The Blessing Jar

I sat in my last MOPS meeting on Friday and our devotional time was spent making a blessings jar.  

It's a small Mason jar with a printed piece of paper taped to the lid that says, "I'm So Blessed Because..." and you wrote down blessings on scraps of paper and stuck it in the jar.  

A simple act. 

A moment to focus on your blessings. 

I struggled to think of a lot of things besides the usual; shelter, money, family, kids, husband, jobs, etc. 

It's not that I am not blessed.  Take a stroll through my house and it shows the abundance of blessings.  

Spend time with my family and you can see the non-tangible blessings.  

Yet, I was struggling.

I have so many friends this year that are being hit with loss right before Thanksgiving which rolls into Christmas.  Several of my friends have family that were just diagnosed with Cancer or other serious health problems.  

Placing those scraps of paper into that jar felt trite. 

I have wandered through the month of November trying to focus on my blessings but have felt guilty for having "too many" blessings and things to be Thankful for. 

Don't get me wrong, we have had our own roller coaster ride throughout November. 

We are waiting on a closing date so we can move to Austin, our car has been in the shop twice, my daughter is cutting teeth and so very fussy, we are having our first Thanksgiving without my husband's grandmother, my kids are struggling with saying goodbye to friends and family. 

Yet, in that list I see much to be thankful for, those blessings that I finally wrote on the scraps of paper. 

We have a house with a roof and heat, we have a good car and we bought the extended warranty, I have a daughter and she is healthy, we have family to spend Thanksgiving with, we have good friends, our friends are already planning visits to Austin, we have family.  

There is so much that we are all blessed with and those friends that are being hit hard this month...I am blessed that I am here and get to wrap my arms around them as they walk through these trials. 

I pray that each of you takes a moment today and focuses on your blessings in spite of your trials. 

Health- Elderberry Syrup

As the weather starts turning colder, my kids are starting to sniffle and cough.  Every cough reminds me that I need to get my winter arsenal ready.  And it reminds me that I'm thankful to have the knowledge and the resources to help keep my kids healthy this winter.

The first thing I use daily is elderberry syrup.  One tablespoon a day as a preventative, upping it to at least 2 tablespoons when coming down with something.

The syrup is very easy to make.  This is the recipe I like to use.

1/2 cup dried elderberries 

5 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon grated ginger

2 cups water

1 cup honey

Combine all ingredients except the honey, in a saucepan.  

Bring to a boil and simmer 20-30 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half.

Put the honey in a clear pint jar- or other glass container that has a lid.

Strain the mixture and combine the liquid with the honey.

Stir and let cool.

Store in the refrigerator.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do =)

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