Well it's the last day of November. I can't believe how fast this month has flown by. I made a goal at the beginning of the month to blog every day about something I was thankful for. I didn't quite follow it religiously but I have still put forth a good effort I think. With that said, here is my last one:
Day 30 - I'm thankful that I know and serve a God that hears and answers prayers.
I've been going through a lot emotionally this week and today I finally feel hopeful. I know that it's because I spent a better part of yesterday evening talking to God and letting Him know what I was struggling with. Today I know He's lifted some of that burden by reminding me that He desires to encourage me strongly. And as long as I have Him, hope is NEVER lost.
Amen.
PS. If I blogged about this topic already I don't care. God deserves more blogs than anything else:)
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Behind! 26-27-28-29
26 - I'm thankful for the opportunities Hope Resource Center provides for women to hear about Jesus.
27 - I'm thankful for Christmas trees and how they smell!
28 - I'm thankful that it's okay to tell God how we really feel.
29 - I'm thankful for my fluffy robe that keeps me warm in the mornings.
Sorry I've not kept up with this very well right after Thanksgiving. One more day left!
27 - I'm thankful for Christmas trees and how they smell!
28 - I'm thankful that it's okay to tell God how we really feel.
29 - I'm thankful for my fluffy robe that keeps me warm in the mornings.
Sorry I've not kept up with this very well right after Thanksgiving. One more day left!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Days 24 & 25 of Thanks
Day 24 - My Grammy
She's 80 ya'll! I love her so much. She is smart, funny, brutally honest, a believer, a quilter, and an amazing grandmother. I love having so many family gatherings at her house! Even if she falls asleep while we are playing games:) She makes the best food (rolls!) and is truly a genuine person.
Day 25 - Christmas Music
Hey, it's after Thanksgiving so rock on the Christmas Cheer!
Fa la la la la la la la la. Enough said.
She's 80 ya'll! I love her so much. She is smart, funny, brutally honest, a believer, a quilter, and an amazing grandmother. I love having so many family gatherings at her house! Even if she falls asleep while we are playing games:) She makes the best food (rolls!) and is truly a genuine person.
Day 25 - Christmas Music
Hey, it's after Thanksgiving so rock on the Christmas Cheer!
Fa la la la la la la la la. Enough said.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Day 21-23
We have been traveling so I hope you can forgive my slight lack of blogging. These posts will be short but sweet!
Day 21 - My sissy, Mandy!!!!!!!!!
She told me she'd been waiting for this post:) Well here it is. We went shopping together on Wednesday and it was so much fun to spend time with her. It's never enough. I hope our dream comes true of one day being little old ladies and living next door to each other. That would be sweet. She's my twin soul. My best friend. And the only one that can randomly bust out in song with me, or understand my crazy childhood movie quotes! I love her so much. She just got married and though I love her man, I'm jealous. He gets to spend way more time with her than me. But alas, life goes on doesn't it? Truly, she's amazing. We are so alike and so different at the same time. But most importantly, she's my blood...fo life yo!
Day 22 - Delicious Food
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What was your favorite Thanksgiving treat? I ate a lot of delicious yummies. My favorite is sweet potato casserole and then probably any kind of pie!
Day 23 - My dad
He's an awesome dude. He's taught me so much about adult things like how to check the tire pressure on my car, balance my budget, plan ahead for things, make things out of wood, be resourceful, have fun, etc. I love my dad. He's a big teddy bear!
Day 21 - My sissy, Mandy!!!!!!!!!
She told me she'd been waiting for this post:) Well here it is. We went shopping together on Wednesday and it was so much fun to spend time with her. It's never enough. I hope our dream comes true of one day being little old ladies and living next door to each other. That would be sweet. She's my twin soul. My best friend. And the only one that can randomly bust out in song with me, or understand my crazy childhood movie quotes! I love her so much. She just got married and though I love her man, I'm jealous. He gets to spend way more time with her than me. But alas, life goes on doesn't it? Truly, she's amazing. We are so alike and so different at the same time. But most importantly, she's my blood...fo life yo!
Day 22 - Delicious Food
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What was your favorite Thanksgiving treat? I ate a lot of delicious yummies. My favorite is sweet potato casserole and then probably any kind of pie!
Day 23 - My dad
He's an awesome dude. He's taught me so much about adult things like how to check the tire pressure on my car, balance my budget, plan ahead for things, make things out of wood, be resourceful, have fun, etc. I love my dad. He's a big teddy bear!
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
19 & 20 Thanksgivings
#19 - Mentors
Hubby and I had our match meeting yesterday! No, I'm not talking about eHarmony style but I am talking about our Amachi match meeting. Now, what is Amachi you may ask? Amachi Knoxville is an organization that pairs Christian mentors with kids from 3 or 4 to 18 years old who have at least one biological parent that is incarcerated. As mentors we commit to spending at least 1 hour per week (4 hours a month) with our mentee and to serve as their mentor for one year.
