Wedding Bells and Thankfulness

Wesley and Kaylita on the first visit of their courtship in June 2019

Wedding Bells

Good day, folks!

This is going to be a bit of a breezy newsletter because I don't have time to go deep. But I did want to share some exciting news.

There are Wedding Bells in our family again!

Our son, Wesley, is engaged to be married to a beautiful girl named Kaylita Stauffer! The wedding is planned for Saturday, February the 6th.

Yes, the wedding bells almost seem like an echo these last few years. Sometimes Dawn and I think our children are leaving too fast... First Rodrick, then Gwendolyn, then Winfred and now Wesley! But the tears are happy tears. It's the way God meant it to be. "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife..."

Wesley and Kaylita met at Bible school close to three years ago... They have been courting for around a year and a half. Several months ago Wesley popped the Big Question, and Kaylita gave her delighted "yes!" Dawn and I are delighted too. Kaylita is a really nice Christian girl who loves children and likes to stay busy. She is the oldest girl in a family of six. 

Kaylita's family is from a small Mennonite congregation near Tower City, PA. Her father and brothers are skilled craftsmen of custom hardwood furniture. So... if you are looking for solid, handcrafted hardwood furniture designed and crafted by experts in the trade... you might want to check out HeartCraft Furniture at: www.heartcraftfurniture.com. Wesley assures you the workmanship will be the best you'll find anywhere! :)

Over 30 years ago my wife, Dawn, and Kaylita’s dad, Michael, grew up as neighbors in Myerstown, PA. So, in some ways it seems natural for their children to be friends too. Wesley and Kaylita seem to agree! 

Here is the announcement that Wesley and Kaylita sent out to family and friends. They both look a little dreamy, don't they? :)

And below are a few random pictures over the last year and a half. 

A casual shot from one of Wesley and Kaylita's many long discussions together.

At the one-year mark of their courtship, Wesley surprised her with 7 red roses. I think this picture was a staged reenactment of the surprise. Wesley, I think it looks a little made up! :)

Kaylita has that heart silhouette pretty well perfected, don’t you think? I wonder if she practiced a lot... 

Wesley and Kaylita ran a few food delivery routes together. Some of you may have been privileged to meet Kaylita on one of those days.

A few months ago Wesley purchased a small property close to Rodrick and Jeanette's Amen Acres farm.

So now everything is set for the wedding! Wesley informed me a few days ago that it was only 7 million seconds till the Big Day or something crazy like that! 

So, to sum up their courtship story briefly... Wesley and Kaylita learned to know each other, became best friends, and now have agreed they'd really, really like to spend the rest of their lives together! Dawn and I are so tickled for both of them... brings back lots of happy memories. We look forward to welcoming Kaylita as a daughter into our family.

We hope you enjoyed a few glimpses behind the scenes into our family life.

Keep Wesley and Kaylita in your prayers as they plan this serious step of lifelong commitment to each other. 

Blessings to all of you.

Your Farmers ~ Edwin and Dawn Shank for the Shank Family 

Real Farmers... Real Caring... Real Foods 

Hey... It's Thanksgiving 2020!

Here are a few thoughts that have inspired me and I want to share them for your meditation this season.

Why is Thanksgiving so Important? Well... consider the effects of not being thankful. Here are a few sober facts to consider that just might stimulate a better attitude of gratitude in each of us.

Ungrateful people tend to be:

1. Easily discouraged... Ingratitude creates constant disappointment. "What’s the use."
2. Resentful of the benefits or advantages others may have. Un-thankfulness doesn’t enjoy the success of others.
3. Entitled. Ungratefulness hates seeing others advantaged but expects advantage for itself.
4. Self-obsessed. Ingratitude has little room for others because the world revolves around its own troubles, disappointments, and resentments.
5. Thin skinned.
6. Clinging to past offenses. Ungratefulness is still talking about the offenses of 1999.
7. Fault finding and demanding. Nothing’s ever good enough for an ingrate.

So why would we ever be tempted to choose ungratefulness?

We might say we're unthankful because we are convinced that our life is miserable. But even though sometimes we do face hard circumstances... doesn't it seem silly to multiply misery by topping it off with a bitter dollop of ingratitude? Think about it.

Gratefulness notices and acknowledges.

1. Gratitude is about noticing. Ungrateful people make discouraged teams.
2. Thankfulness appreciates the stuff that is going right. Try walking around noticing the good stuff.
3. Gratitude requires expression. Unexpressed gratitude is actually ungratefulness. If you appreciate someone and do not tell them so, it’s like buying a gift for someone, wrapping it all up beautifully and never giving it to them.

14 Benefits of gratitude... even for yourself

If you can’t choose gratitude because it benefits others, choose it for yourself.

1. You will have less Stress.
2. You be more Resilient.
3. You’ll have less Envy.
4. Be more Content.
5. Have increased Optimism.
6. Enjoy Deeper Relationships. Who enjoys friendship with an ingrate?
7. You may even sleep better.
8. Have better physical health.
9. Live longer.
10. Increase your productivity.
11. Improved decision making.
12. Have higher energy.
13. Your friends will like to see you come.
14. And they will be sad to see you go. :)

A few thankfulness tips anyone can use:

1. Verbally express one thing you're grateful for every morning during the month of December. (By aiming low you can be thankful for at least that success!) lol
2. For the month of January try to find two things per day. For February, advance to three things a day... Make sure some of these gratitude’s are expressed appreciations for others. Tip: Place a few coins in your pocket. Move a coin to the other pocket every time you verbally express appreciation or gratitude. It a good way to keep track... and the coins in your pocket remind you of your thankfulness plan.
3. Ask other people what they are grateful for. It makes for appealing, up-beat conversation starters.

So there you go folks!  

Be grateful toward the folks in your life and your life will be full of great folks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shank Family