, I’m a giver. My comfort zone is in giving. I would much rather give something than to get something. I want to help people, and I feel uncomfortable at time receiving even money for my work. I have been working on that and getting better

When I was talking with Duck last night, I realized that in my head, I was helping Ann by not going to talk to her. I was helping her get to her hotel room and sleep a few minutes earlier by not having to meet me or talk with me. That way of thinking is so engrained in me.

God’s been working on me though to get me out of my comfort zone of giving and wants me to receive His blessings and be thankful for them. So I’m continuing with my thankfulness!

10. awesome parents who I have always known love me no matter what I do

11. a warm hug and encouraging words

12. a daughter who actually said thank you this morning for her breakfast

13. listening to Duck help Doodle with homework

14. sweet comments from online friends I haven’t heard from in awhile

15. Sudafed

16. grocery store where we can get food to prepare for the storm coming

17. cooler weather signaling my favorite time of the year

18. Cokes

… my home, no matter how dirty, keeps me warm and dry

… food, that I’m not going hungry

… freedom, the freedom we have in America is something some take for granted

But today I’m thinking about what I’m really thankful for the most … and that’s life.

I’m thankful for …

… the life behind every one of the Twitter avatars that come up in my stream. Some of you I have never even met in person, but each of you have touched me in one way or another.

… the life behind every one of the Facebook pictures that I’m friends with. Most of you I’ve met and yet, you still want to be my friend.

… the life of my closest Skype buddies who I’ve yet to meet. Y’all are a great support to me when I feel like pulling my hair out.

… the life of all my Proverbs 31 Ministries sisters. I’ve just recently become really involved with this ministry and every one of you have welcomed me into the fold with open arms and most importantly prayers.

… the life of every one in my family. From parents, in-laws, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, great-neice, great-nephew, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents — even the ones who have passed from this world. They’ve all had an impact on who I am right now.

… the life of Duck and Doodle. Duck is my best friend, my provider, my caretaker. Doodle is my best daughter who’s growing up too quick. She’s beautiful, smart and artistic.

… the life God saw fit in talking me out of taking 7.5 years ago. If it weren’t for His love, there are many of you I would not know today.

most importantly, I’m thankful for …

… the life of Jesus and that He would give up His life for me is sometimes unbelievable. I am so unworthy. I went to Women of Faith a few weeks ago with my best friend from college and her mom. It was a great weekend of reflection and catching up on 16 years worth of life. Looking back at how I was when she and I hung out, all I could think was I’m a totally different person now. Jesus is that difference and I’m eternally grateful for that.

I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. May you remember everything that you have to be truly thankful for in this life. Please feel free to share what you’re thankful for in my comments area. I love y’all.

1. Care about others. And by caring I mean praying for others. On our anniversary, Duck’s group had been invited to do music during a revival service. The pastor got up and asked for prayer requests and Doodle raised her hand and shared one. She had two, but the pastor didn’t hear her correctly. I told her that was ok because God knew she tried to speak up and hears her prayers. The fact that she spoke up in a strange church where she didn’t know anyone surprised me. But it was absolutely awesome to hear her requests for other people and hear the concern in her voice.

2. Don’t be hard on yourself. We left the house a few minutes later than I would have liked. When we pulled into Bojangles (don’t judge me – she won’t eat anything else for breakfast), the drive-thru line was long. I made some kind of comment about how I messed up and we should have gotten up earlier. Doodle said, “stop being so hard on yourself Mom! Everyone makes mistakes.” Thing is I am often very hard on myself for what I do wrong and I see Doodle reacting the exact same way. Especially when she misses something on homework.

3. Don’t speed. Before we went on vacation, I was late leaving the house to pickup Doodle from school. There’s a side road I take to her school through a residential area. I thought the speed limit was 35 but the cop who pulled me kindly told me I was doing 45 in a 25. So when I did get to the school, Doodle was fussing at me because I was late. When I explained to her what happened she promptly asked if I told the cop that “my daughter is waiting on me and was very worried something bad had happened to me.” Um. No. You don’t tell cops that sort of thing. They don’t really care. This morning I was speeding up on the highway to pass a car and get over for our exit and she reminds me ever-so-kindly to slow down because we can’t afford another speeding ticket.

We can learn a lot from our kids. Some of it you might not want to see (like the bad habits they’ve picked up from you), but all of it we need to see.

I’m leaving my computer at home – so no email, Twitter, Facebook, working on websites, none of it. I will have my cell phone to call home, but other than actual voice calls, I’m not going to use my phone. This is major for me. I’m quite the computer addict. I decided to leave you with a list so you may know when it’s time to go on vacation or just unplug for a bit.

5 of ways you know it’s time to unplug

1. when you dream in code (html, css, php)
2. when you wake up in a panic realizing you didn’t set your alarm last night, rush into your child’s room to wake them up for school only to realize it’s Saturday
3. when you get a speeding ticket on a back road because you’re running late to pickup your child from school
4. when you hear your spouse snoring down the hall, and you’re still working on a project
5. when your child has to ask you repeatedly for a drink

and one last bonus way to know when you’re ready to unplug, when you feel like this:

Yes, that’s me. I remember the exact moment this picture was taken. I don’t know why I was upset in the first place, but Dad had sat me on the kitchen table. My oldest sister, Sue – who is 11 years older than me and should have known better – snapped this picture of me which made me even more upset. And Dad got mad at me. I couldn’t understand it. But Dad didn’t get mad at me a lot, so it kinda jerked me back into reality and stopped the gushing.

But if you’ve been feeling like this, I pray you get a vacation sometime soon! Or if you can’t do a vacation right now, just get a book that doesn’t make you think and go somewhere away from your house for an hour. Give yourself permission to unplug. I promise Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of the Internets will still be there when you get back. After all, you’ll be here when I get back, right?

• I mailed half of my Women of Faith stuff out today. So Mandy @ Pennies and Blessings, Heidi, Jenny 86753oh9 and Punkinmama — your stuff is officially in the mail. Please let me know when you receive it! To Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman and Annabelle @ Christian Momma my sincerest apologies. It will be Monday before I have a chance to mail yours. Ran out of mailing supplies
• I want to specially thank Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman. She won 2 days of giveaways and wrote me an email to say give one of them away to someone else. Well, it just so happens that the new official winner of Sheila Walsh’s All that Really Matters book is a lady I know in real life. One that I had no idea read my blog until she left a comment on that post. So congratulations Monica! Now you don’t have to be mad at me
• Monica is a lady at Doodle’s school that I know well enough to say “hey” to — when I talked to her today and told her about the book, she thanked me for my blog. Ya’ll … that floored me. My blog? She thinks it’s neat. I told her that it felt good to be writing again like I believe God wants me to do. I mentioned getting overwhelmed at reading other blogs and the mentality of “well they said it so I don’t need to.” Monica confirmed God’s calling for me. She said “I don’t read those other blogs. Write for me.” Thanks Monica for sharing that with me today. You blessed me more than you know
• For my BlissDom ladies, I’ll have a post up Monday with tips for ya’ll. Shoot, I might have to make more than one I’ve got so much to share! So check back then to look for it. And even though I’m not going to BlissDom any more, I’m still going to keep the MckLinky up — so link up and get to know some of the other ladies going!
• I’ll be disappearing from the blog and Twitter this weekend. We’ve got a lot of good stuff going on, and I’m going to try doing life off my computer and with my family. I hope you make that kind of time this weekend as well.