Learning to live for HIS glory

Today I am thankful for these things (and more) the Lord has provided: Sunshine. Sleep. Wise counsel. Food. Water. My home. The health to care for my boys. Text messages sharing God's truth. That we've made it to 31 weeks. That spring allergies only last for a season. Our beautiful dogwood tree. Tea. Date nights. Our church family. Memorization. God's Word. Christ- His Perfection, His Death, His Resurrection. The hope of life eternal.  Spring. Plants popping up from seed in the garden. The promise of vegetables and flowers. Beauty.

 Hello from snowy Missouri!   Today I'm thankful for snow, For my big picture windows,  And a warm house to live in! I love just sitting here watching the snow fall,  It's pure whiteness is a beautiful reminder of what Jesus has done. Thankful for how He can take our mess and make it clean. I'm thankful for music, For to-do lists,  For naps on teething days. I'm thankful for a job Carl can work from home, Especially on days the roads make me nervous. Thankful for baby flutters, For health and the gift of life. Thankful for the Word of God, For encouragement to store it in my heart, And for the way the Spirit of God uses it to encourage and challenge me. He is good. He does good. All His works are done in faithfulness. May His name be praised!

       Today I'm thankful for the peace that accompanies nap time, and the rest God has designed to help heal our bodies.  I'm thankful for better attitudes, mine and kids, for Christ's work in our hearts, for answered prayer.  Music playing in the background is making me smile.  And a warm house is keeping me from being chilled to the bone.  I'm thankful for my big windows that let me see the sky, for evergreen trees, and white lights.  I'm thankful for stories, chapter books, lessons learned, snuggles while reading, and the joy of sharing the gift of words with my children.  Many are the gifts the Lord has given, and I'm thankful He's walking with us through each new day.  

 It's Thursday! The sun is shining, the boys are resting? (napping may be mostly a thing of the past for one of them)... and I'm taking a few moments to write and focus on my blessings. Today I am thankful for: Music with truth filled words, Especially when I start to hear those words spilling from my toddler's lips. Clean towels, Answers to prayer, The access we have to God in prayer, Hudson's reminders to pray. The boys starting to enjoy wrestling each other. Carl, And getting to be on his team in life and parenting. Lights on my railing, the Light of the world, His light in my heart, and for my path through His Word... Most of all though,  The gift of His salvation, And the amazing truth that He chose us,  Chose this plan of redemption before the world was made. What love!

 Happy Thursday friends! :)  Today I am thankful for a warm cozy house, Time to spend with my parents, Applesauce canned in my storage room... Not sure what happened this day, but this list was all I had sitting in a draft,  so I figured I'd put it out there anyways! :)

 Today I am thankful for a God who hears prayer. I'm thankful to see how He has answered prayer... The Perspectives class happening this semester is just one example of that! I'm thankful for the privilege of praying. For the reminder it is that we are at war. Thankful that it is a way that we can help to uphold those around us who are hurting. Thankful that it's powerful, not because of me, But because I serve an all powerful God, And He has made that power available through prayer.   I'm thankful for faith. Thankful for examples of faith- faith in the hard times, faith in the good times. I'm thankful for family,  For the way God designed it so beautifully, The gift of my husband and children, The gift of getting to anticipate seeing my parents soon! I'm thankful for fall, I love to see the changing leaves outside, To feel the crisp bite in the breeze. And most of all, I'm thankful for Jesus. Thankful He lived a perfect life, then died to save me. Thankful ...

It's been awhile.  But on Carl and I's most recent planning day, I decided I should try to start writing these again! That decision came from reading Psalm 145 and thinking about how many times the passage referred to speaking of what God has done.  I want to faithfully do that...in my home, in my family, with my friends, to the world.  This is just a little piece of that.   So here we go ;)  5 minutes of things I'm thankful to the Lord for:  Life. Grace. A bluebird flying through the air. Focus...I've seen the Lord grow my ability to focus on what is right in front of me in this season, and I am grateful! Mornings. JJ Heller. My sweet boys. Conversations with Hudson that remind me of how God is working. I love how he randomly reminds me: "Mommy, God is growing us.  We're going to be so tall!" Makes me laugh, maybe he doesn't quite get it yet, but he's getting there. "God is working" "Can we pray for...?" "Father God, thank...