Full of Joy

We made it friends! It's DAY 23 of the #thankfultoday Series! Happy Thanksgiving to all! There is much to be thankful for today, and here are just a few that come to mind. It would warm my heart to pieces to hear the things YOU are thankful for today! ~being together with my man and kiddos ~spending all day with family, new friends, relatives, and the dog (shout out to Jovie!) ~the huge Christmas tree my parents already put up ~being able to hear what everyone is thankful for while eating pumpkin pie and MANNINGS ice cream cake ~finishing this blog series (it was A LOT of work, haha!) ~no agenda, lots of time to gab ~lots of people to love and be loved by ~Jesus- who unites us all in One Body and One Spirit ~Gertrude Hawks Santa Smidgens ~coffee with FLAVORED CREAMER because HELLO. It's a HOLIDAY!

Last week my younger brother and his wife visited us for the weekend. We LOVE having guests, and are over-joyed anytime family wants to come. It's always a lot of fun when Uncle Johnny and Aunt Elizabeth are around. Today is John Mark's birthday, which he shares with our sister-in-law, Trisha. Birthday Buddies! Some years their birthday falls on Thanksgiving, which is completely appropriate. I can't think of two more deserving people to celebrate on a day centered around gratefulness. Trisha married into our family, but I've known her since I was 11 so she feels like a real sister. She bosses me around, embarrasses me in public (one time she told a cashier I was being stood up by a guy that night), and barges into the bathroom no matter what I'm doing- yep, that's a sister! Trisha and I laugh so much and so hard when we're together! Often times we are reduced to tears because of our laughter. She has been a mentor to me, someone I have admired for decades....

A few weeks ago Chuck's brother Mark drove all the way up from GA to see us unexpectedly. He was about to head overseas for a year, and we were over-joyed at the chance to spend a few hours with him. The kids were SO excited! As you can see in the picture, they wanted to be around Uncle Mark no matter what he was doing- even if it was just paperwork. His presence in our home meant so much to all of us. After he left, we asked the kids what they liked about Uncle Mark's visit. Basye said, "He picked me up!" She has mentioned that  multiple times since. The sweetest ever. Today happens to be Mark's Birthday- so Happy Birthday to you! We are thankful for Uncle Mark! #thankfultoday

Cindy Jolly is the final classmate of mine from Write Brilliant Academy to guest post for our #thankfultoday series. After teaching elementary school for 30 years, her husband begged her to retire - so she did, and is thrilled to no longer be bolting out the door in the dark! She loves to try new recipes, sew when she's in the mood, and feed her new obsession with Masterpiece Theater. She is married to her best friend. They have 2 beautiful daughters, 2 wonderful sons-in-law, 4 grandchildren, and another on the way. She's very new to blogging, but what a lot of fun! You can find her at cindyjolly.com ! I am confidant her post will encourage your heart. Today I am thankful for brain cancer. Okay, not the cancer itself – I hate brain cancer, but for the way the Lord has used my husband’s brain cancer to wake me, shake me, and help me step into the picture painted in Romans 12:2 (TLB). "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world . . ." We knew something was up....

Years ago, I visited Grace Covenant Church  with Chuck's family during a weekend get-away. Ironically, Chuck was not with us that day. All I remember about my experience there is that it was raining hard, and the Church seemed to live in FREEDOM . I was very drawn to that. Fast Forward to this past July. Chuck and I were planning on moving to the area and wanted to get involved with a Church. I asked Chuck's Mom (who grew up in the area) if she could recommend any. She gave the names of two churches, which I passed along to Chuck. We didn't speak of the topic again for awhile. Meanwhile as time went on, I began to have very clear knowledge from the Lord we were supposed to attend GCC. I also had such a strong feeling about the church, it began to feel like HOME though we weren't even living in the State yet. When I would think of getting involved, excitement and peace washed over me. Eventually Chuck "confessed" he knew we were supposed to attend GCC! He had...

I'm thrilled to introduce you to my great friend, Tara Chapman! She's been married to a basketball coach for 17 years, and they have two teenagers. When she's not working on the house or blogging about the house ( Pennies From Heaven Home ), you can find her reading, watching TV, taking walks through the village, or driving the kids to endless games and practices. Oh and there's probably way too much time spent looking at houses on Instagram! I know you will love her post today! Today I am thankful for the biggest YES of my life. When Abigail asked me to write a post for her #thankfultoday Series, I decided to jump out of my comfort zone and go for it. You see, I blog too, but I provide mostly visual content. When I hit publish, it's lots of light and bright photos of our family home. But I said yes because our home is what I'm so thankful for today. Let me start by explaining that one of my favorite things is looking at home exteriors and interiors. I come b...

