Lent - Day 3

Today I am thankful for this...

No long soliloquy, just I'm a girl and I really needed this last night...yum!

Thank you God for simple pleasures - like yummy ice cream with strawberries and raspberries.  Amen :)

Lent - Day 2

Today I am thankful for His Word. 

Yesterday I was at work and out of NOWHERE I started humming and singing a song we sang when I was in my youth group "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet....and a light unto my path"  All day singing and humming.  Last night after I got dinner into the oven I cracked open my dusty bible study books and the first question had me reading Psalms 119.  I read through the whole thing, I thought it was a bit ironic (ironic - when dealing with God- riiiight Nikki) that Psalm 119:105 is:

Your word is a lamp to my feet
       and a light for my path.

But it wasn't until I finished my whole study - that I realized I still wasn't 'GETTING' it.  I was humming it and liking it - but stop and THINK about it Nikki. 

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

His word is going to light my way.  His word is going to teach me where to go, how to live, who to be.  HIS WORD is there to teach me - to show me the way!  DUH!  I am soo thankful that not only do we have the word, we have a God who is very, very patient - giving us time to 'get it' when he lays it out in front of us. 

Thank you God - for waiting for me, for giving me your word, and for your patience.  I'm here, I want to learn. (Job 6:24) "Teach me, and I will be quiet.  Show me where I've been wrong"

Amen.

Addendum

In adding to my previous post, I just received this picture - showing the two people I am so very thankful for right now together...and I just had to add it...

 

(oh my goodness!!  Isn't she gorgeous?!  She gave BIRTH yesterday - and she looks this amazing!  Love them!!)

Lent - a Meditation on Thankfulness...

Well the Lenten season is upon us, and I probably wouldn't have posted once about it on our blog had I not read this post at Life in Grace.  I would have given up my Diet Coke (boy, do I feel silly!) and gone about the season thinking I knew what was going on.  But now, I've given up my Diet Coke still, but, vowed to spend more time this season with my Father and in His word and in Prayer (and hopefully making it a habit I enjoy!)

As I focus more on my Father and his Word and spending time with Him I know I will more clearly see the amazing things in my everyday life to be thankful for.  I will stop feeling sorry for myself that its dark all the time (can I try to be thankful for winter?!? hmmm...) and start showing my appreciation for the amazing gifts I overlook everyday.  I want to try to show here each day (in word and maybe picutres) what I was thankful for the day before. 

So starting at the beginning - yesterday was the start of Lent - Ash Wednesday.  And I didn't have to wait very long at all to be VERY VERY THANKFUL!   On Feb 17 at 3:35am - I became an AUNT for the first time!!  I am sooooo very thankful for a happy healthy baby boy - Andrew William - and for his beautiful, brave, healthy mama - my SIL Kelly. 

 

I've been pretty thankful for Kelly for a couple of years now.  She's amazing - smart, pretty, happy, funny, loving and wonderful.  She makes my brother happy (really happy) and I love her most for that.  But I love that I would have picked her myself to be my sister, and my friend, and I LOVE that she is part of our family.

 

 (at my wedding)

  

(at Kelly's shower with my mom)

And I'm very happy that she is now a proud mama - and thankful for my first nephew - and for making me an aunt.  I'm thankful for this bundle of joy and all the love and happiness and smiles he is going to bring to our family!

Introducing...Andrew William...

The World's Newest Buckeye's Fan...

 

Apple of his Daddy's eye...

 

and the baby that made my parents the very long awaited (and repeatedly pleaded for) 

"Grammy and Gramps!"

  

 Thank you God, our Father, for making my brother a Father.  For giving us all this wonderful gift of a child to love and for a growing family and for showing us Your love in very real ways.  Thank you God, for loving us.  Thank you for Andrew.

Amen.

SNOW!!...but first

We had snow here in the Deep South this weekend,

 

...and we will get to that soon - but first, Eric and I went to Winter Jam on Thursday night.  This is the third year in a row we have attended Winter Jam and I'm always really glad we take the time to go (its usually on a Thursday night - we have to work the next day etc etc)... This year the line up included Sidewalk Prophets, FireFlight, Tenth Avenue North, Newsboys ...

 

and then Third Day

 

We had a great time and enjoyed the time together and the fellowship.  The entire James Brown Arena was full this year and it was amazing to see everyone enjoying the great Christian entertainment.

As far as proving we were actually THERE - we tried and tried and tried to take a 'self portrait' - but none of them turned out very great, so I edited this one so its at least postable (the b&w is good for taking out 'blemishes' if you will!  lol)

 

If Winter Jam comes to a town near you - you really really should go!  For $10 - its the best concert you'll see!

*this is not the weekend I ordered*

This is the weekend I envisioned when Eric left town on Friday...I saw warm fireplaces (with coffee and knitting)

 

I saw lots of sewing time 

 

I was really looking forward to a cozy, quiet, relaxing weekend.

But this is what I got instead...

 

a flooded car...

that we had to slowly disassemble

 

(yeah, it just keeps getting worse)

 

to bail out all the water (inches! of it)

 

to dry out all the parts,

 

and left "Sporty Spice" in total chaos!

Luckily Chris put my driver seat (and seat belt Mom!) back in and ... Well - that's what it still looks like today.  AND its supposed to rain today - so our drying efforts over the last two days may have be thwarted.  If not, we did discover two leaks (one on each side - in different places - great!) that we can fix and hopefully soon reassemble the whole thing. 

I'm gone this weekend and I happen to think Eric's 'cozy, quiet weekend alone (which included dreams of chainsaws, and garden tilling more than likely)' may contain more of the same flooded car instead - but hopefully it looks more like re-assembling than dis-assembling.

Avatar in IMAX 3D!!!

So...this is what we spent our Sunday afternoon doing (well including running other errands, cleaning and laundry) we finally went to see Avatar - at the IMAX 3D!!  And you can't really go see a 3D movie without taking pictures in your CRAZY glasses...

 

silly hubby!

 

silly close up!

 

silly glasses - but GREAT movie!

(and does anyone else think the Avatar sorta looks like Geordie?! - or is that just me?)  If you haven't seen this movie yet - GO DO IT!  I didn't think I would like it (at all) and I went for Eric - but WOW!  Its fantastic - and even worth the $15 IMAX price tag - AMAZING!  

Hunting Ducks, part 874

 Well, maybe they haven't gone THAT many times yet - but EVERY weekend (and some weekdays taken off work even!) these two are up hours before dawn (yes, Eric!) out in the freezing cold weather, braving the elements - for Duck.

 

You might have remembered earlier this year Eric painting his *new* boat camoflauged to prepare for this event...

 

   

The boat turned out great (so I'm told) and works well for where they are hunting.  There were also a slew of decoys purchased to further their pursuit...

There are stories of duck chasing, duck calling, and boats getting stuck.  There are all day Saturday naps to make up for the 4am wake up calls, there are sacrifices made to the "honey-do" list and freezing rain endured.  But there were still no ducks...just two guys in waders....

Arguabley looking ridiculous - but very surely having a good time :)

Thank you February for coming!  I've had about enough of duck season!