Prayer Time 11-30-10

If you have any prayer requests, please feel free to leave them in the comments field. These will not be published publicly for those concerned about personal requests.

"But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." --Acts 6:4

The Good List 11-24-10

10. Driving on my studded snow tires. I can already feel the difference.

9. Being able to store cold things outside when I run out of room in the fridge. Vermont FTW! :-D

8. Target. It's probably really good for our budget that we are no longer "conveniently" surrounded by these stores.

7. The African Queen. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn are brilliant.

6. Trees with white bark. They look so bright and pretty against the grey/brown backdrop of winter.

5. Brian Regan is coming to the Paramount right here in Rutland, VT! I'm so excited!

4. The 8 deer we watched run across the street and then leap through the field on our way to NY last week. Awesome.

3. The painting my nephew Ty made for me when he was 4 years old. It's called "Vermont." ;-)

2. Watching Macy and Grace play chess with Jared. They concentrate so hard. It's pretty adorable.

1. Four days in a row of family chill/snuggle/play time. Best. Week. Ever.

The Thankfulness Game

I have a very dear and special friend (who shall remain nameless for now ;-) who has gained for himself over the years a reputation of a pretty grumpy and crotchety kind of dude. I personally disagree with this assessment, but it seems that I'm in the minority in my line of thinking. SO--many years ago, in an effort to try to help him change people's perception of him and have them desire to get to know him better so they could know the great guy that I knew--I made him start playing "The Thankfulness Game" with me. It went something like this-- Every time he complained about something, I made him use the exact same scenario he was complaining about and give me 3 reasons related to that situation to be thankful. An example might be something along these lines:

"I'm so sick of all of these ridiculous meetings!" *Redirect.* And then--

"I'm grateful to have a calendar full of meetings, because it means I have a job that helps me provide for my family in an economy that has many struggling for their next meal."

"I'm grateful for meetings this week because it means I get to interact with real human beings for awhile instead of staring at a computer screen all day."

"I'm grateful to be included in these meetings because it means that my input and opinions are valued, and I may have an opportunity to influence some important decisions."

(If he reads this, I'm sure he will roll his eyes for hours at that last statement, but that is a discussion for a different day. :-P) I'm guessing that many times during these exercises he very much wanted to punch me in the throat and tell me to leave him alone, but he didn't do that. He was a very good sport, and he got really good at it after awhile. And he might not admit this, but I think maybe he even enjoyed it a little.

So in the spirit of my sweet friend, how 'bout we play? I'll go first--

I'm grateful for the huge pile of laundry in my laundry room, because it means we have lots of warm things to wear (which take up much more space in laundry baskets and washing machines than t-shirts and tank tops. ;-)

I'm grateful for the unfinished laundry because it gives me the chance to pull pajamas and socks fresh out of the dryer this evening and let my girls put them on all nice and warm. They LOVE that!

I'm grateful for the unfinished laundry because it reminds me that we have spent lots more time in the last few days PLAYING and doing FUN THINGS rather than chores. Sometimes the chores can just wait, ya know? :-D

Ok, your turn. What is something you're grateful for that might not make any sense to anyone else? Ready. . . . . . go!

Keep Steady Their Steps

"Keep steady [their] steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over [them]." --Psalm 119:133

The Good List 11-17-10

10. The storm that screamed and sang and whistled outside my window all night long. I love that sound.

9. Freshly organized closets.

8. Red beans and rice with sausage after I've cooked it allllllllll day. YUM!

7. The Phantom Tollbooth. Such a smart book. (The movie was good too, but I haven't been able to find it on DVD.)

6. Megamind. Sweet and funny. And now I want a pet alien with a giant blue head and gargantuan green eyes. :-D

5. Listening to music on a record player. Love that scratch. Don't know why.

4. Seeing little kids all bundled up in hats and scarves. So adorable and snuggly.

3. The 1880 version of D.L. Moody's Heaven we found in a used bookstore in Poultney. Very awesome.

2. Being married to a man of integrity.

1. MY FIRST HOLIDAY SEASON AT HOME!!! Break out the cookbooks, Christmas movies, Christmas music, crafts, puzzles and decorations. IT'S ON!!!!

Prayer Time 11-16-10

Please feel free to leave prayer requests in the comments field. These will not be published publicly for those concerned about privacy. It is my honor to pray for you!

Happy (Late) Birthday to my Favorite Man!

Life has been a whirlwind these last few weeks (in many very good ways), and it seems as though Jared and I haven't sat still together in a very long time, including on his birthday. We knew that this would be the case, so I promised him we would celebrate his birthday this weekend. A little late, but hopefully it will be just as sweet.

He turned 35 about 10 days ago, and with that in mind, I've composed a list of 35 reasons (in no particular order) why I love and adore him and am so proud to be his wife. If you have a favorite reason to add to the comments, please feel free to tell him why YOU love him too. :-D

Happy Birthday, Babe!

