Thankful Thursday #24

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week.

1) I am thankful that my husband is a good provider for his family. Ever since giving birth to my first daughter, I have been able to stay at home to raise our children because my husband is a hard worker and a good provider. I realize that God is the one who has poured out His blessings onto us, but my hubby has been there to work hard - really hard and I appreciate him.

2) I am thankful for the opportunity to look out onto my birdfeeder and see this really cool bird yesterday. Along with this bird, I saw a cardinal, goldfinch, and an indigo bunting. It was an amazing display of God's creativity and color scheme. I love His creations.

3) I am thankful for the opportunity to be part of a praise band at my church. We are an upbeat praise band that plays on Saturday Night. This has allowed people who don't normally attend on Sunday morning to come and see what it's all about. Hey, Paul tells us to be all things for all people! Glory to God for His faithfulness.

4) I am thankful that when my 3 1/2 year old daughter, Tiffany, found her long lost watch the other day, she said exuberantly, "Praise God, I've found my lost watch!" She's learned to give God the glory for the good things in life. Music to my soul.

5) I am thankful for each one of you who link up to this blog. You are a blessing because together we are a song of praise being sung to our King!

Life Lessons from Children

Keeping your house clean with six children can be quite the challenge.

When we put our house on the market a few weeks back, I had visions of grandeur! I just knew that as a family we would rise to the occasion and our house would miraculously stay clean.

Fast foreword to today. Because of our busy schedules, the house has gotten a little messy. I keep waiting for that dreaded phone call from our Realtor saying that someone wants to come and look at our house in the next 30 minutes. I keep thinking that we need a wake up call like that.

My husband has had his own plans for a wake up call... He noticed that an empty Gatorade bottle had been deposited on the hallway floor. Just for fun, he placed a $1 bill inside and placed it on the den floor, in plain view. A few hours later that bottle was gone. We called all of the kids into the room to see which of our children was gracious enough to have picked up the bottle.

Much to our dismay, they all said, "What bottle?"

Turns out, someone had kicked it under the sofa!!! LOL! We pulled it out and Dad pocketed the dollar in front of the kids. They were all bummed that they hadn't found the bill. Thus the object lesson to PICK UP THE TRASH, because you never know when Dad might hide a dollar in it.

This got me thinking. I wonder how often God places trash in plain view and waits to see which of His children will stop to pick it up. Of course the trash I'm referring to are the unsaved people we come in contact with (We were all once trash - until we were cleansed by the blood of Jesus). The reward, treasure's in heaven.

Thankful Thursday #23

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week.

1) I am thankful that my husband is my biggest fan. I sing in our praise band on Saturday Nights, and Tim always sends me an encouraging message on my phone while I'm practicing. We all need encouragers in our lives!

2) I am thankful that after waiting for eight months, Marriage Partnership Magazine has responded to the query letter I sent them and they have requested to see my article! It's not a guarantee, but it's the next step and that's exciting!

3) I am thankful that I have loving Christian parents. When we went on our trip to Hershey, PA, my parents came with us. What a blast we had! They are so much fun to be around.

4) I am thankful for my local writer's group, RCWW. Through a series of emails, the co-directer decided to encourage me to submit at least one article this month. We then agreed to critique the other's article for them. This all led up to me needing someone to look at the article I wrote 8 months ago for MP Magazine. God's timing is always perfect! Now I'll be submitting 2 articles!

5) I am thankful for the time I get to spend with Kelly. She has been my best friend for many, many years and she knows me so well. Whenever we're together, we just relax and really have fun.

May God's timing in your lives, be exactly what you need this week!

Hershey, More than Meets the Eyes (or Tummy!)

Authors Note: Those are actual chocolate bars, the cost: $49.99 each! We put them back after photographing!

We had a fun family vacation at the end of last week, we drove up to Hershey, PA. To state the obvious, we ate way too much chocolate, mmmmmm! The most important part of our journey, was the trolley ride. It was all about the man named, Milton Hershey.

If you don't know about him, look him up - you won't be disappointed. He went bankrupt several times before he began making money at candy making. Perseverance was the theme of his life. That's the one common thread I see in studying great inventors, they are willing to persevere in the face of defeat.

Hershey was also a great humanitarian. Not able to bear their own kids, Milton and his wife, Kitty, started a home for fatherless boys in PA. It grew into a school which is thriving to this day! The entire town is devoted to those underprivileged children and he left his entire fortune to the running of the homes and the school. Here's a statistic to consider: last year their graduating class of seniors ALL went on to college somewhere. They are obviously doing something right.

Ok, on to the fun of Hershey, a picture is worth 1,000 words:














If you've never been to Hershey, what are you waiting for?

Thankful Thursday #22

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week.

1) I am thankful that my husband is committed to our marriage. If you are also married than you know that with marriage comes good times, and bad, sickness and health, richer and poorer. My husband is going to be there for me through all possible circumstances and that's an awesome thing to realize!

2) That tax time is OVER!!! PHEW! I am grateful that now everyone can settle down and relax and come look at my house to see if you want to buy it! LOL! Did you know that historically, the first two weeks of April are the slowest in the housing industry? It's because no one has time to house hunt if they are worrying about their taxes. My house is on the market now, so bring on the buyers. (PS. we still don't have any news on our new house yet...)