I have known Lisa Beavers since the 6th grade. Somehow we didn't become friends until we were in our twenties! We have more than made up for lost time in our dear friendship. Lisa is wife of Eric (who pastors a church in Raleigh NC and also makes a mean latte), stay-at-home mom (or full time activities director) of Lincoln (5) and Caroline (3), worship leader, avid library visitor, book club member and caretaker of 6 chickens who give eggs for her daily morning omelets! Thrilled to share her post with you today!   "Dear God, Thank you for pink! Amen." This was the bedtime prayer of my just-turned-three-year-old daughter, Caroline the other night. After I regained myself into a solid state from being melted into a puddle, I kept thinking of how beautifully simple her prayer was. How childlike. Yet here I was, a grown woman, being challenged and inspired by it. She truly sees God as the Maker and Originator of every good and perfect gift in her world (and it do...

Dr. Audrey Davidheiser, fellow Write Brilliant attendee, is a licensed psychologist, writer, and word lover. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology, an MA in Theology, and a BS in neither. (It’s in Biochemistry). She supervises pre-doctoral graduate students at the Dream Center Counseling Center and sees clients at her private practice. Her passion is to work with trauma survivors, single adults, and graduate students, but not necessarily in that order. Visit her writing space at DrAudreyD.com . Enjoy her post! Does Thanksgiving land on an inconvenient time this year? The news might have mauled your moxie. Your personal life? No less stress there. Finding reasons to be thankful gets harder when the light at the end of your tunnel flickered and died a few nights ago. I’m with you—itching to justify my grounds to be grumpy. Angry. Hopeless. Yet I make myself sit down and scout reasons to be grateful because studies find that thankfulness boosts health. Hey, you can sign me up for that! ...

Today we welcome another one of my classmates from Write Brilliant Academy , Cassia Glass. Cassia is a writer, speaker, and Bible teacher living in the Houston suburbs with her husband McLeod and their two kids. She blogs at cassiaglass.com on God, creativity, and purpose (but also on dogs, teenagers, and SEC football). Her first book New Woman, New Clothes: Outfit Your Soul to Live, Lead, Love helps readers apply Biblical principles to all kinds of relationships. (This is also available on Kindle eBook.)   “Operator? Send someone quick! That mean old postman is in a tree teasing my darling doggie again.” That’s our joke-book favorite. We giggle at the snarling “darling” and the panicked postman clinging to his branch. We like this one, too: What goes 99-bump, 99-bump, 99-bump? A centipede with a wooden leg. Yes, cornball humor at its best. Between telling jokes and setting up a LEGO® universe for a mini-fig battle royale, the session will zoom by as it does every wee...

Today I am thankful for this pretty lady right here (see above!). This is my cousin Kayla. We are exactly 16 years apart in age, both born on January 9th. We share a middle name, hair color (go blonds!), grandparents, love for coffee, our dogs, blood, and love for Jesus. Though we've celebrated countless holidays, birthdays, weekends, gifts, conversations, laughs, and texts, today I am particularly thankful for Tuesdays with Kayla. She is a sophomore in college this year, and she needed a mentor for one of her classes. I was so honored when she called and asked if I would chat with her over the phone every week. Kayla talks through her reading assignment with me, but what I love is our catch-up time. It's been a real joy to hear about her life, her thoughts, her dreams, her comings and going's, and especially about the new ways God has been revealing Himself to her. My spirits are lifted every time we talk! It's been a whole lot of fun to hear her voice every week. Ka...

Please welcome back my hunk of a husband today, Chuck Dubbe! Having grown up in a family of church-goers, I’ve always been exposed to God. I actually don’t recall a time when I didn’t believe in God. While my upbringing taught me a lot about Christianity and Jesus, there are several important lessons I didn’t learn until later on in life. I’m THANKFUL for the people who helped introduce the following 5 game-changers in my life: 1) “Sweet Things”. Shortly after Abigail and I were married, she convinced me there is no such thing as “coincidences”. After all, every good gift is directly from the heart of God for those He loves ( James 1:17 ). Inspired by her friend Gretchen, Abigail introduced me to “Sweet Things” – those personal, timely, and loving reminders from our Heavenly Father – whether it’s a note of encouragement, a warm sunny day, a thoughtful gift from a friend, or a favorite song on the radio. Together we look for and celebrate those Sweet Things. 2) Hearing God Speak. In ...

