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Hello, Reader.

God tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. Do you ever find that difficult? Today I'm sharing resources that have helped me cultivate an attitude of gratitude in myself and my children. I hope you'll find them helpful as well!

Free resources for you this week:

• ​50 Gratitude Journaling Prompts - questions & sentence-starters to help jog your memory
• ​Giving Thanks during Hardship - stay on the lookout for silver linings!
• ​Count Your Blessings - name them A-Z with our printable Thanksgiving Scattergories game
• ​Hymns of Thanksgiving - so you can sing your gratitude to God
• ​Thanksgiving-Themed Discussion Starters - to prompt grateful conversations around the table
• ​5 Things I'm Thankful for - a colorful place to list the year's top blessings

What I'm reading this week:

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I enjoyed reading Nir Eyal’s Indistractable so much last month, I decided to go back and read his earlier bestseller, Hooked. You might say that if companies were not so proficient at putting into practice the concepts in this book, a book on remaining focused rather than perpetually struggling against distractability would never have been necessary in the first place. The titles are opposite sides of the same coin. In Hooked, Eyal explores what characteristics make a product habit-forming, and how the knowledge and ability used to create such products can be harnessed and used for good. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of the morality of manipulation and the matrix he gave for determining where creators fall ethically and what drives them.

What we're eating this week:

On today's lunch menu is my creamy potato soup. The weather's cooled off in our part of Texas, and I'm ready for something to warm me from the inside out!

What we're watching this week:

My girls and I were in the mood for a Christmas movie last night, but knew better than to play any of the family favorites until everyone can be here, so we watched Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah instead, about one woman's response to the news she has less than a month to live.

This week's reader request:

Several readers have requested a Prayer of Thanksgiving in the past, and I finally got around to publishing one today. You can download your copy by clicking on the image below:

On the podcast this week:

I didn't drop a new episode this week, either. Hopefully soon! In the meantime, here's another from the archives you may have missed:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 61 ​HOW TO HANDLE DEEP REGRETS ​ We’ve all said or done things that we later regret, sometimes profoundly so. But where does regret come from, and how are we supposed to handle this tangle of negative emotions? Listen in as we discuss this topic this week on Episode 61 of Loving Life at Home. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I only finished half the items on last week's to-do list: I ✅ made gingerbread garland, ✅ hemmed my daughter's wedding gown, ✅ wrote ​this year's Christmas letter​, ✅ attended a Thanksgiving dance with my husband and kids, and ✅ dressed in matching outfits with my daughter for "Twins Day" at co-op.

I did NOT ❌ attend a bonfire at my son's house (they all got a stomach bug and cancelled), nor did I ❌ drive to Dallas, ❌ visit the Arboretum, or ❌ help my mom put up her Christmas tree (as that trip got postponed until Thursday).

Personal goals for this week:

• help my mom decorate for Christmas
• go to Dallas Arboretum
• make daughter's bridal veil
• attend her wedding shower
• clean out garden beds
• put up dining room tree
• get ready for Saturday's craft fair (local? come shop! details below)

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Thanks so much for all your help! I'll be back next week with more links, reviews, and resources. If you have any special requests, please let me know. 😊