Word Therapy

Grantidotes Days 24 & 25

 

It has been a very festive few days!  I’m loving the Christmas season this year.  For several years when the boys were younger, Christmas was more of a stress than a blessing.  I feel like we are in a new season, with the boys being a bit older, more obedient, more helpful, and more perceptive about Advent and Christmas.  They appreciate the decorations and the festivities and that makes me all the more motivated to put some effort into everything.  

 

And, we are officially on Christmas break! I confess, I’ve grown to love the routine and regularity of our school schedule.  Both boys are doing well, and though I still struggle with mom-guilt to even type this, having the boys out of the house under the instruction of their teachers each day seems to be a benefit for everyone in our house. 

I often look into the lives of families that homeschool, and think we “should” be able to do that and have it work out so wonderfully, but in truth I don’t have the temperament for it as a mom.  At least not for our boys. They are both quite strong willed and need a lot of structure coupled with a kind, gentle personality (which they both have received in their amazing teachers this year!).  

All of that to say, I’ve come to realize that I enter any kind of extended break from school with mixed feelings. On one hand I am looking forward to more time together, the avoidance of the morning feat of getting two boys out the door in the morning, and more flexibility in the day.  On the other hand I get nervous that they will be at each others’ throats constantly, that I’ll have to field 50 million requests to “do something fun”, and that we will inevitable end up watching way too many movies.  

I’ve been trying to just let go of expectations and know that sibling fighting is normal, asking to “do something fun” does not mean I’ve created entitled, bored, non-creative monsters, it just means that 2 kids have suddenly gone from busy days full of activities to a whole lot of white space on their little calendars.  And the movies?  I’m temporarily setting aside the AAP recommendation that has legalistically hounded me in my own mind for so many years about “no more than 2 hours of TV a day” because when you all have pink-eye on your first day of break and your mom is trying her best not to lose her patience with anyone on this day of catching up with laundry, baking, food-prepping, and administering eye drops bilaterally to three kids, watching 2 full length movies plus 3 or 4 episodes of curious george in the span of 12 hours is completely acceptable.  I mean, that’s still over 50% of their waking hours NOT spent watching TV yes?

So, fellow moms, join me in taking a chill pill this break. Let go of expectations, other peoples’ rules, and all the triggers that will drive you right out of your own mind and just enjoy your kids and the special time of anticipating the birth of Christ and all the merriment that goes along with it.

 

Now, onto what I’m thankful for (there is more and more every day it seems!).  As I’ve said before, if you havent’ yet started the intentional practice of finding three things to be thankful for everyday I urge you to DO IT! The joy goes up and the internal (and external) bemoaning goes down.

 

1.

I’m thankful I get to be a stay at home mom.  Though I’m not wired to homeschool, I do get to volunteer in the  classroom with both of our boys. Tuesday I got to wear my pajamas to the Polar Express party in Kindergarten. One little boy said “this is the best party I’ve ever been to.” Their teacher is so awesome. She had hot chocolate, popcorn, and Polar Express playing on the big screen.  

Before I went down to the school that morning, I got a text from my friend who works with the Kindergarteners with this picture!

I’m just more thankful than you could even imagine that this boy is succeeding in school and sharing love and respect when he is there!

 

2.

I’m thankful we had warm temps for a day to compact the snow a little bit because the sledding conditions are now AH-mazing.  The boys watched a lot of TV yesterday, but they also made it outside a couple times for some speedy sledding on the hill!

 

3.

I’m thankful for a hilarious husband.  Once he’s home after work I can barely go five minutes without laughing.  He can reframe anything to be funny. He has a reputation for breaking awkward moments with humor.  He is such a gift!

 

4.

I’m thankful for my great-great-grandma’s cookie recipe.  How neat that it’s in her handwriting. I love that it says “Gold Medal” in place of flour because back when she wrote this there was probably only one kind of flour on the shelf! Now we have to pick between 50 kinds. I would love to go backward to a little more simplicity!

BTW, these cookies are delicious. Feel free to use the recipe!

5.

I’m thankful for a long slow day forced by illness to get out some things that we don’t usually play with.  Nick got his straws out and then discovered that they were dirty inside at which point I urged him to throw them away and wait until some new ones arrived that I ordered from Amazon.  Of course that was an unacceptable plan so he got a pumper of hand soap and carefully squirted soap down the straw and sucked water up and then blew it back down over and over until he felt like he had sufficiently washed the inside of his straws.  So gross.  At least he’ll have resilient guts.