Little people have lots to be thankful for, too. It's a blast to ask them and hear their answers. This is what my 4-year-old-son, Jase had to say. "Jase, what are you thankful for today?" "GiGi" (one of his two amazing Grandmothers) "Climb the tree." "Running around in a circle with my cousins." These sweet answers just warm my heart to bits and pieces! God is so kind to bless us with such a wonderful son. #thankfultoday What are YOU thankful for today?  

Today we're welcoming one of my classmates from Write Brilliant Academy , Vanessa Luu. Take a minute to peruse her blog and find out more about her: https://vanessa-luu-bsm.squarespace.com/ Vanessa is a Wife and Mother of two beautiful girls and lives her life committed to the plans God has for her, Her purpose is to share the lessons and inspirations God has given her through a coaching business, and her passion to communicate through writing so she can help others live a more abundant life while on this earth. Please enjoy Vanessa's post! Today I am thankful for my Dad. Growing up I always loved him and I knew he loved me. But I would never say we were close. There was also a time span of about 2 years where I was very angry with him. He had violated my Mom’s trust. It made me very angry, because I had a good Christian family, and this stuff wasn’t suppose to happen. For my parents things went down hill, ending in divorce. As for me and my Dad things became neutral. I had ...

It's an honor to have my friend, Melissa Schlies share with us today. We took a crazy AMAZING trip to Houston last February with our mutual friend, Jess. We got to experience one of the most powerful Beth Moore conferences together to date. LIT 2017 has bonded us forever.  After that trip, Melissa wasn't just Jess' friend- she was my friend, too. Melissa is a writer, blogger, and life coach who is passionate about helping people become whole and healthy leaders. She loves coffee, books that make her think, and trying new recipes. When she isn’t enjoying any of these things, she can be found hiking or traveling with her husband. Please enjoy her post, and read more writing on her website: http://www.melissaschlies.com/   Have you ever faithfully watched a show, season after season, only to be terrible disappointed by its finale? That happened to me and my husband last year. To be fair, we missed watching one of the earlier seasons, but for the last three or four...

Good Morning World! Our guest for today is my precious two-year-old daughter, Basye (pronounced BAY-SEE. Her name means, "daughter of the Lord" in Hebrew). I asked her four times, "Basye, what are YOU thankful for today?" These are her responses: "Pizza" "Buy a toilet" (she wants a small toilet for her dolls for Christmas!) "Cake" "My pink cup" It's the simple, tender things really that sometimes touch our hearts that most, isn't it? What are YOU thankful for today? #thankfultoday    

If you've read the blog or followed my Facebook Page (Abigail Joy Dubbe), you've probably heard me mention Write Brilliant Academy , which is the course I'm involved in. During the #thankfultoday series, several of my classmates will be guest posting. Today I'd like to welcome Shanna Goodnight! You can find her blog at http://www.shannagoodnight.com/ . Shanna is a pastor’s wife living in Deep East Texas among the tall pines. With two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree under her belt, Shanna strives to use her writing to encourage and inspire others to reach greater heights with God. Enjoy her beautiful post!   Today I’m thankful for community This past weekend my husband and I attended a funeral. Sometimes a funeral can be the celebration of a life lived and include stories by friends and family of the antics over many years of the deceased. Not so this weekend. Stories were told but tears continually fell as people mourned the loss of a sweet 17 year...

