Thankfulness {Day 17} Catching Up

I haven't posted much this week. I actually deleted my blog at one point. I constantly wonder if I am investing too much time into this and if it is what God would have me do with my extra time (that's a funny one!). But a couple of things happened after I deleted the blog (thank goodness you can recover it pretty easily) that helped me to realize that He doesn't mind the investment - I just need to keep it in check.

How do I do that? As my 6 yr old would way, "I dunno". But I have seen a few other bloggers write about how they balance homeschooling, homemaking and blogging and I'm gonna do a little research and keep praying.




But, back to being thankful. I did keep up with our daily calendar at home, so I have been thankful to God for at least one thing every day.

Here's the rundown:

{Day 13}

My dear friend, Claire. She is my friend that I asked God to bring into my life. I have many friends at church, but this is the gal that I know will be there, even if via text, when I need someone to pray or tell me that I need to "die to self." I love this gal!

{Day 14}

Our girls have been playing so nicely together this week. They had been at a height of sibling rivalry that was very ugly. Our 2 yr old wanted to be 6 and our 6 yr old wanted to be 2. So I am very thankful to the Lord for the companionship they are developing - even if it is short lived.

{Day 15}

The Reprieve - I am thankful again for the way my girls are behaving. They are not only playing so well together, but they are behaving and obeying much better (this has been a big problem lately). What changed? Well, we have said many prayers and issued many punishments. The one punishment I did not want to give was to take away the electronic babysitter. But I did. I thought life would be SO much harder without the TV or computer, but it has been easier. I am also thankful for the break, even if it is small, from the vertigo. I had a couple days of feeling really good. I thought I was cured. The Lord allowed it to return yesterday, but I am still thankful!

{Day 16}

I am so very thankful for the way my girls love on strangers. My 6 yr old loves people in general (the girl has never met a stranger) but children in particular. She will find a friend at the park and just make that person feel like her number one special friend. I am have been thanked by other parents and grandparents so much for my daughter's loving heart and genuine kindness towards their children. 

Now my 2 year old chooses to love on older women - "Grama's". She loves all the older women at the grocery store and just brings a smile to their face. I am often busy reading ingredient labels and I'll notice a woman looking our way and she'll declare, "Your girls are adorable". That happened yesterday and as we were leaving the store, my daughter is yelling, "by Gama, i wuh you". It is not even that this lady looked like her Grandmothers - she just loves Grandmas.

{Day 17}

I am so very thankful that there is a large number of people who invest in our youth. There are so many kids who need direction from someone other than Mom and Dad (our voices start to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher after a while). There are so many people at our church in our community that love the Lord and love our kids. People who will take time, lots of time, to teach godly principles to the kids and then are examples with their own lives.

Our church has a wonderful youth program on Wednesday nights for all ages. I was there last night and I am just overwhelmed with the number of kids that are running around our fairly small church. I know they are learning God's word and being discipled by many who love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

Another example of this is Christian Youth Theater (CYT). We are going to see one of their plays today (Narnia). This is a company that invests in children, not only to teach them about theater, but to help them to remember Who gave them their talents. At the end of each performance, they end it with all the children pointing one finger up to the heavens as a way of declaring that it is all from Him and for Him. I love it!