6.

I’m thankful for this truth! Oh, how he loves us.  He totally didn’t have to enter into this space to rescue a bunch of rebellious kids, but He did.  How incredibly generous.  That’s some kind of incredible love.  I’m going to try to center myself on this truth for the rest of this week as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas!

 

 

Happy Christmas week friends. I hope your day is full of hope and grace. I hope you get  a chance to love in unlikely and unexpected ways. I hope you find the individual gifts of grace given to us from our Father, smattered all over our lives if we will just open our eyes and look.

Grantidotes Day (?)

Wow! I sort of fell of the wagon with writing 3 things I’m thankful for every day.  I would have to argue it’s because I’ve been so busy enjoying life and family and parties and this Christmas season!

 

I don’t think I’ll backtrack and write 15 things I’m thankful for tonight, that would probably be overkill.

 

Here are some highlights:

 

1.

I’m thankful to have a piano again.  Actually a keyboard.  We always had a piano growing up, and I took lessons for several years.  I haven’t had one since moving out of my mom’s house in my late teens.  I saw one of these nice keyboards on sale at Costco last December but I didn’t pull the trigger in time.  I waited and looked and could never find a deal that was even close to that price point, but then November rolled around and they were back!  It’s 88 weighted keys, and I’ve loved playing again.  Right now my favorites to practice are Canon in D and the theme from Jurassic Park.  Maybe someday I’ll have a wide repertoire of my favorite film scores memorized.  That would be so amazing!

2.

I’m thankful for my grandparents. I’m so fortunate to still have 6 living grandparents.  They are such a treasure. I know many friends who would love to have one more chat with grandma or grandpa.  My grandma gloria takes great delight in baking every Christmas, and she’s passed on her skills and recipes to many of us.  A few years ago, one of my aunts collaborated with my Grandma to make us all a recipe book.  It’s packed full of old-time and Scandinavian favorites.  My grandma was able to join us last weekend for our big Christmas party and she brought so many of her treats with her! I think I had one of everything and my pants are crying ‘Uncle’ this week.

3.

I’m so, so thankful to have hot, running tap water.  Our cold water pipe froze yesterday because I turned it off and left it off for a few hours during a very cold time of the day.  Kevin quickly got it thawed, but it was not lost on me the rest of the day how privileged we are to have running water, and HOT water at that! 

4.

I’m so thankful that our little family is still in the earlier stages of life where we aren’t overscheduled.  I know the day is coming where kids’ commitments will steer the ship very often around here, and I know that at least 3 out of 5 of us here do not prefer an ‘on the go’ kind of schedule. I’m thankful that we have a lot of down time and times like these where little sister can say “I watchie show wif Milo” and climb up and just hang out.

5.

I’m glad we live close to Leavenworth for all of it’s holiday beauty and tantalizingly touristy activities and restaurants, but I am oh-so-glad we dont’ live there.  I grew weary of that place after working there for several years during high school and college.

Today the Kindergarteners from Cashmere got to go up and sing at the pavilion, and play in the snow at the park. Leah and I tagged along, and although she had freezing hands and feet and we plowed through the snow in our little MacClaren stroller (my jogger has had a flat for TWO MONTHS.  Dad, ahem.), we had a good time. Though super cold, it was really beautiful with the falling snow.

 

6.

I’m thankful for one on one time with my kids. Tonight Milo and I went to Target for some Christmas shopping.  It’s so great to get to have a conversation with him without the constant interruptions and fighting that come along with having all three along.  He’s growing up so fast and he’s getting so smart and fun to hang out with!

7.

I’m thankful Nick likes to build. I’ve heard that due to the push in more “white collar” professions, our country and world is experiencing a shortage of skilled tradesmen. I think Nick might be part of the solution! He is always building something or wiring something or rigging something together.  Here he has a 4 story house complete with bedrooms and hallways and a hot tub built up the stairs of the bunk bed. 

8.

I’m thankful I bought the hype and bought this gadget.  So far, so good. I’m pretty impressed with this pot. I have a long history of miserable failures with making roasts, and I made one today in here and it came out PERFECT. Cook time was only 100 minutes, and it was the most tender roast I’ve ever made. Wednesday I’m going to try a whole chicken.

That’s all for tonight, I need to get to bed!

