Tonight,

I am thankful for good friends to fellowship with, who have the same ideas and intentions about community in Christ. We all want to be "up in each other's business", caring and sharing burdens and living life together.

I am thankful for "breakfast for dinner" and the Waffle of Insane Greatness. I never liked waffles until we found this recipe--the end product lives up to its name!

I am thankful for a husband who can redeem this old house with the work of his hands. Right now, its the garage/mudroom/"pigeon coop" area. By the time cold weather hits us, the rooms will be fully functional (and in the case of the latter, no longer a coop type room, but something useful and not gross. Okay, it was never a coop, but it looked like it!)

I am thankful for Pinterest. What a great idea!

I am thankful for my little W, and his enthusiasm for books, water, and showing me whatever catches his eye: airplanes! trucks! dogs! balls!

Thank You, God, for your good gifts and the eyes to see them.

gifts

1. Candy Cane Lane tea, hot in my hands
2. Reminder to pray for Haitian laboring moms, and the gift of W's safe, happy delivery
3. That I am able to easily give small words of encouragement through texts
4. Nutella
5. Stretching
6. W learning to wave hello/bye-bye, his cute little fingers opening and closing toward himself
7. W's need for me and comfort through me
8. Family arriving this whole week
9. A wedding, a new sister
10. A flexible, generous boss

Creating

Just a short note because I want to remember this. Husband creates through photography and web design and bathroom tiles. I create through lunches & dinners, paint workshops, letters & cards, and shower curtains.

We all are created to be creators--image-bearers of the Creator, reflecting back His glory as we follow His lead and Make.

I want to remember this and I want to encourage my W and my friends and myself to not hold back, to let loose the gates of imagination and joy and Create.

Food Notes

1. I made chocolate peanut butter ice cream pie for husband's birthday. So Good!

Just mix together 1 carton softened chocolate ice cream, 1/2 carton whipped cream, and two big scoops of peanut butter. While you are waiting for the ice cream to soften, crush half a package of oreos (easy in the food processor) and mix together with a 1/4 cup of melted butter. Press this into a pie plate (or the bottom of a round cake pan). Okay, now mix the ice cream. Then pour into the pie plate and smooth with a spatula. You can drip or shave chocolate on top. Or sprinkle crushed peanuts. People think you are a fabulous cook and ask for seconds, and everyone is happy!

2. Old Orchard's Pineapple Orange juice reminds me so much of Sundays. Growing up, I went to a fancy downtown church that served punch after services. We'd all head to the banquet hall to snack of handfuls of those soft wedding mints, and fountains of pineapple-orange-ginger ale punch. Or maybe the wedding mints were just at the wedding receptions in the same room. Anyway, you drank the punch from a little glass cup with a little glass handle that would only fit a finger or two. I haven't thought about this in Years, and yet tonight here I am, the pineapple-orange taste taking me back.

Its been a good night.

married people, be blessed

This video is a truth and a blessing. Watch HERE.

And the setting somehow reminds me of my Gram's driveway, all ivy and old stone. I get nostalgic and hopeful all at the same time watching this...every time.

Thanks, Ann, for the original link!

EDIT: Non-married people, be blessed too, as you hear a true beautiful description of this commitment.

Gratitude

1. The W's dimple.

2. getting to make a milkshake for my S.
3. still no snow, and its almost Dec 1! Thank You!
4. learning to cook creatively with no stove...boiling pasta in the fondue pot :)
5. a new sister-in-love
6. anticipation of makeup lessons at Sephora
7. Advent planning
8. walking distance to the shops and kombucha and an awesome breakfast place that I have yet to try
9. my S saying I'm cute when I'm actually totally mismatched
10. a warm place for my W (God, care for the little ones and their mamas who are cold tonight! Please God!)
11. Our "library shelves" that make me feel truly rich

Shelter for the Soul

Everybody wants the same thing,
rich or poor...
not only a warm, dry room,
but a
shelter for the soul.

~Samuel Mockbee

Old School Spinning Top

I had one of these when I was little! Maybe its still in my parents' attic, with my handmade Cabbage Patch doll, Leslie, and Teddy, my teddy bear (creative name, don't you think?). I've been searching for good baby & kid gifts now that the W is here, and there is also my niece/nephew to delight. I just love the classic stuff!

We are moved in!

And that is good enough for me.

Oh and we have renters! Got the call the day we moved into the new house. Amazing.

God is good.

the little things

I have had such a sense of peace this weekend. Great times with my husband, baby-carrying peace with my boy, and the sense of both satisfaction & anticipation that comes with almost finishing our house. Plus, the little things:

new yellow shoes--tags still on!--for $5 at Goodwill

my boy loving bath time...he is so happy in the water!

apple cider with cream on top, and my favorite gifted spoon, with a good reminder

Thank you, God, for your good gifts and the eyes to see them....

I'm thankful for music. Shalom music, that brings peace and wholeness, pointing to the Healer and Helper and Holder of my heart.

I'm thankful for fall weather--cold, finally! And that we seem to be getting a real fall so far this year--no early snow, yet.

I'm thankful for my boy and his whole trust in me.