Hubbs and I were really hoping for a set of siblings so we could pour into one family together. Finally, after much waiting, we met them yesterday. I was matched with a 10 year old girl and Hubbs is matched with her 5 year old brother. We are very excited to start hanging out with these kids and loving on them and their mother.
I'm very thankful that God has equipped us for the opportunity to mentor them and teach them about Christ. I'm thankful that we are doing it as a couple so we can grow through this process together. I'm thankful for people who served as mentors in our lives at different points who helped us grow in our faith and our marriage.
Major mentors for me personally: Mrs. Knight, my 5th grade teacher; Col. Stephenson, my JROTC instructor for 4 years; Elisa Sisterhen and Erin Coomer, Bible Study leaders in Cru at UNC.
I've learned so much from each one and am thankful for their love towards me.
Who has been a mentor for you?
#20 - Good health
We take this for granted all of the time don't we? If you got out of bed this morning with little physical effort involved, walked to the kitchen and fed yourself breakfast...you have A LOT to be thankful for.
I take my good health for granted every day. But today, while I was with my sweet special needs kids at work, I was struck again with how blessed I am to be in good health. Don't get me wrong, kids with special needs are a blessing too, I would never say that they weren't. But, sometimes it's hard to see kids who may never walk on their own, or be able to form words and tell you what they want, or who can't ever tie their own shoes...or feed themselves. That's tough stuff. My hope is that they will learn how to do all those things one day but the fact is, it's possible that they won't. I'm thankful for the sweetness of their faces, even when they're screaming at you for making them go to the potty, or sit in a chair at the lunch table. And it really makes me thankful for good health.
When have you been struck with how blessed you are to be alive and well?
Hubby and I had our match meeting yesterday! No, I'm not talking about eHarmony style but I am talking about our Amachi match meeting. Now, what is Amachi you may ask? Amachi Knoxville is an organization that pairs Christian mentors with kids from 3 or 4 to 18 years old who have at least one biological parent that is incarcerated. As mentors we commit to spending at least 1 hour per week (4 hours a month) with our mentee and to serve as their mentor for one year.
Hubbs and I were really hoping for a set of siblings so we could pour into one family together. Finally, after much waiting, we met them yesterday. I was matched with a 10 year old girl and Hubbs is matched with her 5 year old brother. We are very excited to start hanging out with these kids and loving on them and their mother.
I'm very thankful that God has equipped us for the opportunity to mentor them and teach them about Christ. I'm thankful that we are doing it as a couple so we can grow through this process together. I'm thankful for people who served as mentors in our lives at different points who helped us grow in our faith and our marriage.
Major mentors for me personally: Mrs. Knight, my 5th grade teacher; Col. Stephenson, my JROTC instructor for 4 years; Elisa Sisterhen and Erin Coomer, Bible Study leaders in Cru at UNC.
I've learned so much from each one and am thankful for their love towards me.
Who has been a mentor for you?
#20 - Good health
We take this for granted all of the time don't we? If you got out of bed this morning with little physical effort involved, walked to the kitchen and fed yourself breakfast...you have A LOT to be thankful for.
I take my good health for granted every day. But today, while I was with my sweet special needs kids at work, I was struck again with how blessed I am to be in good health. Don't get me wrong, kids with special needs are a blessing too, I would never say that they weren't. But, sometimes it's hard to see kids who may never walk on their own, or be able to form words and tell you what they want, or who can't ever tie their own shoes...or feed themselves. That's tough stuff. My hope is that they will learn how to do all those things one day but the fact is, it's possible that they won't. I'm thankful for the sweetness of their faces, even when they're screaming at you for making them go to the potty, or sit in a chair at the lunch table. And it really makes me thankful for good health.
When have you been struck with how blessed you are to be alive and well?
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Day 18 - Hope
There were about 8 pages of verses on Biblegateway.com when I searched for the keyword "hope". That's a lot. If you are feeling hopeless, read the Bible because there were a lot of people who thought they had no hope...and they found it, in God.
Hope by a dictionary's definition is an expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen...or it's a feeling of trust. So when you see something like this:
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
...know that God created hope so that we in turn would overflow with hope from Him. He created it! We are to have hope in Him...that means we are to have desires like His desires and expectations that He will work and move in this life. Expectations that Jesus will return and judge and redeem everything on Earth. Expectations that He will provide our daily bread. That He will comfort our sorrows. That He will take care of us, love and forgive us.
I'm talking about hope because tonight hubby and I went to a worship celebration for the Hope Resource Center and the unveiling of "Gracie" - the new mobile unit. OMG:)
If you don't know what I'm talking about - HRC is a pregnancy medical clinic, and all the services are FREE! It's awesome! I've started volunteering there and love it.
Gracie is a donated tour bus (thank you country music singer) who has had a complete makeover. She'll be hitting the road and going to the far reaches of Knox County and hopefully beyond one day to serve women right in their neighborhoods.
I have hope that HRC is going to make a huge impact in this city. I have hope that God isn't finished with this city and has a master plan for the good of the people here. I have hope that lives will be changed and saved through Gracie's services.
I'm thankful for hope.