 

Advent is breezing by as it usually does.  I really want to take these last 6 days to intentionally reflect on what it means that the King of the Universe came to be with us. I’m praying for some un-rushed, peaceful moments to soak in that reality for myself and hopefully to pass it on to my kids. I’m praying that your week is also peaceful, that you experience the joy of Christ, and that you find his gifts all around you.

Changing it Up

Hi friends.

Instead of writing my daily grantidotes, I'm going to take you over to this great site that I contribute to called Seasoned with Salt. One of my posts is up today, and I hope you'll take a minute to read it to hear my thoughts on our often confusing, tragic world, and how we can have hope.

Stay awhile and check out some of the other posts from the other writers! There are so many great things to read.  Have a warm, cozy evening, and if you're geographically near to me, then bundle up because tomorrow's nighttime low is a whopping TWO degrees!!

The Sustaining Promise of Hope

 

Grantidotes Day 16

Advent Challenge Day 16

I’m telling you, if you haven’t been purposefully looking for things to be thankful for, start today! It’s a total game changer.

 

I literally can’t count how many times today my mind started to go down the rabbit hole, but retreated back to sanity-land when I remembered to act on this discipline of finding something to give thanks for as an antidote to a bad attitude and a thankless heart.

 

1.

Now, technically this one isn’t from today, but the other day I was struck by how amazing this looked, when we got an unexpected snow-shower in the middle of a sunny day! The way the sun was lighting up the snowflakes as they fell on the partly frozen creek made such a magic scene.  Natural beauty is such a spirit lifter. I’m so glad God built so much of this into our lives. 

2.

This sign.

Oh how I love it.  I got it from Broken Made Beautiful designs, and it is my new favorite.  I love the song ‘O Holy Night’ and this is a line from that song.  It makes me think of how, prior to Jesus being born, the people of God had been in a time of waiting, a time of silence.  Malachi, the last prophet recorded in the old testament, was the voice for God 400 years before Jesus came along.  The people of God were living under oppressive rule, and they knew that they were waiting for the fulfillment of the promises of the prophets.

Waiting, oppression, silence, these can make us all grow weary.

Maybe you are in a season now where you are waiting. Waiting for a wayward child to return to  a place of love, waiting for a spouse to wake up and course-correct, waiting for a job or financial provision that seems impossible.  Maybe God seems silent.  Maybe it’s been a while since you feel like you’ve heard from Him.

 

You are the weary one now.

 

But. ‘a weary world rejoices’.  We are in advent, this time of waiting, and I want to encourage you that God does so much good work in the waiting. He builds patience, trust, character, faith, strength, and a hope that does not disappoint.  Look to Jesus, the one who came to bring rejoicing to a weary world. He always keeps his promises.

 

3.

I’m thankful for the rare moments our kids get along.  There is so much disagreement and sometimes all-out, knock-down, drag-out fighting that goes on around here, that my heart about explodes when I see them all being nice to each other. Granted, Leah usually doesn’t engage in too much of a brawl, but she will yell at her brothers “Sop it Nick!” “Sop it Miyo!”  So when I saw them all at the window like this I had to snap a picture to mark down forever in history, this little moment of sibling peace. 

What about you? Can you think of 3 things to be thankful for today? Tell me what they are in the comments!

 

Grantidotes Day 15

Part of me didn’t even want to write this tonight.  Sometimes the things I’m thankful for feel so shallow, so trite, so #firstworld.  This morning I woke up extra early (couldn’t sleep) and my eyes, while trying to find the time on my phone, shot straight to a news headline from CNN about what’s going on in Aleppo.

(this is a photo from a news site; not from this morning. this is an unrelated incident to the one I'm writing about)

I see news headlines every morning, and they don’t ever pull me out of my bed before my alarm. I was riveted though, as I read through the horrifying details of airstrikes and crumbling buildings and fleeing families and women and children being shot in the streets.  Then I saw that there was a photo gallery. Somehow I missed the large black image that said “WARNING: graphic images that viewers may find disturbing”.  Had I seen that I may not have looked.  But I looked.  And then I saw children, like mine, but unlike mine these children were covered in rubble-dust, completely dead.  One was a baby held in his mother’s arms, not looking to be more than a year old.  The other was a young boy about the age of one of our boys, huddled next to his uncle in an attempt to seek shelter from the bombings, hoping their lives would be spared from the crushing weight of stone and the suffocation of dust.  They weren’t.  They were there in their tomb of dust and rock, the life gone right out of them.

