My Favourite Pages in My Planner

Last year one of my goals was to take the Joy Dare and follow along with counting one thousand gifts using Ann Voskamp’s printables.  She gives a suggestion each day for finding three gifts to give thanks for.  Well, to sum up, it was a bust.  I just couldn’t keep up.  I didn’t make it enough of a priority I guess.  Anyway, at the start of this school year, back in September, I set my sights a little lower.  I knew I wanted gratitude to be a part of my daily rhythm, but I wanted it to be simple enough that it would not get neglected when things got busy.     I remembered I had downloaded some cute planning pages from Snapfish a long time ago, and I knew they would be perfect.  There is just one line for each day of the month.  So I put the pages for the school year months right into my homeschool planner.  It is the first thing I turn to every morning when I am skimming the day’s plans after my quiet time…before the rush and work of the day begin.  I simply write a one line thank you prayer or list a gift I am especially grateful for in that moment or from the day before.  It is one of the things in my morning routine that I look so forward to.  It’s simple, but it sets the tone and opens my eyes and heart to God’s blessings as I head into a new day.  Sometimes it’s just giving thanks for a beautiful sunrise, a bird I see swooping outside my livingroom window.  Sometimes it’s something practical like a delicious meal or a comfortable bed.  Sometimes it’s a melt-my-heart-moment with one of my kids.  Sometimes it’s a smell, a scene, a good book, a memory.     

 As the months have hurried by, I find I enjoy reading this little gratitude log.  It is a fast motion diary with a built in attitude adjuster.  Everything written on every line was recorded with a sense of thanksgiving.  Even on the tough days I force myself to look for ways to say thank you to God for how He will provide.  When I think about what paperwork I will save and what will get tossed at the end of the school year, I know beyond a doubt that these pages are the most precious record of our school year.  They will tell the story of our hearts as a family when I look back on them in years to come.  No doubt these daily one liners will make me laugh.  And they will make me cry.  I will treasure these pages forever!