Thankful Thursday

Sometimes. . . when it's a particularly disappointing day. . . the best thing to do is give thanks.  I know there are hard things.  In our nation.  In our families.  In our lives.   Even the weather is yucky.  But today, I choose thankfulness.  Choosing to be thankful, is choosing to remember that the sovereign Lord God is in control.  Our hope is in Christ alone.

1.  Air conditioning.  That works.  And it helps to close the blinds and keep the lights off, too.

2.  Dinner in the crock pot, smelling yummy.

3.  Clean kitchen, somewhat orderly house, and clean folded laundry.

4.  A husband who has a job that he loves.

5.  A son who also has a job that he loves.

6.  A good week of football camp finished up.  Giving me two very tan, tired, boys.

7.  Snuggles with my Little Man.

8.  Phengren for upset tummies.  Times two.

9.  A day "off", resting with my girls.

10.  "Lark Rise to Candleford".  We've watched two episodes today and we love it!

11.  Vacation to look forward to (assuming the entire state of Colorado doesn't go up in flames - yikes!).

12.  A neighborhood that is mostly shaded for my morning run, even when I don't make it out there before 8 because of little sick tummies, bowls of cereal, and phone calls.

13.  Granddad's and Grandmother's neighborhood pool for daily swims.

14.  Friends and their babies to swim with us!

15.  A yard full of cool green trees.

16.  Birds to watch at the bird feeder (two pairs of cardinals, in particular) and hummingbirds, too.

17.  Ceiling fans.

18.  An evening without basketball practice or volleyball practice or 7 on 7 football.  They are few and far between.  And such a gift.

19.  OnCue drinks with lots of ice.

20.  Sprinkler systems and a whole crew of our own boys to keep the lawn looking lovely.

Today we woke up (after a short night sleep because of a little girl with a tummy ache in our room all night) and I decided we'd take the day off.  No errands.  No extra jobs.  No projects.

I went for my run, showered, supervised breakfast and morning cleanup, started dinner in the crockpot, picked up Daughter (#2) at school, ran to the store for Sprite, supervised lunch, and then a bit of quiet time, then back to school to pick up the boys from camp, fill up the car with gas, and drop Daughter (#2) back at school for volleyball.

Believe it or not, it's been a quiet, restful day.

So very much to be grateful for.

God is on His throne and I can choose to submit to the blessings AND the trials of this day.  Choose to "lean into" the Lord.  Lean HARD into Him.  Not fighting, kicking, screaming, resisting (although I do my share of that, too!).  But resting in Him, even when things don't make sense and our minds can't understand.

Make the Lord give you His grace for a grateful heart, today.