I wonder about that little boy.  What did he like to play before he died? Was he learning to write? To read? Did he have siblings? What was his favorite story?  Did he take a slower pace to life like Milo? Or did he charge full-speed ahead everywhere he went like my Nick?

 

I spent the morning feeling very sorrowful about the plight of these people in Syria.  I felt pretty helpless.  I donated some more money to Preemptive Love Coalition. I committed to pray; for miracles of rescue, peace, provision, salvation, justice, redemption, life, comfort.

And tonight I realize that guilt for my safe, lovely life should not deter me from finding things to be thankful for.  This is another way that I can wage war against the dark of the world.  Always give thanks.

1.

I’m thankful for brave people who literally risk their lives to save others.  We have the military that does this all the time, and I know I could spend more time reflecting on what a privilege it is to live in a country of liberty, freedom and a strong national defense.  I’m so grateful for those things.  

Then there is this guy, Jeremy Courtney of Preemptive Love Coalition, who just decides that he’s going to give his life as a living offering to God as he attempts to bring needed surgery to children, food and clothing to refugees, and hope to thousands of people in two of the most dangerous areas of our world; Iraq and Syria.

His philosophy is simple: We can remake the world through love, and it doesn’t matter what someone believes, whether or not they are an enemy, whether they share the same nation/race/skin color/language as you, you do what you can to help them.

If there was ever a time to donate to help people in dire need, the time is now.  And this organization is legit.  Look at their website if you’re doubtful. They have a backlog of stories and videos that show just what kinds of crucial work they are doing.

 

2. 

I’m thankful for my very alive, very healthy children.  

I’m sorry to admit that there are many days where I’m just trying to get through the day, and I know I’ve wished away days, weeks, or even entire seasons of their little lives, looking ahead to the day when they aren’t so needy and life seems easier.

There are so many parents who would love to kiss their child just one more time. So many moms who would love to read one more bedtime story or sing one more song. So many dads who would love to give one more shoulder ride.

God forgive me for the times I’ve seen our kids as a burden rather than a blessing.  Forgive me and help me to love them well and inspire them to go out into the world, bringing hope and the love of God wherever they go.

 

3.

I’m thankful for the hope of Heaven & the return of Jesus.

Friend, if you’re reading this and you don’t believe in any of that, then I know it probably sounds crazy, but try to just consider it for a second.

If we are just all here arbitrarily and kids are dying from airstrikes and cancer is taking people too soon and injustice seems to prevail at every turn, then why even bother? Why care? If there’s no real hope for the future, hope for change on this broken planet, what are we even to do?

I don’t understand entirely why this is all happening. But I do know that God is real, He is coming back, and He’s going to restore this earth to perfection and peace.  Those babies I saw in the picture this morning, someday they will live in a world where :

the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6

 

No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; Isaiah 65:20a

 

We are getting closer to Christmas. The time where we celebrate the first coming of Christ. He came as a baby.  He didn’t stay a baby though.  We all love the baby Jesus, but it’s the bloodied, beat up Jesus, draped from a wooden cross-beam that you have to ask yourself if you’ve really come to know.  He came to redeem humanity from it’s sin, and the earth from the curse of death.  He’s waiting now, patiently, for all who will come to him.  And then at some point, the wait is up. He will come back, he will remake this world into something more incredible than we can imagine, and everyone who has bowed their knee to Him will live in perfect peace eternally.

 

That’s the only kind of hope that does not disappoint on a day like today.

 

That Savior, Jesus, he cares about ALL people, especially those on the fringes and those who are suffering.  He has given us roles to play.  Right now, I don’t know what your role is. For me, it’s staying awake to what’s going on in the world and trying every day not to slip back into my middle-class, well-insulated, sugar-coated, anesthetized version of comfortable American reality,  and praying, giving, and remembering those who are in peril.

 

If you want to join in giving, go here.

Grantidotes Days 12 & 13

Days 12 & 13 of my Advent Challenge of grabbing hold of the antidote of gratitude to combat complaining and thanklessness. 

I’m thankful for prayer. 

