A Life of Gratitude

Today, around lunchtime, we received a phone call saying that we would have a house showing this afternoon. We were SOOOO excited! Our house has been for sale for nearly 2 years and we've only had one showing in the past year. I immediately started cleaning and "de-babying" our house. I had done everything but vacuum when the phone rang again. They cancelled.  Ugghhh.... huge bummer.... no....wait....that doesn't even begin to describe the level of discouragement I felt.  I was devastated. I plopped on the couch and wallowed in my sadness. I really wanted to cry. This would be aggravating for anyone but for me there is another added level of disappointment. Spending 3 hours cleaning my house causes horrific back pain for me. I was so angry that I had "over done it" and will be in increased pain for days, all for nothing! Plus, having a showing had given me so much hope but the cancellation caused so much doubt.  While I was ...

When scraping the ice off of my car a couple days ago, I would have never guessed that it would be 70 degrees today. We wore coats into Bible Study this morning but when we came out, we didn't need coats at all. It was absolutely beautiful! We drove around all afternoon with the windows down, played outside together, did our home school lessons outside, and then grilled hamburgers for dinner outside. I honestly couldn't get enough of this weather and neither could my boys! Days like today are nice all the time but its especially wonderful to have this weather right in the middle of one of the coldest months of the year. Today I am thankful for the sunny, warm, gorgeous day I was able to spend with my little sweeties. I wouldn't mind a few more like this one!

We've been kind of cooped up for the past couple days because of the ice and for some reason Dylan had the urge to watch lots of family videos. First he wanted to watch when Evan was born and then when he was born and then Mommy and Daddy's wedding video (No worries, all of these are kid-friendly!) After watching those he decided to watch some of when he was a toddler and some from past summers and Christmases. We have been so diligent to make all of these videos over the years but we rarely watch them so this ended up being a real treat for all of us! Here are some photos of my favorite memories: Our Wedding Day ~ June 5, 2004 Dylan's BIRTH day ~ May 1, 2008 Evan's BIRTH day ~ October 17, 2011 I could watch these videos on a daily basis because I love them so much, but I never have time. I am grateful for the opportunity to share this time with my favorite people, watching our favorite memories. While watching our wedding day and the births of...

I'm not one to share financial concerns usually but when God does something big, He deserves praise whether its a financial issue or not! Our Jeep Patriot has been making some really loud noises over the past couple of weeks. We took it to the dealership today, praying that the issue would be covered under warranty. With all my medical bills and worker's comp being so inconsistent, we are on a pretty tight budget.  Well, this afternoon the dealership called and said that we need a new alternator. They estimated the cost to be $699 and its not covered under the warranty. As soon as I heard that, my heart sunk. We just don't have that laying around, ya know? I thought positively about it for awhile, tried to be optimistic, looked up scripture to reassure myself of God's ability to provide but still the tears started to fall. Let's face it, we all have moments of doubt and frustration. I had to separate myself from my family, get down on my face, and pray. So,...

I think I often get too comfortable with "who" Jesus is. I forget how amazing He is and how selfless it was for Him to willingly take on flesh, walk on the earth, suffer on the cross and die for my sins. Isn't humbling to consider that even demons have more reverence for Jesus than most people do? Oh Father, forgive us! I was reminded of Jesus' power today at MOMS when we discussed the story found in Mark 5 about Jesus restoring life to demon possessed man. When Jesus got out of the boat this man was running toward the hill toward Him. The demons immediately knew who He was and were begging Him not to throw them into the abyss. The demons had to obey Jesus. His power is undeniable! We also looked at Hebrews 2:14-15 which says,  " Since the children have flesh and blood,  he too shared in their humanity  so that by his death he might break the power  of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in ...

This morning Dylan crawled into my bed at 7:08, which is about his usual time. He snuggled up next to me and laid there for a little bit. A few minutes later he turned over, looked right in my eyes and said, "I like you!" I honestly don't think I could dream of a better way to start my morning! It was just so sweet! Tonight, when I picked the boys up from their classrooms at church, Evan saw me and his entire face lit up. He ran over to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. Watching him run to me made my heart smile!  One of my favorite quotes is by Elizabeth Stone. She said,  "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body." Its so true, really. These angels hold my heart. No matter what they do or say, I am just so proud to be their Mommy! My heart overflows with love for these little guys! Today I am thankful for my sweet little boys and the joy they po...

I've recently started doing Beth Moore's Bible Study, The Patriarchs . So far, I am really enjoying learning about the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. As a part of the study, Beth shared something she and her daughters like to do. They enjoy some "Bible-based humor" by spending time labeling things in life as A.B. (a blessing) or N.A.B. (not a blessing). She called it humor because they label things like Mexican food as A.B. and mosquitoes as N.A.B. (haha!) Believing that every blessing comes from the Lord above, this activity can cause the soul to be overcome with thanksgiving! As you know, I enjoy finding reasons to be grateful each and every day so I decided to look back over my day and label everything A.B. and N.A.B.  Here it goes....  A Blessing  (A.B) Not a Blessing (N.A.B) *Waking up next to the love of my life *The medicine I need to get rid of the headache *Taking a warm shower *Waking my sweet 1 year old son up *Being gr...