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!