Spring Break

I am thankful:

~for a wonderful Spring Break week.  We had the best time with our favorite tradition: one-on-one breakfast dates with mom.  I love getting the individual time with each of the kids, listening to their hearts and getting the 411.  Sawyer still wants to be a police officer, but when I asked him where he wanted to live when he grows up, he promptly replied, “Mama! God is going to handle all of that!“  Cooper impressed me by sharing some of the things he has been praying about.  Gavin wants to learn how to be a farmer from my Dad.  Samantha wants to be a mom and an animal nurse, when I asked her who she looks up to, she said, “Cooper.  Because he’s my brother and I love him.”  Carson Grace chatted with me about her simultaneous excitement and nervousness about heading off to college.  Kora aspires to be a bow designer, a nurse, and a foster mom, “to give a home to kids who don’t have a family, and teach them about Jesus, like you did for me.”  Zoe wants to be a princess and live in a castle, of course.  I even got a wonderful lunch with Colton, who actually turned the tables and treated me at the restaurant where he works, and I enjoyed just spending time with him and hearing his heart.  This week was feasting on donuts and bike rides and waffles and dog walks and sausage biscuits.  We tried out almost every breakfast place in town.  And I hope each of my loves came away feeling loved and special. 

~Tatum K did not get a breakfast date, but I did bake her a pie in honor of Thursday, which was Pi Day.  

~ for a fun couple mornings early in the week at Spring Break Bible Club, hosted at a local park by the TCF Children’s Ministry.  Littles attended and Cooper was a youth leader (who knew he was such a gifted puppeteer!?)  So thankful for all the work that went into planning, and for the neighborhood families that were blessed.

~ for healing for Sawyer.  His ears and cough are nearly cleared up.  Just in time for Kora’s ear infection!  But thankfully her meds already have her feeling so much better. 

~ for a lovely day with Aunt Dinah, who made the trip over from Longview to hang out with the kids and go out for pizza (Rounders of course!)  We had the best time laughing and playing with Bear and enjoying the sunshine.   A special visit and such a fun day. 

~ thankful for some great progress on a couple of home-improvement projects this week. Our front porch steps have been super slippery, clad in slick interior ceramic tile.  Josh got that all ripped off and replaced it with beautiful rustic slate.  We finished the grouting process today and are freshly reminded that grouting is NOT our favorite project.  I took on the task of freshening our living/great room area with a bright, crisp coat of white.  I love white paint so much, always have, so I’m thrilled with the crisp, clean results.  I love to paint walls almost as much as I love to paint signs!

~ for a great lunch fellowship/meeting with our deacons and elders at church.  I love this Body so much.  They are our family and our home, and I always treasure getting the chance to spend some time with them. 

~for a fun St. Patrick’s Day morning with green milk and green mustaches!  Thank you Grandmommy, for the treats!

~ for an epically beautiful song.  Currently my favorite.  I’m sharing the link to the YouTube video.  What makes the song infinitely more special, is that it is an original song written and performed by Carson Grace.  Enjoy and be blessed. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=whx1Ag7e1p8

I’m just so grateful.  For these days of laundry piles and runny noses and hearing “Mama” 2,799,437 times before breakfast.  I’m thankful for cereal night every Monday and for 18 hours a week in the car and that I’m so exhausted by 8pm that I can’t uncross my eyes.  Lord, please don’t let me get lost.  Help me to love these babies, and love on these babies while I have the chance.  Help me to choose them before me.  Help me to choose You before me.  At the end of the day, let each one of us fall into bed knowing that we are loved, and that Jesus is always the answer. 

March 19 is Sophie Skiles’ birthday.  We wish she was turning 4 here on earth.  Instead, she’s right where she wants to be, celebrating her birthday with her Jesus.  Her family has set aside the day, the whole week really, to lift others up and share the love of Christ with anyone they come across, and they have invited us to do the same in Sophie’s memory.  Will you join us?  Random acts of kindness.  Donate blood.  Pay for someone’s coffee.  Call and encourage a friend.  Let a stranger go ahead of you in line.  Last year our family baked treats for a local fire station, and told them about Sophie the Brave.  The world is a big place and it’s easy to feel like nothing we do matters.  But it matters. It all matters.  Because Jesus sees each one of our hearts, and He wants to draw us nearer, deeper.  

Don’t wait. 

Thanks for giving thanks with me. 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9