Sing Out Loud, Sing Out Strong (Ten Things of Thankful)

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Yesterday ended with a bang, the good kind.

The kind that makes a great Thankful post.

The morning started as every Friday morning does, with me being at the church for 6am to make coffee for Bible study.

Then houses to clean, then the shelter (feed and water all the kitties that are not in colony rooms, clean the bathrooms and kitchen, take out the trash).

After that instead of going home to collapse, i picked up a cheap and healthy pita sandwich from the Pita Pit (if you have one near you, check it out, i promise you will find something to love) and back to the church for a concert.

A concert?  At church?  What's so thankful about that?

Well, let me done tol' you, as Boudreaux would say.

When Miss Lynn first came to this town to attend the university, she was probably the shyest creature alive.  She's been raised in a tiny town in Arkansas and was, shall we say, sheltered.

The choir director here took Miss Lynn under her wing, and she has blossomed into one of the most incredible soprano singers i've ever heard.

My thankfuls are about things like that she landed at our church, she has learned to hold her own with people, and she is a young woman who can now get on a plane and travel to a music conference across the country and not be shaking in her boots.

She has kept her kindness and charm, while being able to stand up for herself, and it's beautiful to see.

Miss Lynn has had big roles in some of our church productions, and is poised enough to sing the solos at the Christmas Eve services as well as give solo concerts for all comers.

Last night's concert was incredible, and i am thankful i got to go.

She has learned, as they tell you in music, to open her mouth.  How thankful so many of us are that she has.

The turnout had the small chapel full, and i'm thankful so many friends came.

Her parents were there, and i'm very glad her mother got to play one number with her.  That's where she learned to sing, standing at the piano while her mother played.

She made us laugh and cry and then laugh again with her song selections.

Altogether, a fabulous way to end a long day of work, and so many things within it for which to be thankful.

Miss Lynn, please cut an album soon, so i can share it with friends!

Please join us and our gracious and wonderful hostess Kristi from ThankfulMe, write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful.   

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

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Today is:

Aloha Festivals Floral Parade -- Oahu, Hawai'i (part of the larger Aloha Festival celebrations this month and next on all the islands, celebrating native Hawai'ian culture)

Battle of Boqueron Day -- Paraguay

Blessing of the Fishing Fleet -- Church of Saints Peter and Paul and Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA, US (a festival today and tomorrow, with a blessing offered on the first Sunday of October each year)

Constitution Day -- Brunei

Cowboy Hall of Fame Ceremony and Banquet and Rex Allen Days -- Willcox, AZ, US (the kickoff for Rex Allen Days, includes the Cowboy Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and celebrates Willcox's own silver screen cowboy; through Sunday)

Eldon Turkey Festival -- Eldon, MO, US (the top producer of turkeys has the top turkey festival in the world)

Everybody's Day Festival -- Thomasville, NC, US (and they do mean there's fun for everybody)

Family Health and Fitness Day USA     

Festival of Tezcatzonctl -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (chief god of intoxication; date approximate)

Geneva Area Grape Jamboree -- Geneva, OH, US (grapes, wine tasting, entertainment, rides, and food; through tomorrow)

Gwynn ap Nudd's Fest -- Celtic Calendar (god of the underworld; date approximate)

International Coffee Day -- and i thought this was every day!  

Inventors Day -- Argentina

Make a List of the Top Ten Happiest Days in Your Life Day -- must have been started by an optimist

Mutation Day -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

National Attend Your Grandchild's Birth Day --  a day to remind grandparents to be active in their grandchildren's lives (and if you need a reminder, i wonder about you; if you aren't allowed by bitter parents, i feel badly for you)

National Mocha Day

National Seat Check Saturday -- US (make sure your child's car seats are secured properly)   

Pumpkin and Apple Celebration -- Woodstock, VT, US (lots of hands on fun with apples and pumpkins; through tomorrow)

Quick Draw Day -- debut of Quick Draw McGraw and his side kick, Baba Looey, in 1959

