blessings in the midst of tears

I have such a heavy heart today. A very dear lady passed away this weekend, complications from her battle with cancer. She was my age. Why is it when someone dies we say, "she was too young" or "it so sad because she has kids" or "she was such a good chirstian woman". Would it make a difference if she didn't have all those things? Would it make it ok then? Would it hurt less? The fact is she was all those things and so much more. She had a huge heart for people, for kids, for her family and most importantly for Jesus. I have no doubt where she is now and she is rejoicing. Well done good and faithful servant. Regardless of how much comfort this brings to the family the fact remains that two beautiful children will grow up with only the legacy of how beautiful their mother was. I know it is not for us to understand God's ways and I have no doubt this was His will but my heart is still very heavy. I still mourn the loss of a dear woman and friend. It does make my one.thousand.gifts list that much more meaningful today. Through tears as I type my many blessings...

~ wonderful sprinkles of rain through the sunshine
~ neighbors sharing their love of horses with our kids
~ bickering that turns to laughter
~ afternoon football
~ busy schedules
~ dinner as a family
~ crafting time
~ cuddles with the cat
~ sweet early morning cuddles with the littlest one
~ hearing "mommy I need to go to the baf-room"
~ family time
~ technology

As I have said many times before....I LOVE Wednesdays. Ty is off work on Wednesdays and we get to spend time just hanging out together (plus Meara). We usually try to keep the day pretty low key but today we had several errands to run. Despite having to make several stops we had a nice day. The weather was beautiful, I got craft paint so I could finish a couple projects and we found this really cool kitchen island at my favorite "Antique" store....its been there since the spring so was marked WAY down (and I even haggled a little). So excited. :) The picture below is my "new-to-me" island and its a perfect depiction of my crazy life....we brought it in the house and in just a couple hours this is what it looks like.....sweatshirt, school books and a science project!

Gotta say that I love my life.....are there things I would change?? Sometimes! But mostly I am trying to be happy exactly where I am, right now...at this moment. 

conquering fears...eagerly!

Making old things "new" again...one.thousand.gifts

What an outstanding Labor Day weekend. We spent quality time with great friends, new and old, we had some great time together as a family too. We were given tickets to the last home game for the Naturals Baseball, got to watch fireworks and eat ballpark peanuts (yum), ate yummy homemade mexican food, played softball (parents against the kids), ate smores around a fire and didn't melt from the heat, had a bbq at home with friends and went fishing, then had a lazy Monday with nothing really that we had to do. The weather was absolutely beautiful. A little too cool for swimming in the pool but breezy cool weather after all those high temperatures this summer was a welcomed treat. The extra day this weekend was so nice since our crazy busy school schedule, fall ball, guitar lessons.......has all started. I feel like a headless chicken more often than not in the last few weeks but I love it. Being busy is far better than trying to entertain 4 bored kids. :)  My "thankful" list is kinda long since I haven't posted it up here in a while.

--great friends  --beautiful weather  --dirty tree climbin' clothes  --big fish  --delicious bbqs  --bbq sauce from back home  --bday breakfasts  --special lunches  --fantastic Craigs List finds  --husband that supports me in EVERYTHING I do  --new outfits (& shoes) from grandmas  --allergies from the ball fields  --texts from dad  --beautiful words from the bible, spoken directly to me  --strong women full of courage  --quiet cool mornings  --sweet puppy sleeping at (or on) my feet  --lazy mornings with nothing to do  --managable To-Do lists  --health  --music that speaks to me  --making time to be creative  --feeling safe  --being appreciated  --quiet house after kids are back in school

paint covered hands = happy heart

Today I got to pull out all my *stuff* and just create. I had an idea in my head and I love being able to make that idea into something beautiful (and that actually looks somewhat like what I had in my head). A month or so ago I bought a barn window that said "bloom where you are planted" and ever since I got it I've wanted to creat my own. So today I did!

The window I bought

My version

--housework that can wait
--fingers and hands splattered with paint
--good friends that pick up craft supplies for me (thanks Jo)
--a friend that doesn't mind my messy house
--chores finished
--no complaints to hearing "leftovers tonight"
--understanding husband that always encourages
--beautiful words
--funny stories
--bedtime prayers

Thankful

Today was Ty's day off. I look forward to Wednesdays every week. Its so nice to have time just us (and Meara). We didn't do anything exciting but being together was nice.

 More gifts....

--haircuts
--quiet time
--wonderment of a 2 (and a 1/2) year old
--evening devotions
--playing outside as a family
--basketballs, softballs and toy jeeps
--laughter
--popcorn

 

So Blessed

Crazy busy the last few days with school starting and birthday parties, Gravette Days' festivities......

To anyone that is keep track and keeping me accountable...I'm still stopping throughout the day and thanking God for that moment, I just haven't gotten those moments transferred to the blog! :)  I finished the book One.Thousand.Gifts and have started reading something new but same similar subject. Its good, scary, overwhelming, daunting & so many other things all at the same time.....to really learn, dig deeper & truly try to understand God on a different level than I have ever even considered before. Its an interesting journey to say the least. Trying to become the person God created me to be....

My list of gifts over the last couple of days:

--Small towns
--good friends
--parades
--fresh squeezed lemonade and homemade bbq
--Street Dances

--watching the kids experience pure joy, just being silly and run around in circles
--Birthday Party giggles
--disagreements that lead to long talks
--night before school butterflies
--FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
--pot roast cooking in the crockpot
--family meals & devotions
--letting go...and just running without worrying if someone will see me

 --Creativity
taking something simple or plain & making it into something unique and beautiful
--Quiet mornings
--coffee on the back patio while listening to the birds sing

One.Thousand.Gifts

Missed posting for a couple days.....