As believers we are instructed to pray without ceasing. Honestly I wish I could nail this but in reality, there are many days where prayer is not the overarching theme of my day.  Distraction, speculation, worry, strategizing, planning, stressing, those are more of my defaults.  But more and more as I follow Jesus I find myself talking to Him about all of life.  I’m also thankful for the power of prayer to invade dark or hopeless situations, or just times in day to day life where we are at the end of our rope and feel helpless.  Like tonight.  Our boys are going to bed yelling at each other, accusing each other of lying and it’s overwhelming sometimes trying to train kids into the right direction.  This is one of those times where I beg God to intervene, to quiet down raging hearts, to speak truth into our family, and to bring a peace that prevails in our home. I also pray for wisdom, patience, and steadfastness for us as parents because there are certainly times where I just want to throw in the towel and do the bare minimum of parenting required.  So, thank you Jesus for going to the cross, causing the veil to be torn, unleashing the Spirit of God to be here with us all the time. What a gift.

I’m thankful for friends who rally with you. 

Friends who lock arms and move forward together in different areas of our callings.  No competing or worrying about who’s doing what better, just cheering each other on as we do our different things in the ways God has called us to.  I think we hear so much about women competing and “mompetition” is sort of the de-facto culture of our day and age.  It’s amazing to have friends who love you well in the highs and lows of life.

I’m thankful for snowmobiles.

We bought (well Kevin did really) a snowmobile about 5 (ish?) years ago at the cycle repair store in Cashmere.  It’s from the 80s and it’s a total granny-mobile (backrest and windshield included!) but it had super low hours and he got it for a few hundred dollars I think.  The kids LOVE it.  It’s the perfect little sled to run around our orchard and it’s such a good kid hauler with that backrest and windshield! So much joy has been had on that thing. It’s such a great way to get everyone outside for a little fun in the winter time.

 

I’m thankful for my washer and dryer.

It’s so wonderful to have PILES of dirty laundry and be able to throw it all in a machine, run super hot water and detergent and of course, Oxi-clean or bleach because no one gets anything halfway dirty around here, and then, Voilà! Clean stuff.  The moms 100 years ago, or the moms today who don’t have laundry facilities, seriously have my respect. On top of everything else you deal with as a mom, isn’t it nice to have efficient laundering capabilities!?  Can you imagine hand washing everything?

 

I’m thankful for the way my husband and I have learned to forgive quickly. 

We go through spurts where we are grouchy at each other, and sooner or later it seems to become a pattern, and then we usually find ourselves apologizing to each other multiple times a day trying to drive ourselves out of the ruts we’ve gotten ourselves wedged in.  I’m slightly (?) opinionated, strong-willed, and outspoken so I thank God for my dear husband who gives me so much grace.  We are both working on becoming better communicators and I’m so glad we are on the same team and that he is such a committed, flexible, generous husband.

I’m thankful for pictures. 

I love that you can freeze time with a photo. Yesterday we got dressed up and I got our family staged and set the timer on my camera and then ran and hopped in the photo. Then we took a few of the kids and Milo actually took one of Kevin and I. I will be so glad we took the time to take pictures when our kids are grown and gone.  Today I got to take baptism pictures at our church, and as I put them on the computer to do some quick edits this afternoon, I started to cry a bit as I saw the faces on some of the individuals I had photographed.  The emotions on their faces, and on the faces of their family are freeze-framed, forever marking such a significant day.

There is so much grace all around us isn’t there! It’s so fun looking for it each day. If you haven’t yet started looking for three things each day to be thankful for, join in now! Tell me in the comments on the blog, or on Facebook or Instagram, what are you thankful for today?

 

 

Grantidotes Day 11

Day 11 in my Advent Gratitude Challenge

 

You guys, I’m telling you, this thing about looking for the things to be thankful for seems to be really working.  I started this whole challenge because I recognized that I had developed an attitude that was dominated more and more by complaining and discontent.  Since I’ve been intentionally looking for and pondering what exactly my specific 3 things of thanks will be each day, I have noticed a huge shift in my overall mood.

 

For starters, I seem to be more prone to crying over just about anything good or feels-y.

 

So my #1 for tonight is our Rooted celebration and all that it entailed.

 

Tonight we had dinner at our church with about 300 other people, as a celebration of the culmination of a 10 week group experience we have been a part of called Rooted.  The Rooted experience aims to connect individuals to God, to the church, and to their purpose.

 

At one point in the evening all of our church pastors were on the stage to read something to us.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude looking at all of them.  They all have such distinct, important roles to play, and the hearts that they intersect with and the lives that they speak into cannot be easily quantified.  I have no doubt that marriages are still intact, parents are still giving it their best every day, and people are walking around this world differently because of the work of our team of pastors.