I'm thankful for our new-to-us home and the paint color Revere Pewter. It makes me feel so warm and family-like.

even when you're tired, give praise

I've been so going-through-the-motions lately, trying to stay on top of to-do lists and baby's sweet cries. I have tried once or twice to make lists of gratitude, or even my favorite things, and come up empty. Maybe I haven't tried very hard. No, maybe I just haven't made space enough. Nevertheless, sometimes we must act and pray that the heart follows...

I am grateful for a pair of friends that GIVE of themselves every time we see them. Clothes, little treasures, food, many things they can't afford but give anyway. They floor me and humble me. It seems like the stinge-y people are most often those with so much. Why is that (me)?

I am grateful for the wisdom of the Desert Fathers, which I read in Space for God...

For example, "Abba Poemen said about Abba Pior that every single day he made a fresh beginning."

Or, "An old man said, "Constant prayer quickly straightens out our thoughts."

I am grateful for family, who cares for baby while I work, and helps me paint, and feeds me dinner and prays for us.

I am thankful for Kombucha tea, especially the guava and grape flavors.

I am thankful for my husband when he is silly, when he is vulnerable, when he is strong. He is a great dad already.

I am thankful for all the baby stuff we've been given. There is so much!!

I am so thankful for sunny, warm weather!! The snow is finally melting--come quickly, spring!

And if it snows again, hopefully I'll just have a $2500 Southwest gift certificate in my pocket, to fly me somewhere beachy :). Epiphanie Bags is giving away a gift certificate--or a Canon 5D Mark II, holy cow--to someone lucky this month!

I'll get some sunshine one way or another! (Actually, my nose is already nice & pink from sitting by the slopes this weekend, watching husband & friends fly down the mountainside--shirtless, no less! It was warm, they were crazy, and I was laughing.) I am thankful for these blessings!

my valentine

I'm thankful for my Valentine, who treats me so well, even when I'm really cranky. I'm thankful that he understands me and pulls me through and loves me.

And I'm thankful for a friend who invited me over this week for a valentine's craft night and fed me a perfect dinner, too. Here is what I made for my sweet niece:

I embroidered two pieces of glittery felt together and hot-glued them to little hair clips. I thought they turned out pretty cute!

I got the idea and the know-how from thelongthread. Fun, fun!

Oh, and I'm also thankful for Necco Sweethearts. Yum!

heaven stands

Its been a heavy week--Haiti, and some things closer to home--and I need to pour out the gratitude that God is due. God is always due our gratitude, even in the mess. And the mess has made me all the more aware of the good in my life:

I'm thankful for my marriage. So thankful.

I'm thankful for my little one and his constancy.

I'm thankful for community; that we don't go it alone.

I'm thankful that "when my world is shaking, Heaven Stands."

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Hebrews 13:20 - 21

If God can bring back from the dead His own Son, then I have hope that God can revive much else, too!

halloween

Friends painted and carved pumpkins with us. We roasted the seeds and handed out candy and all took turns taking our niece out trick-or-treating to a couple houses at a time. We slurped potato soup and grape jello and enjoyed cake donuts from my husband. Everybody was partaking and sharing, cooking and cleaning, like family. Community is great.

thank You, God, for Your good gifts and the heart to see them.

Today I am thankful for getting to work in my fleece at home, watching the snow twirl and fall and build.

I'm thankful for two different girlfriends who are so delighted in the snow, and chose to share their delight with me. A couple nights ago, a friend spoke about how it is sometimes scarier to reveal the best part of your heart, rather than the broken pieces. Because what if you share your best part, and it is not recognized, or is rejected? And so, I am grateful that friends are entrusting me with their best parts and delights, believing that I'll recognize that and rejoice with them. It is an honor to be a friend.

I am thankful that today is another chance to conquer the dishes.

I am warm, and cozy, and thankful.

october

October has almost come and gone, and where have I been? Not on this blog.

But much good has happened...

We got up to the mountains at what happened to be the peak of fall season. A week later, everything was bare. So thankful that I got to witness the beauty in the nick of time.

My good news from the last post has blossomed and settled in to my heart. When I shared the news with friends, their delight increased mine, and for that I am particularly thankful.

An old friend came to visit for a weekend, bringing happy memories and making new ones.

The snow from earlier this week didn't stay for too long, and so the leaves are still on the trees, red & yellow instead of frozen & brown.

A friend offered to take pictures of husband and me. We caught the last warm day of fall, and some lovely light with the mountains in the background.

I'm anticipating more good...

Getting to see those new pictures next week, for example.

And getting a pumpkin, to scoop out & roast the seeds. And then carve if I get around to it. But the seeds are the best part!

Thank You, God, for Your good gifts and the eyes to see them.

my week

Fair of Face
- Good, sort-of unexpected news
- A late night walk

Full of Grace
- The Melting Pot; dipping sauces are my favorite part.
- prayers at night
- family & friends enthusiastically supporting my organization

Full of Woe (nah, just full of autumn)
- thrift store fall skirt
- cooler weather for husband

Far to Go
- yes this will be true tomorrow

Loving & Giving
- we'll be with friends, heading toward an outdoor weekend

Thank You, God, for Your good gifts and the eyes to see them.