thankful 4, 5, 6

Posting everyday is hard!  I've had this post floating around in my head since yesterday and just haven't had a chance to sit down and type it! 

Anyway, things I'm thankful for parts 4, 5 ad 6.

I am so, so, so, SO unbelievably blessed to have been given the family that I have.  See, two months after I was born I was adopted. 

*To answer the questions that statement always brings I will say this: I've just always known, I've never met (nor do I really have the desire to) my biological family and I look just like my daddy.*

So the first aspect of my family that I'm thankful is a woman I've never met- my biological mother.  Without her and her sacrifice, I wouldn't be here now.  I'm thankful that she chose to give me LIFE and that she made the most difficult choice to give me a BETTER life.

I had a couple of friends growing up who were also adopted.  I've often wondered if my life would look like theirs if I had been adopted by THEIR family... but that's a question only the Lord knows how to answer. 

That thankfulness flows directly into my parents.  How blessed am I to have been adopted into a family who loves the Lord and seeks Him wholeheartedly... who taught me of Him from an early age... who loved me as their own without any hesitation? 

My parents have always supported me and wanted the very best for me.  Have I always believed that- of course not!  I was a teenager too, you know!  Have we always gotten along beautifully- no.  But I have NEVER once doubted their love, never once doubted they would be there to pick me up when I fell.  I have always known and FELT their prayers surrounding me.  I couldn't ask for more than that in parents.

I remember when I was in the first grade, a girl who knew I was adopted said to me- "you know, you're mom isn't REALLY your mom."  I immediately burst into tears and ran away... when I got home from school, I collapsed into my mommy's arms crying.  When I told her what my friend said, she took my chin and wiped my tears and said to me: "What is a mommy?  Let's make a list..."  She walked to my desk and got a pad of paper and began to make a list.  We sat there on the bed for an hour, writing out all the things that SHE did for me day in and day out... at the end of the list she wrote: "now THAT is a real mommy." 

Even now, 21 years later, tears fill my eyes as I remember that night.  I can close my eyes and SEE my mom's handwriting, I can picture the list.  I still have that list and would have to say that's one of my most prized posessions. 

My daddy took care of me like no one else could!  To this day, I believe that my love language of "acts of service" stems from my relationship with him.  It was obvious that he took his responsibility of taking care of his girls most seriously.

While some dads were too busy to be at their kids activities, my dad never missed a single basketball game, piano recital, church play... he was always sitting there proudly with my mom (and usually a couple of grandparenst!) and was happy to be there.  That's something I'm sure I've taken for granted far to often.

Ephesians 1:5 says "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ..."  I've always thought that it was so cool and such a privilege to have been adopted twice. 

things I'm thankful for parts 2 & 3...

I'm a few days behind on this whole Thankful November, so today I'm doing parts 2 and 3.  These two really go hand in hand, because they are completely intertwined.

First up- Micah... my sweet, godly, husband- the best husband in the world, I might add.  You know, when I married him 5 years ago (that's a long time- good grief!) I never would have dreamed where our life would take us.  If you read in Ephesians where it talks about the husbands love for his wife, it's described as Christ's love for the church.  Micah is the picture of that sacrificial love.  Seriously.

Not only does he love me more than himself, he shows that love to everyone around us.  He is wise and discerning; he is caring and always puts the needs of his family before his own.  It's obvious that his family is the priority to his life after the Lord.  These aren't just words.  This is HIM.

So to sum up thankful thing number 2- Micah, a man who loves the Lord and loves me.  I couldn't have asked God for a better man.

Thankful item number three is my precious baby... What a whirlwind came into our life 3 years ago when John Mark was born.  I've always said that you don't realize how selfish you are until you get married- and you don't realize how selfish you STILL are until you have a child.

Being a mommy has taught me so much- about faith and prayer... about love and sacrifice... about the importance of life and love and showing the love of Christ in everything.

I will never forget the first time I held John Mark.  I was struck with the realization that as much as I loved him and as much as my heart was wrapped up in that tiny (or not so tiny, as our case was!) body- he's not mine.  He was placed on this earth as a gift entrusted to me from the Father.

I pray that the love he receives from me, the love he sees between his daddy and me, the love that surrounds him everyday points him to Christ.  Because that's what matters.

I have been blessed by my precious boys beyond my every hope and dream.  Isn't our God good??

national blog posting month

So the word on the street (the blog street, that is) is that November is national blog posting month.  I'm not sure entirely the POINT behind this, I just know you're supposed to post everyday.  Maybe it's to raise blog awareness... Anyway, I know that I'm 4 days behind, but I have a good reason- I've been racking my brain to find something brilliant to blog about EVERYDAY for an entire month.

But now I have it.  Since November is also the month for Thanksgiving, I've decided to blog, wait for it... things I'm thankful for!  I know, I know- you never saw that one coming did you?

