GOD IS GOOD~ Thankful Day 9

I'm thankful today for two Pentatonix Christmas albums that I bought a couple of weeks ago and listened to ALL DAY today! I even played a couple of songs, through my Jambox in the middle of Panera tonight, for a couple of friends from church Bible study group, they liked them! Their music really puts me in the Christmas spirit! 

I'm thankful for a flexible schedule that lets me do pretty much anything my heart desires. I had plans to work at home all day, until... I needed to run an errand to church and wound up staying there for 4 hours, working on paper chains and candy cane invites to pass out at the Christmas lighted parade this Saturday. I'm hoping it doesn't rain on our parade! I heard it's in the forecast, yikes!

And I'm so thankful for the teachers at my kids school, who work hard everyday to educate my children and who gave us good reports on them today. Always good to hear good things about your kids!

GOD IS GOOD.

Perseverance, Grace and Random Strangers~ Thankful Challenge Day 8

So just being honest but I thought this being thankful for 3 things everyday challenge was supposed to make me feel more thankful and content... It's not working. I'm positive I shouldn't post this, but I'm going to. I've got issues.  I have to say I've never felt more discontent in my life than I do now. Again, I've got issues. I have sooo much to be thankful for!!! More than I can wrap my brain around, and I know this, yet I'm still dealing with these feelings that at times seem too much to bear. What is wrong with me?! Honestly I already know. I've been praying for quite some time now, probably for a good 10 months, that God would change my heart's desire to desire only the things He desires for me. For some reason all these months later, I'm still praying that prayer.  I'm a dreamer, and a visionary. I like to imagine my life in ways that are completely different than reality.  I love my life, I love all the people in my life, but I still have a longing for more, for different, for "better", which is insanely ridiculous. Why am I not content? Whatever the reason sometimes I just want to escape. Sometimes I want all new, and not new stuff but just new surroundings, new mission, new calling, new purpose... Sometimes I want to move somewhere more simple where everything is just simplified, not chaotic and just completely relaxing and filled with only natural things.  Anyone else ever feel this way? Or am I alone? I'm sure I'm not alone, I'm sure there are quite a few in this world who can relate.  So I'm not sure how to fix my issues, I know only God can help me in this, and so I will persevere, and I will not give up asking Him to change my hearts' desires to align with His. I will continue to serve, continue to be willing to be used by Him and continue to try to be what He has made me to be. Feelings of discontentment will remain until He calls me home, hopefully not for the same reasons I just described above, but instead because I'm longing for my heavenly home, a better country, a place where contentment is made complete in Christ Jesus, a place far better than one I could ever dream up or imagine! "But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:16 ESV)

So in conclusion I bring a sacrifice of praise before my Lord and I say Thank You today for the perseverance you provide me to not quit and to never give up. Thank You for the grace you provide, that I'm so undeserving of and help me to give it as quickly as I receive it. And finally, Thank You for friendly random strangers who just want to chat, but who remind me how important a feeling of community is and of the fact that every single person in this world has been made in Your image and is worth a friendly smile, a genuine "hi, how are you?", a helping hand, or a chance to go first in line.

Church People and 8! ~Thankful Day 7

Three things I'm thankful for today... Awesome people at church who use their unique talents and gifts to serve Christ Our Lord and others...that would be ALL of our church staff and volunteers!!! I'm so blessed to work with some of the best! Today I was amazed by our church's tech team, completely using their expertise and going above and beyond to help this years children's Christmas musical run as smooth as possible. 

And the next two I'm thankful for are my niece and nephew! Today they turned 8 years old!! 8 years ago today I got to hold them for the first time in the NICU, born at 30 weeks, they were the tiniest, most perfect babies I had ever seen with my own eyes. And today, 8! Strong, healthy, energetic, fun and full of personality, both my niece and my nephew are true miracles and blessings from our God!

