Thankful Thursday

I have a blogger friend from college that use to always have a Thankful Thursday post.  She did it again not long ago, and it reminded me of how much I loved the thought of reflecting back on the blessings of the past 7 days.  I love how she terms it her "manna" for the week. 

Here are some things I am thankful for this week:

- Kevin, or Tekton Renovations I should say, was able to help bless some friends.  He helped renovate a garage into a man cave.  (By the way, Lisa hates that term.)  It was a surprise for Toby, and it was fun to see him enjoy his surprise and new hang out.  I think they have been out there almost every night for a week now.  It is complete with a frig, tv, and ping pong table.  I think Lisa could beat Toby, but he just knows how to get into her head.  This reminds me of a Cosby Show episode we watched at dinner tonight on Netflix.  (I love Netflix!)  It was in the first season and Cliff always loses in chess to his father-in-law because he knows how to get into his head.

- Our adopted college student, Meredith, (I will give our story in another post) who is now married and moved away came to visit us.  She came and watched Kevlie Ann's soccer game and hung out with us all day Saturday.  Her husband was unable to make this trip; therefore, I went to a wedding with her Saturday night.  We had a great girls night out!  She spent the night and went to church with us on Sunday morning.  We are so blessed when she comes to visit us, and I love how much she loves our family.  We love her too!

- I love watching my kids play sports!  We watched KK play soccer on Saturday in high winds with blowing sand, and Calvin had a great baseball game on Monday night.

- I had a Mommy first this week!!  I have realized now that this is a Baby Mommy First because I know there are so many other firsts that we will experience!

- I was able to go on a Girls Night on Sunday night.  This ended up being 2 nights in a row, but I had not been to dinner and movie with these girls since Kylee was born.  I am so grateful that I have a husband who loves me and knows I need my girls nights.  On Sunday night he gathered them all from church, fed them dinner, and got them all peacefully to bed.  Two nights in a row that is.  I think they watched the Cosby Show that night as well because they all had stories to tell me the next day.  They just do not make family tv like the old days.

- Kevlie Ann was home sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I enjoyed her being here.  On Wednesday afternoon she was feeling better, and she worked on putting dreads in my hair.  It takes a long time to do all of those tiny braids.  She only completed the front part of my head.  I still had lots of hair left undone.  I even went grocery shopping in my dreads!  I was not sure I was going to be able to get them all out, but they actually came out a lot faster than it took her to put them in.  It resulted in a major frizzy, wavy mess.

- I am grateful that I have a new dryer.  I must say that after settling in with it for several days now that my buyer's remorse is quickly fading.  It dries so much faster than ol' dryer did, and that must be saving a lot of energy thus lowering the utility bill.  It has already successfully done many loads, but I am not completely caught up yet.  I also love the extra space it has created in the laundry room.  I am still trying to organize and get things all put back in to place.  I know it seems like this should be done, but it is really hard with a mobile, wanting to play all the time, 9 month old.

- I am thankful that this Thursday was peaceful.  I thought my youngest ones were getting sick.  Colton definitely is not, but Kylee had quite the snotty nose and was a little more cranky than usual.  I do not think this is teething since the girl already has 6 teeth!  She may have a complete mouthful by her 1 year old birthday!  While Kylee napped this afternoon we were able to play ball outside with the other kiddos.  I am trying to soak in this weather because I know it will be miserable soon, and I will not want to be outside.

- I love this weather!

- I am thankful for how God's Word is being weaved into our hearts and becoming practical in our daily lives!

I think this "manna" is really supposed to be in the form of "Today I am thankful for:" followed by brief statements of gratitude.  With my first attempt at this, I realize that mine really became more of a synopsis of my week.  I thought I was attempting to be brief, but I failed.   I understand there is no right and wrong, but I will try to do better next week.  Nevertheless, it was fun thinking about my week in synopsis.  It was a good week! 

What are you thankful for this week?

I love being reminded of all of the blessings we have and focusing on the good every week.  Thank you Erica for your inspiration!  You are a blessing and treasure to so many.

Only By God's Grace...
Callie Ann

We will hide Your Word in our hearts.

I will admit that I was inspired and encouraged by a friend from college, who happens to be an amazing children's author and blogger, to start memorizing verses throughout the year.  Erica does not realize it, but she has been holding me accountable.  She has been great to post the verses she is memorizing each 1st and 15th of the month.  I will try to do the same.  It is tough to choose only one verse or section of verses at a time.  As I was trying to decide the first one for the year, it was impressed upon my heart that I would choose them based upon the stage or season our family was in.  I was also going to have to be aware of choosing verses that my children can understand, memorize, and use in their daily lives. 

First, to play a little catch up.

Our initial verse was:
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.  Psalm 119:11

Kevin chose this verse because he thought it would serve to set the initial impact on the children that we would be focusing on memorizing scripture throughout the year to hide in our heart.  The lesson was that if we commit these scriptures to memory, then we are able to use them.  This morning I heard a quote at Bible Study:  "When you memorize scripture, it increases the Holy Spirit's vocabulary."  I do not know where the quote originated, but I love the practicality and truth it speaks.  It was a great day to hear this to reaffirm our family scripture memory, especially on the 15th when a new scripture is introduced.

Our second verse for January was:
Be joyful always,
Pray continually,
Give thanks in everything;
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I cannot begin to tell you how impactful this verse has been.  It has been used on multiple occasions especially when break downs are occuring.  I have used it myself numerous times to change my attitude.  It really is a great reminder when sometimes I am just down in the dumps (or when sickness seems to take up permanent residence).  That is not how Christ wants me to live.  Our entire family has been blessed by this, and one of my friends even shared last week how she was reminded to be joyful after reading one of my facebook posts the day before.  I was so thankful and blessed by the fact that she shared that with me because it reminds me that joyfulness is contagious!  This was a rather long verse for Colton to memorize so he was only encouraged to remember, "Be joyful, pray, and give thanks." 

Our first verse for February was:
Let us love one another for love comes from God.  1 John 4:7

I will admit that I cheated a little with this one because we all already had this one memorized.  This is a CBS (Community Bible Study) verse that is set to a tune.  I must say music helps all ages to remember verses!  I decided to use it partly because the previous verse had been so long and more challenging for the kids to remember.  However, I also chose it because of the Valentine season it would encompass.

Those now bring us to today; the 1st and 15th are the days we introduce new scripture.  For the past few days I have come upon so many great scriptures and was really having a tough time narrowing it down.  But one stood out above the rest last night as I was reflecting over my blogs the past couple of days.

Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24

There are so many great verses about our words, but I chose this one because I can use creative ways to help us remember it.  I must admit that we did not get to introduce this tonight because it was a rushed evening, but we will tomorrow at our family dinner.  I plan to have honey for them to taste to help cement a memory and start the discussion on our words that we speak.  I anticipate that this will be one the Holy Spirit pulls out of the vocabulary to use on a regular basis.

I also thought I would share my friend's blog mentioned earlier because it brings me such great encouragement.  You can be encouraged by Erica Stidham at Amazing Adventures Await.  From there you can check out her new series for children, Those Silly Sisters.

Only By God's Grace
With Much Love,
Callie Ann