Sometimes I need to ask myself

Convicted? Or stubborn?

Eager? Or impatient?

Right? Or just a different kind of wrong?

Objective? Or apathetic?

Safe? Or self-centered?

Funny? Or mean?

Driven? Or greedy?

Content? Or Happy.

Before

And After

You can't see them, but there are ornaments in the trees. And I'm working on the wreaths...
Now we just need snow!

my list

- thank you for the first sip of coffee, and the couch on which I taste it, and the Bible over which I drink it, and the dark in which I savor it and the house in which it brews.
- thank you for down comforters and fuzzy slippers.
- thank you for Keith.
- thank you for in-laws that feel like blood.
- thank you for a family that communicates.
- thank you for a roof and a yard and a mortgage and a job to pay for it.
- thank you for a belly that's too round with "blessings."
- thank you for my friends and for laughter and for trust and for consistency.
- thank you for memory.
- thank you for sidewalk chalk, basketball hoops, and wii.
- thank you for the flavor mint.
- thank you for leaves that crunch and snow that silences.
- thank you for mittens and kittens and puppies.
- thank you for music.
- thank you for forgiveness.
- thank you for my care group.
- thank you for Ogre Sized Peanut Butter M&M's
- thank you for that moment at the end of the night, when the kitchen lights are dim and my spirit is settled, and my wine glass is full.
- thank you for loving me and hearing me and leading me.

the biggest of my peeve's

I am often called upon to proofread at work.
Websites, package copy, video graphics, you name it - I'm supposed to know how to spell it. And punctuate it. (And they say I'm not using my degree...)
BY FAR the biggest offense in this office is the abuse of apostrophes.
I've been giving this lesson for FIVE YEARS!!
Some would say I'm maybe a little hypersensitive about apostrophes, but I just can't understand why it's so hard to understand. Even if it's counterintuitive to you, the rule isn't difficult to remember... And a careless mistake here and there is okay. But why...WHY do you ALWAYS have to insert an apostrophe? Sometimes they just need a break!

So there we were...
On a peaceful, relaxing weekend...
I couldn't help but be a little distracted...

What's NOT to be thankful for?

I got it good.

Last Sunday, Keith and I had the privilege of sponsoring Lily's baptism. I'd pray for my niece whether I was her godmother or not. But the honor of standing in front of my "home" church and committing to do so is a pretty big deal in my book.










This weekend, we stole away for a little R&R... in a heart shaped hot tub :)


I have friends who argue over who's turn it is to dog sit.
I have a husband who makes me laugh just by doing what comes naturally.

We go to a church that makes me weep.
Tears that respond to children making confession of faith, racially mixed parents adopting yet another race's child, worship leaders who sing with my soul. Sermons that could be personal letters addressed to me.

Then we get home... to our house... the house that we own...that's still cool, even when you spend all day raking...


And as soon as we spend more than 10 minutes outside, there is a neighborhood full of kids playing in our yard.


And at the end of it all, the whole family heaps on the couch. At the moment, I'm not sure which one is snoring the loudest.


But my heart is still and glad. And oh so thankful.

Thank you Mr. Shatner

I just had my first successful bid on Priceline and I must say... I feel like a WINNER!
I'm not the traveler, my boss is. And I didn't save any money, my boss did.
But it really is the little things that make my day.
And my day is officially made. I feel great!




(until I think about it for too long and then I feel like a real loser.)