Wee Little Babies!

Look at these sweet little ones!!!! That's what I'm thankful for... these healthy tiny blessings. Which is why I haven't posted in a few days and exactly why I am posting at this hour. Trust me, I am usually asleep right now! But this is my chance to take care of them and let their Mommy and Daddy get a little extra rest from all the busy-ness! And, yes, I love them each to pieces... just like all my other nephews! I'm thinking being an Auntie is exactly where God has me right now... :D and I like it!

Thank you LORD for such sweet little packages of joy!

Work... Jobs.. Paychecks

Work... jobs... *laughing*; yupp, I'm laughing and yupp, I'm thankful for work! The Lord has provided me with work (that pays) so that I can get to the places I so love to go and do the things I so love to do( like helping out with my brother and sister - in-law's triplets or coaching or hanging with friends). I am thankful for the variety and sense of humor God has used in picking those jobs for me, but I love the fact that almost everyday is different! My desire is that I will always have an outlet to be serving someone in someway...

Hope

Today I am thankful for the hope that I find in my Savior. Not just hope that everything will work out for His glory in this life, but a hope that one day there will be ultimate gladness and completeness.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.... Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

Psalms 31: 16 and 24

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

Psalms 41:14-17

...My soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Lamentations 3:20-24

Thankful X 2?

Well, I missed yesterday's thankful post... hmmm... it was for multiple reasons. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. Truly, I haven't felt that way ever before. I can take physical exhaustion, in fact I kinda thrive on it. But mental and emotion exhaustion, um let's just say not so much! Smiling for three days straight... encouraging... be positive to everyone about everything... was almost more than I can handle. Don't take me wrong, those 3 days were a wonderful success for my volleyball team. And it was a joy to see them do so well. But it was hard I will admit!

So all that to say, I honestly wasn't all that thankful yesterday, and I couldn't muster myself up enough to push through anyway :(. But I am going to start anew and afresh today... with two things I am thankful for:

Number 1:

I am thankful for songs of worship. I am thankful for the time I can sing, focusing on how great and marvelous my LORD is!.... and was and always will be. A time to take my thoughts away from me and point them towards God. I am thankful for all the men and women that God has inspired with those words of praise and the talent to put them into song.

Number 2:

I am thankful for the apple pie I was finally able to bake today. I have been wanting to make one for weeks but haven't had a spare minute! I know it might seem silly or strange to be thankful about this small thing, but things like these are all it takes to make my day a little brighter!

Volleyball

Today is a day to be thankful for a volleyball team... my volleyball team... by the way I am a very proud coach right now. My girls just played awesome!

So whether you eat or drink or

whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

*The team thanking the Lord for our victory*

Wow, what an experience it has been for me... a time of growth and being in awe of how God can work through somebody with my personality type and give me the courage to do this. I was scared to death at the beginning of the season, but God walked through each practice and game right next to me... whispering in my ear that through His grace I could have the confidence to do this difficult task.

I thank God that the girls respected and listened to me - even the ones who are only a few months younger than me. I am so proud of each of the girls on the team. Did I mention that we WON the CHAMPIONSHIP!!! I am thankful for the friendships that were formed between the girls and me. I am thankful that God provided a opportunity to give of myself ( or maybe it was just a huge distraction) in this time of grief - it was a reason to smile and move past the self-pity.

Thank you Lord for your goodness and blessing throughout this volleyball season... to you be the glory!

My Sister (Part II)

Abigail

I am thankful today for my other sister. By the way, happy birthday, Abigail!!!! I am thankful for the joy she brings me. I am thankful for the giggles we share (who knows why we are laughing 99.99% of the time, but we just are, and it does me so much good). I am thankful for the young lady she is becoming... I was worried there for a while but she is coming around, the sweetheart.

My Sister (Part I)

Today I am thankful for my sister( that is, my older sister;). You see, my sister Kate and I, have a relationship that not many sisters in this day and age could even imagine. I can thank God daily for the blessing she has been to me... a patient, caring heart and ear that listens to my ramblings of frustration; she is an example in faith, love and purity; she is a woman who has gone through (and is still going through) one of the most difficult trials any Mother could experience, all the while choosing to praise and serve her Father in Heaven no matter the circumstances. Thank you Lord for such a blessing in my life and thank you Kate for puttin' up with your annoying little sis'! Love YA! She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:26-30

REST

Today I am thankful for rest - but two different kinds of rest. I am thankful for my warm comfy bed that I fall right to sleep in every night (isn't it nice to be able to turn off your brain for just a few hours!?).
I am also thankful for the rest I find in my Savior... that is where my true rest comes. He understands, he cares, he knows every feeling and emotion that pulses through my heart. Jesus is the rest that I find every day to refresh me and make me strong for each struggle that lays ahead.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;

my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress,

I will not be shaken.

Psalm 62:5-6


He who dwells in the shelter

of the Most High will rest

in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1

The LORD protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need,

he saved me.
Be at rest once more,

O my soul,

for the LORD has been good to you.
For you, O LORD,

have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before

the LORD

in the land of the living.

Psalm 116:6-9

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-29

Walks

Today, the first day of my exercise of being thankful, I choose to be thankful for my walks. The weather has been beautiful lately... Fall is my favorite season... it's so full of God's wonderful design and creativity.

Test me, O LORD, and try me,

examine my heart and my mind;
for your love is ever before me,

and I walk continually in your truth.

Psalms 26:2-3

He holds victory in store for the upright,

he is a shield to those

whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just

and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just

and fair—every good path.

Proverbs 2:7-9

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 1:5-7

I've DECIDED

I've decided that I'm gonna blog again ( among other things, but that's for another day)!

Yupp, it's time to update! ;) Thanks for the reminder, Katie! But this blog is going to be different than it was previously... before, it was just a place to post pictures of the desserts I enjoyed making so much. But now, with the changes and heartache that fills my life I think that it would be good for me to switch directions. At least for the time being. Between now and Thanksgiving, my goal is to post at least 1 thing per day that I am thankful for. It might still be a dessert that I made. It might be a bible verse... it could really be anything! My life is varied and full of blessings, and I have found in the last few weeks that thankfulness and gratefulness for all that God does in my life can combat the anger, frustration, and loneliness. God brings joy into my life, but I just have to realize it and recognize it. I think by posting it here it will be easier for me to remember HIS GREAT faithfulness.