 

I’m so, incredibly thankful to be the beneficiary of their leadership and to be a part of such a great church, thanks to the work of these and many others.  

 

And I really love that my friend Kaye is up there bravely following her calling into pastoral ministry.  She has been a huge shaping influence in my life the past few years and I’m so thankful that God brought us together as friends.

2. 

I’m thankful we have great local shopping options. Hooked on Toys has a bazillion gift ideas for Christmas. I got all the stuff for the stockings there today, including these yo-yos.  I learned a couple of weeks ago that a friend of mine is a former professional yo-yoist ( I honestly didn’t even know that was a thing ), and he tells me these will be just fine as starter yo-yos for the boys.  I mean, if they can use them for more than one hour without getting them into complete knots that’s a good start right??

3.

I’m thankful for authors who read their own books on the Audible app.  Yesterday I used one of my subscription credits to put 1000 Gifts onto my Audible account, and I was so glad to hear Ann Voskamp’s voice begin reading it.  I have read her book before, but I’ve been wanting to read it again, and lately I’m finding myself with more time to listen than to actually sit down and look at the pages.  Enter Audible.

I sat in the parking lot of the church, before going in for our big dinner, and after I had run around town all afternoon trying to get as much shopping done as I could, and I listened to the first chapter.

I sat there and cried as she narrated a very tragic beginning to her story.  Words are so powerful. A story shapes not just the one living it, but the one hearing it second-hand. I’m thankful that we have so many formats available to us for hearing stories that bend and mold our hearts.

So what are you thankful for today? What is centering your heart around gratitude rather than stress and discontent in this busy season?

Feel free to share in the comments section below, or on Facebook or Instagram!

 

Grantidotes Day 10

I'm a bit late! Leah would not go to bed last night, so halfway through writing this post she joined us in the living room and Kevin and I both took turns reading to her.   By the time I finally got her to bed, I was so done!

Here is day 10 of my Advent Gratitude Challenge

It’s late, I’m tired and we have a little girl tonight who is not going to sleep. She’s usually out by 7:30 or 8, so what is going on?! She had her nap cut short so we could go pick up her brothers from school, and she spent a fair amount of time playing outside today, so I really have no idea why she is up this late.

 

Speaking of that girl…

 

1.

She’s my first reason to be thankful today.  This morning, after we took the boys to school, she grabbed some books and told me “read on the couch” and went in and sat down like this:

I’m so thrilled beyond belief that I have a little reading protegé right here in my own home!

 

2.

Immanuel.

God with us.

I made this banner today and I’ve had it in my head for quite awhile.  I’m pretty sure I wanted one last Christmas.  I found the blank banner pieces at Target and then borrowed the letter templates from my friend.  It didn’t take long at all to paint, and now I love having this reminder in our living room that Jesus came to BE with us! It’s pretty mind-blowing if you really think about it and believe it.  The image of the Invisible God descending to be in the mess of humanity, to live perfectly incarnated, sinless, living as our example and rescuer.

3.

I’m seriously so thankful for my bed.

A few weeks ago I did Night in a Box in Wenatchee, where we slept outside in cardboard boxes, as part of a fundraising & solidarity effort on behalf of our local homeless.  It was okay for one night, and I actually slept fairly well after my hips acclimated to being on a thin foam pad (probably more than most homeless people have), but I can’t imagine doing it night after night. No ability to launder sheets, probably not even a cardboard box to sleep inside of.  Definitely not a weatherproofed cardboard box. 

 I even have a bed that has adjustable pressure so if I have a sore back I can make it softer or more firm depending on the night.  The privilege of a bed like that is not lost on me. There are so many nights I lay down and my first breathed out prayer is “thank you God for this bed”.

What 3 things are you thankful for today?

Grantidotes Days 8 & 9

A two-fer again.  Lots going on this time of year so it’s efficient to consolidate posts yes?

Days 8 & 9 of my Advent gratitude challenge.

Things have been uneventful other than the SNOW (!) but I’ve been loving looking for things all day to be thankful for.  It’s so interesting how your mind cannot park on the negatives for too long when you are fully aware that you need to write about things you appreciate in just a few hours.

 

Yesterday:

1.

White lights.  

I’m putting up way more lights than usual this year, and I’m including many strings of white lights.  Ever since I married Kevin I’ve adapted to colored lights on the tree and outside, but I’m working some white ones back in.