First and foremost, and no list of things I am most thankful for would ever be complete without this-  is my sweet Jesus.  I'm sure that sounds cliche and there are people who hear that and might roll their eyes.  But I know without a DOUBT that I wouldn't have survived this crazy life without Him.

On Monday, the ladies I work with and I had the opportunity to hear from a child evangelism specialist.  We started the morning off by going around the table sharing how each of us came to know the Lord.  As I sat there listening to these beautiful, brilliant women that I admire so much and hearing their stories- all unique and personal- my heart was deeply touched.  The thought that the Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the One who holds the stars in His hands and knows the cattle on a thousand hills- would call ME His child?  My eyes are overflowing with tears just thinking about it.

And while I asked Jesus into my heart at the young age of 7, it wasn't until many years later that I was able to understand.  And many more years later that I found a faith to call my own.  But I know, without a doubt, that the cold night in January, kneeling beside my blue bed in my bedroom with cats on the walls, after talking with my daddy, is the night Jesus saved me.

And I've never been the same.

the night we met PDUB

If you have facebook, you've probably seen that last night I got to meet a blogging hero. Her name is The Pioneer Woman, but we refer to her lovingly as P-Dub. She writes a fabulous blog that I've been reading for years... and just recently she was able to publish a cookbook.

Last night, at Full Circle bookstore, she and her family were there for a book signing. Jamie, Mallory, Sara, Lauren and I loaded up and went.

We got there at 5:30, signing started at 6:30 and we thought we were good. We were in line into the mall, but still relatively close to the front of the line. We had a fabulous time in line... And I'm pretty sure that we kept the ladies around us entertained.

For example, at one point during the wait, Lauren noticed PW's husband (who we in the blogging world know as Marlboro Man) was walking through the mall, right toward us.

Jamie has a fancy camera and we wanted her to take a picture... but she was on the phone with Chris. So we stood there yelling at her and jumping up and down... This is our recenactment of the moment later-

Later in the evening, her daughters came walking through the crowd. They walked right by us and Sara was bold enough to ask them for a picture. At this point we were all giddy, but still being oh-so-smooth....


Mallory said to them "I like your boots"... Then turned to us and immediately said (in the highest pitch EVER)- "I totally froze!!!" We all CRACKED up and somehow it turned into "BOOTS... PUNKS... RANCH" for the rest of the night... the lady in front of us was even quoting it by the end!

Her husband and two sons walked through the crowd a little later. Sara and I followed (read, hunted them DOWN) and were able to get a pic with them. Jamie, Mallory and Lauren were SOOOO jealous!

We finally made it INTO the actual bookstore and started to get excited... but the excitement turned into more waiting... and waiting... and waiting...


But finally... it happened- we got to meet P-DUB!

She is as cute and as sweet in person as she is on her blog. She chatted with us and commented on all of our clothes.


She loved us so much, she even put us on her BLOG!!


Anyway, to say it was the night or our lives would be putting it mildly.
And now you can all say that you know someone famous. ;)

want to bless someone?

Sara over at sara e photography is hosting a contest.
The prize: a FREE one hour photography session and a CD of high resolution photo files... but not for yourself.
Go to her blog and leave a comment nominating a deserving family who wouldn't otherwise have fabulous family photos available to them. The contest ends October 31, so go now and sign up!

What a great way to start off the holiday season!

And in case you forgot, she took this awesome photo!

back from vacay

We had a FABULOUS trip to Grand Lake this past week. Micah and I started off the week with probably the highlight of his life (besides marrying me and having little boy) which was seeing U2 in concert!! Not only did we see U2- we were up close and personal with them.

I'll post a recap and photos later, just wanted to let everyone know that I am, in fact, alive.

ideas

I need your help!!

Dilemma #1- My old comforter set got ruined... let's just say it involved a leaky pull-up and a tragedy in the washing machine. Anyway, it died. Inspired by Natalie over at The Pettijohns, I ordered a fluffy white duvet set from overstock.com. Um, how have I missed that place all these years?? It's glorious!

Now- what I need your help with is this- I now have a blank canvas of a room! My furniture is black, my bedding is white- I NEED SOME COLOR!! How should I add some color to my room?

Bear in mind the following things:

• I am poor
• I am fairly boring and bright colors scare me
• I have a 3 year old tornado son who thinks it's his job to destroy anything in his path.

SO- the cheaper, calmer, sturdier your suggestions, the better!

Dilemma #2- We're going on vacation next week (WOO-HOOOOO!!) and my all-time favorite vacation activity (besides sleeping) is reading a good book. Last year on our 3 day vacation, I read the entire Chronicles of the King series. Yeah, I read kinda fast... so- I'm looking for an interesting series/author to read through! Please give me some new ideas!

Dilemma #3- Any good road trip needs fabulous road trippin' music! What should we listen to??

Ready, set, GO! Solve my problems! :o)