A Life of Gratitude

The past few days I've enjoyed watching my sweet Tyson. He is such a joy to be around. He is a friendly little guy, always smiling, loves to snuggle with his Mommy, enjoys playing ball of any kind, likes to take toys apart and put them back together, has a fascination with wheels and tires, would eat cereal all day long, plays puzzles all the time, knows all of his colors and numbers, and wants to be just like his big brothers. I can't believe that Tyson is 2 and a half years old now! He has been my precious surprise baby for over two years....but he won't be the baby much longer! Allison will be arriving in 10 weeks or less. My heart breaks a little knowing that Tyson will have to grow up some but I am eager to watch him become a big brother. I know he will be so loving and easy with his baby sister! Today I am thankful for Tyson. Although we never expected to have a third little boy, I CANNOT imagine our family without this little fella. He is absolutely...

Earlier today I got a sweet message from a lady named Keefe, who lives on the other side of the world. She came across one of my blog posts that I wrote almost 5 years ago. She told me that my words were very meaningful to her and asked if she could share it in a group on facebook. The post above was made today in Singapore!  How amazing it is that God is still using something I wrote in 2012!!!! And not just with people who usually read my blog or who know me, but with folks from the other side of the world!!! I am so honored that God would use my little blog to touch the hearts of others! I am so grateful for His ability to use and reuse and bless others! To God be the Glory! Click here to read my post "Beauty from Ashes" from 2012 Click here to see Keefe's group page

I came home from a meeting tonight and found all my fellas outside playing basketball. As I got out of the car, my three sons ran up to me and hugged me, as if I'd been gone all day. (I had only been gone for 2 hours!) Then, they all ran back to playing ball with their Daddy. I stayed outside and watched them play.  As I stood there, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I just couldn't stop thanking my Father for all His blessings over my life. The beautiful weather, my sweet boys, the little girl I'm carrying, my amazing husband, our home, our cars, the time we're able to spend together, our health, our love for one another....they are all gifts from above.  When you stop and take a moment to take in all that God has given you, it can be almost more than you can bare.  Sometimes the most simple scenarios, like playing basketball as a family, can be absolutely beautiful! Today I am thankful for all the things mentioned above but even more than that, I...

"But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the  Lord ’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the  Lord  is with you!” 2 Chronicles 20:17 I heard the verse above this morning at church and immediately knew that I wanted to read more about it and share it in my blog tonight. I think its a verse that so many of us need to hear!   In this chapter, a vast army is coming against the people of Judah. They are scared to death. There is no way they can win against this army on their own. So, they came to the House of the Lord to seek God's help. The Spirit of Lord came upon a man Jahaziel and the man began to speak. He told the people that they didn't even need to fight. He told them to stand watch and they would see the Lord's victory. The people were so amazed and touched by these words that they fell to the ground and worshiped the L...

Do Leprechauns visit your house??! Well, they do ours!!!! And they always make a big mess! They turn furniture upside down, leave footprints everywhere, hang pictures upside down, and forget to flush!!! Oh, and they leave a treasure hunt for the boys. They always love reading the clues and eventually locating the treausre! Today I am thankful for simple fun! The boys have been looking forward to this day for months! They couldn't wait to get downstairs to see if the Leprechauns had visited! I love seeing the joy and excitement on their sweet little faces! I am also grateful for the  imaginations God blessed children with. Can you imagine if adult minds were able to use the imagination the way kids do? The world would be a much more fun, relaxed place to live in!

Today I am 28 weeks pregnant which means I can say "HELLLLLOOOOO" to the third trimester!!! I honestly cannot believe it! There have some very hard days in this pregnancy and I know some fairly cruddy days are coming but this pregnancy has flown by so far! My favorite app on my phone tells me week by week what's happening with my baby girl. This week she is the size of an eggplant. She is around 2 pounds! Her eyes are beginning to open and close and her eyesight is being refined. She has eyelashes too!  Sweet Allison is almost done "baking," but now she needs to put on some weight and get those lungs ready to breathe out here in the real world! If she is born when Dylan and Evan were (at 37 weeks) we will get to meet her in 9 weeks!!!!  I think its safe to say that we are all super excited about this little gal joining our family! I am so grateful for the joy and excitement that buzzes around our home every time we talk about Allison's arriv...

Part of Dylan's homeschool work today was to write an Apologia of Faith. Apologia is the word "defense" in Greek so basically, Dylan was challenged to defend his faith on paper! I was excited about this assignment because I think its important for all Christians to truly understand what they believe and be able to defend it. We talked it about a little before he started writing but I left the room and he completed the assignment alone.  I am so happy with his written defense of his faith! My favorite part is when he writes, "Jesus showed us He was Christ, then He died on the cross to cover sin with His blood and that blood would not dry up! He wouldn't have to do it again!" He's soooo right! What Jesus did, He did once and for all! His blood will never dry up! He will never have to to die on the cross again! The blood will continue to cover our sins until He takes us to Heaven! What a sweet blessing that is!  Today I am thankful that my s...

On the way home from church tonight, I heard the most amazing verse. 2 Timothy 4:17 says, "But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength."  I was really touched by those words. As soon as I heard the verse, different people and situations started popping in my mind. My head was filled with pictures of folks who have lost loved ones recently, dealing with divorce, lost their jobs, suffering with infertility, been hurt by a friend, recovering from surgery, and so much more. These are real people with real, serious struggles in their lives. How amazing is the promise found in 2 Timothy 4:17??? No matter what we're dealing with...any of those difficulties I just mentioned, and so many more, God is standing with us. He is giving us strength. In this book of the Bible Paul is writing to Timothy. Timothy had been like a son to Paul for a while and eventually a partner in spreading the Gospel. At this point, Paul has endured tremendous difficulty. Chapter 4 is the end ...