3) I am thankful that yesterday was my niece, Rebekah's, 16th birthday! Happy birthday Rebekah! She has been such a blessing to my family. We love her so much!!! She is always there for us and my kids absolutely LOVE being with her. God sure knew what he was doing when he brought her into our family. Rebekah is soft spoken and joyful with a servants heart - a perfect combination.

4) I am thankful for the rain. With the rain and warmer weather, the grass and flowers begin growing and blooming. Such a joyous time of year!

5) We are heading to Hershey PA today, and I am looking forward to some R&R with my family (My parents are joining us, too!). We will indulge in chocolate for a few days and even visit the Amish country for a culture check while we're there. I love vacations!

God bless you all this week!

A Fun Weekend

Happy Resurrection Day!

We try to make this an important weekend in the lives of our children.

We start by having our own Messianic (Christian) Passover Seder on Friday night (yes, I'm aware that it isn't the correct day, but it's the thought that counts for us). This is the one meal of the year that we all look forward to! We even talk about it all year long in anticipation.

The children help me prepare the different unusual dishes that we will need and we buy the unleavened bread and the traditional Jewish wine (sparkling cider for the kids). Then we decorate the table and pull out the many candles we will be lighting.

Once the leg of lamb is cooked and de-boned, the meal can begin! It takes us between two and three hours to actually complete this ceremony and meal. Every minute is cherished by all.

One of the key things we do, is to set a place setting at the end of the table for Elijah. If you remember, Elijah never died, and it is believed that he will return to earth once again, marking the beginning of the return of Christ.

My youngest daughter, Tiffany, couldn't quite figure this one out. She wanted to know who this Elijah person was and was he going to be driving his car to our house?

We said, "No, honey, Elijah is a spirit right now like God."

To that she replied, "Well, is he in my heart like God?"

"No, he's not in our hearts, he's in heaven but one day he will come back."

At the end of the Seder, we open the back door and welcome Elijah to come (thus welcoming the return of Christ) and at the moment we did that, my two toy poodles freaked out - started barking and tore out of the door! Her eyes were as big as saucers as she fully expected this Spirit Elijah to come into our home! LOL! It was so precious.

I hope your Easter was blessed, and I want to encourage you to start up some traditions that make the weekend truly meaningful. The world has commercialized the holidays so much that it takes away from the true meaning. Have a blessed week!

Thankful Thursday #21

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week.

1) I am thankful that my husband is such a great provider. Even though the market has been in a bad place, his business is doing just fine! His work ethic, and hard work coupled with his Godly character have proven to be a winning combination! Thank you honey, for all that you do for me and the kids. I respect you and love you!

2) I am thankful that we are preparing to have our passover Seder meal together this weekend. While we aren't Jewish by birth, we are adopted children of God, which makes us Jewish by rebirth! Celebrating the passover as a family has become a tradition that we all cherish and look forward to. The kids all play a part in helping to prepare for the Seder and it's great fun! Some family traditions are worth keeping and this is one of them.

3) I am thankful that despite the fact that we still don't know if the bank has accepted our offer on the new house we want to purchase, God has given me a peace about it. I don't have any anxiety or sense of urgency anymore. I've been able to completely put it into the Lord's hands. Phew!

4) I am thankful that our house is officially on the market. That means we have finished decluttering and touch-up painting. Hard work that will pay-off in the end.

5) I am thankful that I have the opportunity to be a part of our local church's praise band called, Ignite. It's amazing to be a part of worshiping the Lord every Saturday night. Singing His praises is what I live for!!

I pray that as the Resurrection weekend approaches, you will take the time to thank God for the good things that are in your life. He is a good God!

Standing Out

.

The weather outside felt like spring yesterday. The sun's rays warmed you and yet there was a gentle breeze blowing, creating the perfect temperature to play outside.

My seven year old daughter, Ashley, noticed a large patch of clover growing in the grass. She stooped down to consider its beauty when she plucked up a four leaf clover! In a squeal of pure delight she ran over to share her precious find with me.

She kept on looking through the clover patches until she had found 10 four leaf clovers!!! I was amazed because in my 42 years I've NEVER even found one.

I started thinking about that four leaf clover. It is different from all of the rest. If we were four leaf clovers, we would probably be unhappy because of our differences. The irony is that the four leaf clover is valued because it is unique.

I believe we need to value ourselves as Christians who are not conformed to this world, but are different because of God and the Holy Spirit in us. God values us because we don't look like the world, lets see our worth through His eyes as we are the treasured four leaf clovers that heaven is searching for.

Thankful Thursday #20

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week.

1) I am thankful that my husband is my friend. We took a few hours on Monday to go look for some new furniture for our new house (we still don't know for sure if they have accepted our offer yet! It's been 2 weeks!). Just hanging out with Tim is a delight to me.

2) I am thankful that despite some difficult life circumstances, my children are communicating their feelings to me, and I have the priviledge of directing their hearts to God. (Can't even imagine how a non-Christian would handle these situations?)

3) I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go shopping Wed. morning with my Mom, just the two of us. It's always so nice to just be with her.

4) I am thankful that when we pray for wisdom, God is faithful and just to give us our answers.

5) I am thankful that God has our lives in His hands and no matter what, He will direct our paths. With so many decisions to make now, I need His direction!!!

May God bless you this week with wisdom and friendships.