It's been a lot of fun to make friends in our new town, but there is nothing like the comfort of old friends (and by old , I mean long-time, we are nowhere near old ;). This past weekend, our dear friends the Rufles came to visit! They are the first friends to visit us from our old home, and we are so grateful they came! Even though we had quite a cold, rainy Saturday- we didn't let that get us down. All the boys were able to play outside for a little bit, and were even content to romp around the garage. Our time together was filled with tons of talking, lots of eating, a Starbucks run (HELLO HOLIDAY DRINKS!), a scare from an alpaca (see picture), a couple rousing rounds of The Bowl Game, and ohhhhh the laughter! I laughed so hard I cried! I laughed so hard multiple parts of my body hurt all at once- a glorious feeling! That's how you know when you have true friends. Today I am thankful for dear old friends. What are YOU thankful for today? #thankfultoday

Today's post is written by our first guest writer in the #thankfultoday series, Chuck Dubbe! As you probably know, Chuck has been my man for the last 9 years (we met 9 years ago this month!). We've been married for over 8 years and I'm thrilled he wrote a post for us today! Thank you, Babe! I’m thankful for seasons. #thankfultoday There are various kinds of seasons. Right now the fall season is in full swing. Autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, when the temperature cools down, trees shed their leaves, daylight becomes shorter, and those sweet hot drinks are the favorite treats to get. Hello Starbucks and Dunkin! Not only do seasons mark weather changes, but also beginnings and endings. In life we experience seasons when we transition from one stage to another. It could be anything from a relocation, job change, birth of a child, time of grief, or even a temporary home renovation. There’s something about beginnings that infuses life, hope, excitement, an...

#thankfultoday PS: If you don't see the video, please click here .

One of the many joys of marriage is gaining a whole set of new family members! My husband, Chuck, is one of seven children so there are lots of special relatives in our life. Besides his siblings and parents, Chuck also came with a really wonderful Aunt. When Chuck and I were dating I began calling her Aunt Sharon because it was the most natural thing in the world. Aunt Sharon has served for the last FIFTY years as a Nun. I'm so in awe of her faithfulness in loving God and His people all these years. She was sure of her calling at a young age, and remains strong in her commitment to this very day. She is a beautiful example to our family of a servant of God with unwavering passion. Aunt Sharon is the generous soul who has allowed our family to stay in her house these last couple of months. God has used this house to give us direction in life, to give us a roof over our head, to give us a place to heal and recover, and to provide for a huge need. The house has been a God-send, but...

Guys, I am crazy about essential oils! I have been a closet oil user for quite some time because I don't like the oil-haters out there. Does anyone else hate to be hated ?! Alas,the time has come, and I just can't keep quiet any longer. Hi, my name is Abigail Joy Dubbe, and I am an essential oil LOVER! There. I said it. Whew, that feels good! ;) I signed up with doTERRA (an essential oil company) several months ago and have very much enjoyed their products. Along the way I heard about Young Living (another essential oil company), and had wanted to try them as well. But there was no way I was going to spend the money again. Trying YL oils became a little desire of my heart I kept tucked away. Only the Lord knew. Fast Forward. Several weeks ago, I was having a lovely conversation with a friend. We hadn't talked in quite awhile, so it was really fun to catch up. Towards the end of the conversation, much to my shock, she said, "My husband and I know you guys have been g...

Many of you are aware, my husband lost his job back in June. Because of that, we will lose our medical benefits at the end of December. We are thankful to have kept our benefits up until this point. God’s faithfulness to provide for our every need always astounds me. Today I am thankful God provided my husband with a part-time job at Lowes. Isn't he handsome? He has been working there for 2 weeks now. By the end of January, we will be able to get partial medical benefits through the company. We are absolutely believing God has a perfect full-time job for Chuck, but in the meantime Lowes has been a nice provision. Chuck has already had the opportunity to pray healing over co-workers, and be an encouragement to them. For those of you who know my man, this is no surprise! He has been able to connect with another guy who came as a refugee to the U.S. when he was very young. Before this guy arrived here, he was working full-time as a THIRTEEN year old under hellish conditions. What an...

Halloween is finally behind us and we can officially move on to The Holidays! It’s hard to believe they’re already here! I had to dash through the grocery store today and got giddy when I saw Halloween items 50% off while Christmas decorations, cookies, candies, ice cream, and creamers were merrily on display. My heart skipped a beat with anticipation. You better believe I start celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving! We’ve already had a dinner with Christmas music playing on Pandora in the background. Don’t get me wrong, I do love Thanksgiving. This year, in honor of the holiday, but mainly in honor of our amazingly good Father, I wanted to give thanks every day leading up to The Big Day. For 23 days I, along with several mystery guests, will be writing a post a day answering the question, “What am I thankful for today?” It would be wonderful if you would leave comments every day sharing with us all what YOU are thankful for today! Also, post on social media using the hashtag #th...