I’m leaving them up until late February for two reasons.  First off, it’s totally legit per the Anglican/Lutheran/Methodist church calendar, in observance of the season of Epiphany.

Secondly, January and February are rough for me, as I know they are for many people.  Christmas is over, the days are still short, we often get blanketed under a relentless layer of low, thick, suffocating fog, and I just struggle.  Every  year I go on the offensive, and this year, the white lights are another way I’m upping my game!  

2.

Snow.

My kids have been asking for a daily weather report for weeks now, getting their hopes high when there was even a hint of a chance of snow.  The weather finally delivered and now we have the White to our Christmas. Sledding, wet clothes and boots everywhere, bags of snow clothes packed daily for school, remembering to slow down around all those corners on our windy road, it’s all par for the course in winter here, and I’m glad we’ve finally hit that phase of the season.

3.

2nd Generation Friendship.

These two girls are the cutest ever when they play together.  They steal each others’ toys constantly, but it’s still adorable.  The little blondie’s mom is one of my very best friends from high school.  One of those friends who, we can go months without talking and it’s like we never missed a day.  Such history together. We’ve grown and changed so much as individuals and I love that we are still such good friends.  At one point during dinner last night, neither of our husbands were in sight and we looked around at our collective 6 kids and Rachel said “Can you even imagine us catching a glimpse of our life now, back during the dog days of summer?”. (context: dog days of summer were some of the laziest, most wonderful days ever where Rachel and I lived in her parents pool and I slept on their couch about 5 out of 7 nights of the week. We were young and carefree and had no idea that some day we would be herding 6 kids around!)

 

Today:

 

1.

The first sun after the first snow.

It’s amazing every time.  When every branch is laden with snow and the hills are all painted white and the sky turns blue and the sun lights it all up (you’d better have your sun glasses!) it’s so stunning.  It doesnt’ last long, so I always marvel at the sight.  Just an hour or two of that sun is enough to melt the south and east facing slopes back to their usual brown, but that first look of the morning is just *WOW*

2.

Psalm 23.

I love this picture that I took behind my Grandma’s house. I had it made into a canvas and I ordered this little wooden sign to go near it.  Most days I just breeze right by it, but sometimes I pause long enough to see the words, see the scene, and remember that God cares so deeply for us and wants to bring us to places of peace and rest.  I remember that He is my protector, my vindicator, my eternal place of shelter.  That last line: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Forever is a long time.  Often I scurry around here acting as if everything is an emergency and I forget that we are here such a very, very short time.  When I’m reminded that I’ll be with Jesus forever, all the sudden everything relaxes a little bit.  I see people as the importance rather than my agenda or my own wants.  The dust on every surface doesn’t seem nearly as menacing and my laundry pile doesn’t mock me nearly as loud, and that strained relationship doesn’t attack my mind as much when I remember that I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

3.

This boy.

He is such a good big brother. I’m so thankful for the way that he sees people.  He has some kind of rare intuition about people and the state of their hearts.  He sometimes tells me about the kids at school who are lonely or picked on, and I love that about him. He’s reading like crazy now, and it’s just really a bittersweet thing for me to watch him go from little boy to full-on big kid.

Grantidotes Day 7

Day 7 of my challenge to myself to find three things to be grateful for this Advent season.

1.

I'm so thankful to be part of an incredible church.  It's just a group of people, but I do love them so.  It's so encouraging to have a place each week, where we go and see familiar faces, catch up with friends, hear stories of hope, check in with those we know are struggling, and most importantly, worship Jesus together.  It's really wonderful..  I'm so thankful for the freedom we enjoy here, to gather and worship without fear of violence or police involvement.

2.

I'm thankful for our local indoor market in the wintertime.  What a great place to go for lunch and looking around! We were planning to stay for Santa's helicopter arrival, but due to the wind, the helicopter was canceled.  We decided that staying for a "regular" Santa delivery (I think he ended up arriving in a fire truck) wasn't worth the wait and crowd, so the boys went to see Moana at the theater with Kevin.

3.  

I'm thankful for our Rooted group. Over the past 10 weeks we've been part of a small group, going through an experiential study together, on what it means to follow Jesus both in our own lives and as part of a larger group.  It's been great getting to know the people in our group, and this time has been very special. Tonight was our last group get together and we are going to miss our people!

 

What are you thankful for today?