Sts. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and All Angels' Day  (Michaelmas)

    Archangel Gabriel, Patron of broadcasters, clergy, communication workers, diplomats, messengers, philatelists/stamp collectors, post offices and postal workers, radio and radio workers, secular clergy, telecommunication workers, telgraphers, telephones, television and television workers; Argentinian ambassadors; Seattle, Washington

    Archangel Michael, Patron of artists, bakers, bankers and banking, barrel makers/coopers, battle, boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, dying people, emergency medical technicians/paramedics/ambulance drivers, fencers and fencing, grocers and greengrocers, haberdashers and hatmakers, knights, milleners, paratroopers, police officers, radiologists and radiotherapists, security guards, sick people, soldiers, swordsmiths; for a holy death and safety at sea; England, Germany, and over 25 cities around the world; against danger at sea and temptation.     

    Archangel Raphael, Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, blind people, doctors/physicians, guardian angels, happy meetings, love and lovers, mentally ill people, nurses, shepherdesses/shepherds, sick people, travellers, young people; Dubuque, Iowa; MacKenzie-Fort Smith, Northwest Territories; Seattle, Washington; against bodily ills, eye diseases/eye problems, insanity/mental illness, nightmares, sickness

    related observances:

    National Day of Remembrance for Policemen Killed -- Australia (St. Michael, Patron of police officers)

    Payment of Quit Rent by London Royal Courts of Justice -- Michaelmas is a traditional English "Quarter Day", when rents come due

Taste of Morgan Hill -- Morgan Hill, CA, US (fine arts, entertainment, and plenty for the kids to do, too; through tomorrow)

Tri-State Band Festival -- Luverne, MI, US (high school bands from Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa compete in four categories)

VFW Day -- US (The Veterans of Foreign Wars was established on this day in 1899)

World Heart Day -- International (to raise awareness of the signs and dangers of cardiovascular disease)     

Birthdays Today:

Emily Lloyd, 1970

John Paxton, 1960

Bryant Gumbel, 1948

Patricia Hodge, 1946

Lech Walesa, 1943

Dave Wilcox, 1942

Ian McShane, 1942

Madeline Kahn, 1942

Jerry Lee Lewis, 1935

Anita Ekberg, 1931

Lizabeth Scott, 1922

Trevor Howard, 1916

Stanley Kramer, 1913

Michelangelo Antonioni, 1912

Greer Garson, 1908

Gene Autry, 1907

Enrico Fermi, 1901

Horatio Nelson, 1758

Miguel de Cervantes, 1547

Pompey the Great, BC106

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Grace Under Fire"(TV), 1993

"Thirtysomething"(TV), 1987

"Designing Women"(TV), 1986

"MacGyver"(TV), 1985

"Houdini, A Circus Opera"(Opera), 1977

"The Judy Garland Show"(TV), 1963

"My Favorite Martian"(TV), 1963

"The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show"(TV), 1962

"My Three Sons"(TV), 1960

"Outlaws"(TV), 1960

"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"(TV), 1959

"Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"(TV), 1955

"A View from the Bridge"(Play), 1955

The Barefoot Contessa(Film), 1954

A Star is Born(Film), 1954

"Make Room for Daddy"(TV), 1953

Today in History:

Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumata, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, BC522

Battle of Salamis, at which the Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I, BC480

Pompey the Great Celebrates ending the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday, BC61

Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem, 1187

The First Congress of the US adjourns, 1789

"Scotland Yard", London's Metropolitan Police Force, goes on duty, 1829

The first practical public electric tramway ever opens in Blackpool, England, 1885

John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire, 1916

The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed, 1954

Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched, 1962

WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station, 1975

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland, 1979

The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth, 2004

The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history, 2008

An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami, 2009

The Koreas agree, for the first time in two years, to hold working-level military talks, 2010

Researchers discover a biofluorescent hawksbill sea turtle in waters off of the Solomon Islands; though biofluorescence has been observed in captive reptiles, this is the first occurrence seen in a wild reptile, 2015