Should Be In Bed! ~Thankful Day 6

It's already tomorrow, I should've written this before now and I really should be in bed! It turned out to be a great night though and I had some stuff to finish up when I got home after midnight, so alas, I'm still up and it's almost 2 a.m. I'll probably be up until 3 a.m.... Hey I just remembered a song, Matchbox 20 ring a bell? Love them! Which actually helps lead me into my first item to give thanks for...MUSIC! What in the world would I do without it?!! Life would be unbearable without music, plain and simple, THANK YOU LORD GOD for creating music for us to worship with and enjoy! 

Second thing I'm thankful for, birthday parties! My niece and nephew had a fun bday party this morning. It's a wonderful thing to be able to honor each other on the special day God brought us into this world. It was so fun watching them playing with their friends, and excited to open up their presents, watching their reactions as they opened them was fun too! :)

And last one for now, I'm so thankful for my mom!!!! She's the absolute best! I love her so much! We laughed a lot tonight, and we really just enjoyed being together. She's a lot of fun! :)

Thankful Day 5

I am so very thankful for food!!!! I went to bed hungry last night because I was too lazy to eat, then of course, woke up even more hungry and had low energy. Thankfully my Honey took me to a buffet breakfast, where we love to visit our favorite omelet lady! I ate my fill of a low carb variety, besides an omelet filled with bacon, I ate more bacon on the side, need I say more?! :) 

I'm also thankful for pretty winter flowers! A ginormous beautiful poinsettia plant, which you can see in the picture below, was delivered by two very sweet and generous friends this past Monday, I'm enjoying them immensely!

And I'm thankful for our Christmas tree, I've been enjoying it so much already this season. I even took a much needed nap by it today laying in my favorite spot on the couch, which was so nice! :)

Always Causing Troubles- (thankful day 4)

First of all I need to say how thankful I am for my husband! You would not believe how much he has had to put up with since he married free spirited me. I'm always causing troubles...hehehe! Not joking though, he is a saint! ! I'm a handful, I admit it, I guess we balance each other out. I'm so thankful he loves me and when he has tried to change certain things about me, he realized quickly he couldn't, so instead he chose to love and accept every frustrating to him thing about me. He really is that awesome! I love him and what's more than that, he loves me, unconditionally, it's amazing! I wish I could say I'm as good at loving him as he is at loving me, but I know I'm not...I'm working on it though!

Next I need to say how very thankful I am for my son. I've written about him before. He is so loving to me (most of the time anyway). I like how he always walks up to me and strokes my long hair. He also loves to make me laugh with a funny joke any chance he gets. I see a lot of myself in my son, when he gets his mind set on having something he doesn't stop thinking about it until it becomes a reality or until it becomes clear that he's just not going to get it and forces himself to move on. He has my temperament too, but he also has a huge forgiving and caring heart.  I'm truly thankful for our mother and son relationship, it's definitely special.

And last but never ever least, I'm thankful for my daughter. She's sweet, witty, creative, playful and definitely sarcastic, like her dad! We always have so much fun when it's just her and I. Whether we are shopping, watching Good Luck Charlie, getting fro yo, or laughing at goofy pictures of ourselves, just being together is one of my favorite pastimes. I'm  proud of the thoughtful and generous individual she is becoming. Watching her grow up into a beautiful young woman is a great pleasure, bittersweet but joyful and rewarding all at the same time.

I know I already blogged about being thankful for family, but these 3 deserved a special mention! #ThankYouGod

Thankful Day 3- Simple Things

I'm thankful today for simple things!

Sitting with a few sisters in Christ for 3 hours cutting strips of paper for paper chains, chatting with a friend about confusing yet so intriguing Bible topics, and doing Bible study with a sweet high school student over lunch followed by Bible study with 15 fully energetic, highly intelligent, hungry for more of Jesus, middle school students! Today was a blessed day, in more ways than I can say! And I'm so thankful for all of it!! :)