Today's Thankful Heart - Jan 16th

Today I'm thankful for many things, most small things but I'm still thankful. We serve an awesome God!

• Friday & Days off - not much more to say here! Except that Monday is a holiday and I have Tuesday off from work as well. I'll get to stay home and do homeschooling with my daughter and am going to take her to the resource center to get her signed up in the AR Reading program. She did it last year when she was at the private school she was in. I'm so happy to learn that the charter school has it available as well.
• New job - I officially start my new position when I return to work on Wednesday. I'll still be spending some days in my old department through the middle of March, however my replacement is really learning well. I used to work with her at a different company and I knew she was going to do well. She's been catching on even better than I imagined though. It will be frustrating for her a bit at first but she's going to do great when she gets it all figured out. I think she's going to do even better in the position than I did! AND she is a Christian. We've had some wonderful conversations over the past 2 weeks.
• Warm weather - the weather has been wonderful the past few days. I'm looking forward to taking the kids to the park again this weekend.
• My Husband - last but definitely NOT last! Once again I just have to brag on him. He recently bought a used computer that did not have it's hard drive. It is the same computer that we have. We had some parts that needed replacing and this used computer was cheaper than buying the parts. I came home the other day and he had both computers torn apart and by the end of the night we had our old computer back, good as new. In some cases even better. He amazes me with the things he takes care of for our family. I am truly blessed.
  

Thanksgiving produces Joy: Today's Thankful Heart - Nov 10th

Below is an excerpt from Chapter 4 (Thanksgiving produces Joy) of the book I'm currently reading Created to be His Helpmeet.

Open your mouth and begin to thank God for his grace towards you. Thank him for every good thing that he has brought into your life. Thank him, thank him and thank him again. Joy is the result of a thankful heart. A thankful heart is the result of a person who decides to give thanks. So say, "Thank you God for. . ."

So that is what I'm doing tonight. I'll share a few of them here, but I'll continue throughout this night until I fall asleep to thank God for all the things he has given me and done in my life.

• I'm thankful I have an aunt who loves me enough to recommend this book to me and who gave me her copy to read.
• I'm thankful for a husband who shows me everyday in his own little ways how much he loves me.
• I'm thankful for three beautiful children who greet me with so much love and enthusiasm each evening when I get home
• I'm thankful for a husband who is so committed to my children and what is best for them.
• I'm thankful for a husband who is so stubborn that he has not given up on us or our marriage, no matter how ugly and difficult it has been at time over the past 13 years.
• I'm thankful for a husband who makes it very clear that he still finds me attractive after 13 years and some extra pounds (I'm not giving that number away!)
• I'm thankful that my daughter is a daddy's girl, just like I was growing up and I'm thankful that she has a wonderful loving father. I still remember as soon as we found out that we were having a girl, Shaun stopped on the way home by Babies R Us and bought an outfit that said "Daddy's Girl" for her to wear home from the hospital.
• I'm thankful to see how much my boys look up to their father, how much they watch all that he does and try to imitate him.

The rule of life for wives

I'm reading Chapter 4 in the Helpmeet book today. Here is a quote that I came across that made me stop and examine how I've been living my life -

This, then, is the rule of life for wives: Live with thanksgiving, forgiveness, and joy, and enjoy all your moments as if they were your last. Someday, soon enough, they will be.

Hmm . . . I can't say that I've lived my marriage this way, let alone my life. How much would my marriage, my children and my life change if I could get this down?

I recently was part of a Bible Study called One Month to Live and this same concept came up, although written a bit diffrently. In the end though it was the same thing. All of my relationships in life whether it be as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend or even with my God - they all change dramatically when I decide to change my perspective and live in this manner.