35. He is obsessed with zombies. I am not; however, I can't help but find it endearing. I'm honestly not sure why. . . .

34. He drives everywhere we go together. Even if it's a veeeeeery long drive. Because he knows I hate to drive.

33. He loves watching football with me and doesn't mind that I'm *mildly* obsessed with it.

32. He loves my cooking.

31. He is one of the best writers I have ever read. (But he doesn't agree with that statement.)

30. He is introverted, but he loves people too much not to reach out to them.

29. He brings me chocolate truffles for almost every special occasion we share.

28. He loves my family. And they're pretty much nuts, so that's kind of a big deal.

27. He loves bulldogs.

26. He is absolutely positive that Sasquatch and Champ exist.

25. His heroes are people like the apostle Paul, John Piper, Matt Chandler, etc.

24. He loves books, especially old books.

23. He honors and respects the elderly.

22. He is my favorite pastor in the whole wide world.

21. He makes me laugh, and he LOVES it when he makes me laugh.

20. He is so much smarter than I will ever be, but instead of making me feel stupid, he teaches me.

19. He probably would like to roll his eyes at my stockpile of scrapbooking supplies and jigsaw puzzles, but instead he enjoys that they make me happy.

18. He loves family outings when we can all be together.

17. He was a single Dad for 9 months while we lived apart. I don't know how he did it.

16. He cares about orphans.

15. He wants lost people to be saved more than anything in the world.

14. His best friends are all men of integrity.

13. He has earned the respect of people of all ages because of the way he cares for them.

12. He still can't believe he is a published author.

11. My coffee always tastes better when he makes it for me. ;-)

10. He is proud of me.

9. He loves all different kinds of great music.

8. He LOVES all the Cajun cooking my family introduced to him, like boiled crawfish, gumbo, red beans and rice, etc.

7. He loves new adventures.

6. He followed God's calling all the way to Vermont.

5. He likes to build fires and hang out around the firepit. I love that!

4. I can't imagine raising my girls with anyone else.

3. He thinks being a pastor is about MUCH more than preaching on Sunday morning. :-D

2. He adores our children.

1. He desires to know Christ more and better every single day, and he actively pursues that desire. How blessed does that make me?

The Good List 11-10-10

10. Caramelized onions. They're pretty much magical.

9. Brand new boxes of crayons.

8. Being surrounded by books again (quite literally at the moment in fact. . .)

7. Keith Green. I need to read No Compromise again.

6. "What Love Really Means" by JJ Heller. Awesome.

5. When my Mom calls me ON RELEASE DATE of the newest kids movie and says, "Do the girls have (insert movie title) yet?" The answer is always no because she is usually the first one to a retail establishment as soon as it's available. So then she happily says, "Good! I'm sending it today then." :-D So sweet. Toy Story 3 just arrived.

4. My own bed. Ahhhhhhhh. . . . .

3. Operation Christmas Child. What a phenomenal, life-changing organization. I was blessed to be able to get involved with them during the last few years of my career at LifeWay, and now I am THRILLED that my church is highly involved in building, collecting, transporting and doing pretty much whatever else needs to be done to get as many shoeboxes distributed as possible.

2. Watching Macy and Grace giggle and "awwwww" as they read and re-read scrapbooks about their early lives.

1. The incredible teams of people in Nashville and Vermont who helped pack, load and unload the rest of our belongings so we can finally get "settled." It's good to be home.

The Good List 11-3-10

10. That one little clump of hot chocolate that doesn't quite dissolve. It's like having dessert *in* your hot chocolate.

9. Ayiesha Woods--Christmas Like This CD. Music that's good for your soul.

8. Robert Downey Jr. in the Iron Man movies. Such a perfect role for him. And I still want the suit.

7. The floor vent that is just to the left of my kitchen sink. Keeps me toasty warm while I'm doing the dishes.

6. Miniature horses.

5. Spending only $82 at the grocery store this morning because I saved $73 by using coupons. (I'm getting good at this.)

4. Knowing our queen-sized bed will be living with us again in just a couple days. Snuggling is great and all, but 6 months of sharing a double bed with my not tiny husband is enough. ;-)

3. Getting to share Ty, Jack, Robert and Dylan's first snow experience with them. As Jack would say, "It was Owa-sum!"

2. This morning's sunrise.

1. The three amazing men who are on their way to Nashville right now to help Jared load up the rest of our belongings and finally bring them home. Also their wives for loaning them to us for the next few days. Shout out to Dale and Kim Carr, Jeff and Anne Miserocchi, and Dan McKeen and Ellen Secord. Love these special people!

A New Twist on Lunchbox Notes

Every day that I prepare my girls' lunchboxes, I slip a little note inside. Usually it's just a few lines from me, but sometimes I get their Dad to do it, and every now and then, we even have guest contributors. ;-) This week, several of Macy's cousins have been in town, so each day they have had a different drawing from one of their little cousins (they don't write very well yet). Today Gracie asked if I could please put an extra blank page in her lunchbox with her note. I thought maybe she wanted to write a note to her cousins, so I explained that today was their last day here and that by the time she got home, they would be on their way to the airport. She acknowledged but said she still wanted a blank piece of paper. Alrighty then. . . Simple enough request, I suppose.

When I cleaned out her lunchbox, I found the following note neatly divided into 3 separate sections:

Dear Mom,
I love you soooo much. Out of all the Moms in the world, I would chuse you. Thank you for teaching me scrapbooking in VBS.
Love,
Grace

Dear Macy,
You are the best sister ever. I'm glad you're older than me. I love you. Out of all the sisters, brothers and Macy's in the world, I would pick you.
Love,
Grace

Dear Dad,
Happy Birthday, Dad! Are you excited about your surprise? I love you so much, Dad.
Love,
Grace

(The surprise, btw, is a snowman that she made yesterday and put in the freezer so she could give it to him today.)

I'd say this was a good use of an extra piece of paper. Sure made my day. :-D