--rain
--"funder" and lightening (or dropped taters and flashlights)
--sweet little friends
--roller skating
--independance
--cooler overcast days
--comfort food
--grasshoppers and catapillars
--crackle paint
--school supplies

--new haircuts
--chore lists
--playing catch in the yard
--hardworking partner
--clean kitchen

No NOs

Today......I will not be so quick to say NO. I promise to myelf (and my children) for today I will listen and think about their request and will not just say a quick NO because its easier or less messy or .......whatever other excuse I have at the time.

So....today we have gone swimming, had spaghetti O's for lunch and built living room forts with everything they could get their hands on!

I am thankful today...
--quiet time to read the bible
--swimming in the morning shade
--a puppy that likes to swim with the kids
--living room forts
--saying YES
--beautiful rain

Beautiful Gifts

As a mom I feel very blessed by the beautiful gifts of my children. I was given 4 children with very unique personalities and they constantly amaze me. I could fill a list of 1000 gifts just in them alone. One aspect of these personalities is the ability to just be silly for the simple purpose of laughing even if it is just laughing at themselves. This is one thing I could never do even as a kid...I didn't like "feeling silly" or like someone was laughing AT me. Obviously this is not something that Austyn has ever considered......she is quite comfortable being SILLY! And I adore her for it!!

 

--silly hats!

--ability to make others laugh

--confidence

--cool-er evenings

--sounds of summer

--cicadas

Dare I say "vintage" barbies were discovered in our 'need to move to storage' pile. I laughed out loud listening to the 3 big kids play with my old barbie. I answered many "mom what is THIS" questions and I'm kinda embarrassed to say the answer was "its a tube top" more than a few times. I'm a child of the 70s...what'd ya do???  

 

--busy days

--football practice

--using my degree

--marketing

--Popsicles in the pool

Thankful

Today I'm thankful for a lot!
--bruised ribs
--boy time
--quality time with my beautiful little ladies
--tree covered country roads
--pampering my girls
--pedicures in the kitchen

--yellow, teal and lime green toe nails
--dinner with good friends
--uneventful swimming time
--local people being kind to people they don't know to honor the memory of a beautiful little boy

Book One.Thousand. Gifts

"I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves one above the other and that the taller we grew in Christian character the easier we should reach them. I find now that God's gifts are on shelves one beneath the other and it is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower and that we have to bow down, always down, to get His best gifts." F.B. Meyer quoted in the book One Thousand Gifts

John 3:30
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less

Still struggling with actually putting what I'm reading and learning into action....but I'm working on it.

Thankful today for.....
Ice Packs
classic Disney movies
church challenges
diving in deeper....and learning something
good news on facebook
play dates

One.Thousand.Gifts

--Grandma's cookies

--Small reminders of where my roots began

--holding hands
--Guitar lessons
--patient teachers willing to increase their love of music
--sunshine
--cartoons in the van
--gravel roads
--quick chats with a good friend
--evening dances in the pool
--family time
--empty laundry basket and full closet
--watering flowers with my son
--watching his facination with how everything works
--his love of hugs
--ice cream
--the littlest one making the big ones belly laugh
--hanging pictures



One.Thousand.Gifts

God's subtle reminders to listen

One.Thousand.Gifts

Live In Handyman

God's Sprinkler System (and Air conditioner)

Inspired

So I was recently inspired by a very dear friend from HS.....and as my usual....it didn't last long! After a conversation with my best friend in the world, after a lot of prayer and many church services I think maybe its time to listen. I seriously need to re-evaluate my life, my existence and what makes me happy. In short....I need to be more content with where I am and just be happy because the alternative is, well it is not fun. Someone recently pointed out that God had me just where HE wanted me at this particular time in my life and although I may not (and probably will not ever) understand why He is doing what it is that He is doing and I need to shut up and listen! By and funny turn of events that I believe was totally a "god thing" for lack of a better way to describe it, we have moved (yes again) into a beautiful home. We are still renting and for those of you that are keeping count, in 14 years of marriage this will make our 12th move. I'd like to think that one of these days we will in fact actually purchase a home which would mean another move but for now I'm happy in this "old farm house". We live on land and though it isn't ours per say its beautiful to look at. It has the feel of being out in the middle of no where yet we are only a couple minutes from town and whatever we would need. There is a pool out here too which is so nice, a little intimidating at first but I think we have already gotten used to it.

Ok so back to my inspiration......a few months back my very dear friend started posting these exquisite photos and all the titles said one.thousand.gifts. So it intrigued me to say the least. I found out that it is a book she was reading about (in a small nutshell) being happy where you are. Sort of a "bloom where you are planted" type thing. (haha thanks pastor Spencer...that was what you told us in church this week).

So between reading about the book http://onethousandgifts.com/the-book , seeing the beautiful photos Chanda has been taking and getting a deeper glimpse into her heart, attending church and listening and trying to practice what I've been learning each week and several conversations with Ty, I've decided I need to read this book and not just the website about it AND I need to be more thankful with what I have and less impatient because I don't have what I want yet.

So to begin my one.thousand.gifts and what I am thankful for today....

A man that I can call my best friend...and mean it...that walks, not in front of or behind, but right beside me through the good and the bad, the wonderful and the scary. He never waivers in his love for me or his love for his God and the need to serve Him. And for all of that I am truly thankful.