Beyond Gratitude

ByDani Pettrey
19 Comments

Hi friends, and happy Wednesday. I hope your day is off to a lovely start. I can’t believe we’re already in December! Where has the year gone? 

I’m going through an Advent study guide by She Reads Truth. If you are unfamiliar with them, I recommend them highly. Their books are filled with Scripture, study notes, journal pages, and beautiful photographs and designs. 

The study focuses on the expectation of and the longing for Christ. His birth fulfills prophecy, and He brings new beginnings. I’m so grateful to my Savior for all He’s blessed us with, and a huge part of this past year’s blessings have come from YOU. 

As many of you know, our house flooded from Hurricane Helene two weeks after we moved to Florida. Everything was still in boxes on the floor. Needless to say, with four feet of water in our home, we lost 95% of our belongings and both cars. It was, in a word, staggering. 

We spent over six months in hotels and Airbnbs—a huge part taken care of by a fundraiser organized by fabulous author and friend, Jill Kemerer. So many people donated funds, many we didn’t even know, and yet they gave. 

Dear friends helped us clean up and get the water out. I was out of town at a conference and flew directly home the next day to find all our belongings wet, stinky, and ruined on our front lawn, where the county would send giant trucks to pick it up for us and all our neighbors. The entire community had been flooded. 

I found game pieces that had floated out of the house onto the lawn from games I played with my kids and grandkids, keepsakes gone, and the hardest thing for me was losing my mom’s recipes. She was an amazing cook, and she passed on thirteen years ago, so they’re irreplaceable.  

But… I’m beyond grateful to say not only are we back in our new home, but it is finally put together—everything in it is a gift from reader and writer friends or from Facebook Marketplace. And, we get to spend the first Christmas in our new home. 

I don’t know if you all saw or remember, but I shared pictures after the flood of our house when it was gutted. 

Now I wanted to share snapshots of our finished home. Thank you for making an incredible gift a reality for us, for touching our hearts and filling us this Christmas season with abundant gratitude for both Jesus and You. 

I’ll be back with you on Christmas Eve with a special recipe and a Christmas giveaway. 

What is your favorite belonging in your home?  

Blessings, 

Dani 

Discover more from Inspired by Life . . . and Fiction

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Praised by New York Times best-selling author Dee Henderson as "a name to look for in romantic suspense," Dani Pettrey has sold more than half a million copies of her novels to readers eagerly awaiting the next release. Dani combines the page-turning adrenaline of a thriller with the chemistry and happy-ever-after of a romance.

19 Comments

  1. This is a beautiful post about gratitude, something I’m learning continuously, things to be grateful everyday. 🙂 I’m so sorry to hear about the flooding of your house, which is absolutely devastating and losing things too. I’m glad to hear you’re in your new home, and everything is finally put together 🙂 Have a blessed Wednesday! 🙂 x

  2. In answer to your question, I have many favourite belongings, among them are my family photos and my ipad, which have my family photos, messages and my drawing apps as I love to draw. 😀

  3. I just can’t even imagine the pain and inconvenience of enduring such a catastrophic loss. I’m so encouraged that you’re back into your lovely home in a peaceful, organized condition.

    In my home (over-55 apartment community), my favorite belongings are my photographs of family and good friends.

    Have a blessed Christmas!

  4. So happy you’re back home and everything is put together. What a wonderful feeling of relief! My favorite belonging in my house is my big couch that I bought a few years ago.

    1. Thank you so much. It is a huge blessing to be back in.

      That’s awesome. I bet it’s a great place to curl up and read.

  5. My brother -in -law gave
    us the rocking chair he made his Mom ( and my husband’s) from wood of the tree he cut down from the family farm my MIL
    Grew up in. He did every stage himself from drying
    the lumber to the carpentry to make the chair. . Every single stage! He even engraved the family name. On the arm is EPH 2:8, 9.The story of how a little girl came to
    Play under the tree is on the bottom The rocker graced their home for many years. Mom
    Lived to 104. We hope to pass it on to our son who has two boys. .

  6. I am so glad you are all settled after the chaos! What a joy to celebrate Christmas–finally–in your new home!

    1. Aww. Thank you so much, friend! It was amazing and humbling how many people came together. It juts moved our hearts so much. Such a blessing from God.

  9. I am so glad you all are settled back into your home. It looks beautiful. We had a wildfire coming straight at us about 10 years ago, and the only thing I wanted to make sure I took with me was my husband and kids. Through the efforts of our brave neighbor farmers, who plowed furrows in the field as the fire raged toward and around them, and God graciously turned the wind at just the right moment, our house was spared when many others weren’t. Have a wonderful, peace-filled Christmas, Dani!

    1. Oh my goodness. How terrifying. I’m so glad your house was okay! Isn’t that the truth. When it comes dowm to it, you just want your loved ones safe and sound.

  10. My Christmas stockings that I cross stitched for my family. Also, some quilts that have been passed to me from my husband’s family.

Comments are closed.