We have a lot to be thankful for here at Salt+Clay. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude for how God has shown up in the middle of loss, the middle of chaos, and the middle of confusion in 2020. But through it all, He has provided a respite through this virtual community that has been wholly unexpected. We pray that as you read through these sentiments of thanksgiving from our S+C family you will be reminded of how God has met you this year too and join us in thanking God for all He has done and will continue to do in 2021!
Helen Steinkamp
What I’m thankful for especially this year are my spiritual “sisters”! Through this difficult season of total disruption to what’s normal in all our lives, it has been the fellowship, encouragement, and inspiration of my spiritual sisters – mostly on Zoom and online, that have strengthened me and encouraged me to keep my focus on Jesus and to persevere in my daily life. Many of you are among my beloved “encouragers.” You are living examples of the life of Jesus to me! Thank you, Father, and Thank you, Sisters!
Danielle Stickel
This year has made me realize the importance of family. Through loss and the struggles faced by quarantine and disrupted routines, I’ve found myself so grateful for the gift of time that was given to my immediate family when all of our plans were disrupted. The abundance of time together has forced us to get to know each other on a level we hadn’t reached before, and has made me appreciate my boys especially, for the amazing individuals they are.
Dawnielle Hodgman
I’m incredibly grateful for my little family. The fact that I get to be a wife and a mom blows my mind. I mess up over and over again but that’s the beauty of it, it’s so refining. This little miracle is teaching me what it means to truly love and be loved.
Ashley Jacobs
This year I’m thankful for my two healthy beautiful twin babies. My pregnancy was extremely challenging and we nearly lost them at 20 weeks. God in all of his goodness fulfilled his promise to me. I’m forever grateful.
Shannon Viney
This Thanksgiving I find myself being thankful for a lot of things I have taken for granted in previous years. I am most thankful that this year has helped me identify what brings me the most joy; spending time with people who bring life to me, alone time with Jesus, and slowing down enough to focus on personal growth for me and my family. It’s been a year like no other and I couldn’t be more thankful for that hidden blessing.
Peggy Davidson
For me this year has been a year of not so much getting all that I want but being thankful for all that I have including discernment to hear God’s truth through all of the chatter of the world. In the midst of all the chaos and uncertainty that 2020 has brought, I am thankful that I know the Son and worship an orderly Father who has a perfect plan.
Kelly Ehrheart
This year I’m especially thankful for God’s promises. With so much uncertainty, it’s been helpful to focus on His promise of peace guarding our heart and mind, His promise to work things together for good for those who love Him, and His promise to draw near to name a few.
For me, it has made the strangest of this time turn into an exciting adventure. I can’t wait to see what He is going to do next.
Jill Fawcett
I’m thankful for family, and extended family of friends! Without them, life would be dull and colorless! I’m also thankful for my garden, where I can get my hands dirty, and recharge spiritually and physically.
Heather Warren
I am thankful for God’s provision and grace during this trying season of life. He has been faithful in growing our family and covering us with an abundance of grace daily.
Sandra Hill
What a gift it has been to be able to go for a daily walk. Throughout quarantine in March & April, walking in my neighborhood and surrounding trails is what kept me truly sane. And I find even now, though I’m not in quarantine at the moment, walking is what is continuing to keep me sane during this crazy time. So this year, I am so thankful for the ability to get outside and go for a walk. Sometimes it’s while listening to a podcast, or worship music, or pop music, or just walking in peace and quiet while listening to all the sounds of God’s creation. Wind, birds, crickets, bugs. It’s all a gift & I’m so thankful.
Bethany Stanberry-Jacob
I am thankful for God’s grace- for His kindness and care and mercy in small and big ways. And I’m grateful for my family. They are a tremendous blessing, especially in this season of isolation.
Diane Mann
I’m thankful that I’m not navigating through this pandemic alone. I’ve been able to connect with many people, sharing our journeys, the highs, and lows, the discouragements, giving and receiving inspiration to keep going. I feel like we are cheering each other on and giving each other strength, even though we can mostly only be present to each other through technology. Shared texts, blogs, music, Zoom calls, beautiful photos, funny memes, prayer, Scripture-all are a part of how God is ministering to me and reminding me I am not alone.
Janice Fields
I am grateful for my beautiful adult children, my daughter-in-law, my son-in-law, and my two grandsons Jackson age 7, and Kai age 4. We have all been able to navigate through this pandemic in good health. My son and daughter-in-law were able to acquire a rental home on the beach here in Southern California, from San Antonio, as he is able to work remotely. It has also been a time of personal reflection and contemplation with the Lord.
Amber Slaybaugh
Lately, I have been very thankful for the wake-up call of God. I have noticed that the Holy Spirit stirs my mind and heart for God before I even open my eyes, and when I get up I am so shocked that the Lord Himself pursued me. Psalm 139:17 says, “When I awake, I am still with you.” I am filled with gratefulness at this truth, that every day I wake up and God is still with me.
Teri Whitney
Creating this year’s thankful list required a little more retrospect than other years. Being thankful isn’t always about what I have tangibly, it seems to be more an awareness of blessings given that we might take for granted. A big thanks to that we added a new daughter-in-love to the family, sweet thankfulness fills my heart when I see how our sons love their wives so well. Thankful for a God that is all-knowing and steadfast when all around me is uncertainty.
Sue Fulmore
This year I am thankful for the space COVID-19 has provided, a time to think about and evaluate how I have been living. It feels like a gift even though difficult. I have experienced a reset of sorts – a recalibration of my heart to that which matters most.
I am grateful for the rich relationships which have formed over those past nine months. The community and sense of sisterhood which has developed over Zoom. Who would have thought this possible? But God.
I am thankful for the ways I have experienced God coming near to me in new ways this year.
Deborah Hewitt
I am most thankful for the pure love of God. He reaches into your heart, pulls on the pain, and says, “You might feel rejected but I am here and I love you and I’m never going to let you go.” My grandson will say with the sweetest little voice “I love you so much, Nana.” God says, “lean in and listen to what I say.” On a walk, my little niece found a heart-shaped rock, kissed it all over, put it in my hand said “I filled this rock with kisses for you.” God says “I. LOVE. YOU. and I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU.” This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for His mighty voice in the storm of this year and for His faithfulness. Psalm 91:4
Giselle Crout
I am thankful for a thousand small things right now that thread throughout these days. A few that never cease to make me smile:
My children’s earnest faces as we have very frank discussions about what it means to be a Christian, a citizen, and a human.
A husband who does countless acts of service just because he knows me so well, including oiling my favorite cutting board as I write.
A mom and a sister who see me, love me, cheer me, and challenge me to be your best self.
Hilarious group texts with friends that veer easily and quickly from the most challenging things in life to the quite silly, never skipping a beat.
The way music has a way of matching my mood or transporting me to another. No matter what I am feeling I can always find music that makes me feel understood and not alone.
The eternal hope that “joy comes in the morning” (Psalms 30:5), despite a night or time spent weeping. It is such a breathtaking and inspiring feeling to know that morning will always, always come.
A God that can handle all my feelings and doesn’t require me to censor myself or fake a smile with him. He can definitely handle–and wants the joy but also the weeping.
In a year that has featured loss more than I think anyone thought possible, I am thankful for the practice of thankfulness! Loss is so hard, but it does have a way of underlining how blessed you were to have something in your life. I think this year has forced me to focus on the very many things I have to be thankful for even in the midst of it all.