Where does your hope come from? slash - What do you hope in?
Hope by a dictionary's definition is an expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen...or it's a feeling of trust. So when you see something like this:
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
...know that God created hope so that we in turn would overflow with hope from Him. He created it! We are to have hope in Him...that means we are to have desires like His desires and expectations that He will work and move in this life. Expectations that Jesus will return and judge and redeem everything on Earth. Expectations that He will provide our daily bread. That He will comfort our sorrows. That He will take care of us, love and forgive us.
I'm talking about hope because tonight hubby and I went to a worship celebration for the Hope Resource Center and the unveiling of "Gracie" - the new mobile unit. OMG:)
If you don't know what I'm talking about - HRC is a pregnancy medical clinic, and all the services are FREE! It's awesome! I've started volunteering there and love it.
Gracie is a donated tour bus (thank you country music singer) who has had a complete makeover. She'll be hitting the road and going to the far reaches of Knox County and hopefully beyond one day to serve women right in their neighborhoods.
I have hope that HRC is going to make a huge impact in this city. I have hope that God isn't finished with this city and has a master plan for the good of the people here. I have hope that lives will be changed and saved through Gracie's services.
I'm thankful for hope.
Where does your hope come from? slash - What do you hope in?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Day 17 - Date Night:)
Hubby and I love spending time together. When we lived in NC we spent A LOT of time with friends and family, which was awesome. But...
Now that we've moved we've gotten to spend A LOT of time with each other. To some people, spending time (oodles and oodles of time) with their spouse may sound like a death sentence (I hope not though - if so, you should seek help...seriously) but hubbs and me...we really love it.
So we do a lot of movie watching. Netflix is the most wonderful invention for this. However, since we're in a new town, we decided to try a weekly date night. Plus, we've heard that it's important to never stop dating your spouse. So Wednesdays are our tentative date nights, pending something that would require weekend hours. And we're not being crazy sticklers about it either. If we can't figure out a way to make date night work every week, we're not kicking ourselves for it. But it's caused us to be more intentional and to seek creative ways to be together that isn't always a movie...at home.
Tonight was our date night this week. We delivered a Thanksgiving Basket to a needy family in a neighborhood our church sponsors. Our Bible Study put the basket together. Then we headed to a pizza place with the Bstud friends we dropped off the turkey with. Hubbs noticed we were eating beside of a cheap movie theater...$2.50 a ticket - sweet! SO...
After using a halfoffdepot.com voucher on the pizza, getting craft supplies from Michael's for some Christmas gifts, parusing through a furniture store that's going bankrupt, hubby said...
"Hey, I noticed that two movies at that theater were going to start around 7:30, wanna make a date of it?"
Yes, darling. Of course I do.
So we saw Brave and shared medium drinks and a BIG bag of popcorn for only $12 (this included our movie tickets) - holla!!!! It was a "couple's special" they were putting on. Why thank you very much movie theater.
It was an awesome date night.
Next week is my turn to think of a date idea. Since we'll be back in my old stomping grounds for the holidays with my family, we might not get a lot of alone time. But I'll have to get creative I suppose. Thankfully, that isn't too hard for me to do:)
What is the best date night you and your spouse have had? Send ideas my way! Just in case I blank.
Now that we've moved we've gotten to spend A LOT of time with each other. To some people, spending time (oodles and oodles of time) with their spouse may sound like a death sentence (I hope not though - if so, you should seek help...seriously) but hubbs and me...we really love it.
So we do a lot of movie watching. Netflix is the most wonderful invention for this. However, since we're in a new town, we decided to try a weekly date night. Plus, we've heard that it's important to never stop dating your spouse. So Wednesdays are our tentative date nights, pending something that would require weekend hours. And we're not being crazy sticklers about it either. If we can't figure out a way to make date night work every week, we're not kicking ourselves for it. But it's caused us to be more intentional and to seek creative ways to be together that isn't always a movie...at home.
Tonight was our date night this week. We delivered a Thanksgiving Basket to a needy family in a neighborhood our church sponsors. Our Bible Study put the basket together. Then we headed to a pizza place with the Bstud friends we dropped off the turkey with. Hubbs noticed we were eating beside of a cheap movie theater...$2.50 a ticket - sweet! SO...
After using a halfoffdepot.com voucher on the pizza, getting craft supplies from Michael's for some Christmas gifts, parusing through a furniture store that's going bankrupt, hubby said...
"Hey, I noticed that two movies at that theater were going to start around 7:30, wanna make a date of it?"
Yes, darling. Of course I do.
So we saw Brave and shared medium drinks and a BIG bag of popcorn for only $12 (this included our movie tickets) - holla!!!! It was a "couple's special" they were putting on. Why thank you very much movie theater.
It was an awesome date night.
Next week is my turn to think of a date idea. Since we'll be back in my old stomping grounds for the holidays with my family, we might not get a lot of alone time. But I'll have to get creative I suppose. Thankfully, that isn't too hard for me to do:)
What is the best date night you and your spouse have had? Send ideas my way! Just in case I blank.
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