Today's Thankful Heart - The Greatest Love

Today I am thankful because I am loved by my Lord.  I am his princess, His greatest love.  I am his favorite.  And guess what?  So are you, and so are each of my beloved family members.  My kids and my husband.  Knowing that you are so loved and that your entire family is so loved by such an awesome and powerful God is amazing.  Think about it.  If you are loved this much by someone who created the world and is willing to die for you, who HAS died for you, what is there to fear?  What is there to worry about?

So how do I know this?  Because the Lord tells us in His Word how much we mean to Him.  The most recent verse I've found regarding this is Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. ~ Zephaniah 3:17

This is such an awesome verse and is packed full of so many gems.  First it tells me God is with me and He will save me.  He has already saved me, and He will continue to do so.  I've know this for a long time, but the next parts are what touch my heart so deep inside.  It says he takes delight in me.  No, not just delight, He takes GREAT delight in me.  It says He will quiet me with his love, I have nothing to worry about when someone this great loves me.  And then it finishes by saying He will rejoice over me with singing.  As women, I think most, if not all of us, would admit that a man writing and singing a love song to us would melt our hearts.  Now imagine the Creator of the World creating and singing a love song just for you.   Even when I mess up royally, He still loves me, still delights in me and still sings a love song of rejoicing over me. 

And I take even more comfort knowing that He loves my children and my husband with the same fiery love that He has for me.  How amazing!  No matter how much I love them and want what is best for them, it is but a shadow of what He feels for them.

I feel like I'm just gushing on this post, but then what else can you do when faced with such an amazing love.  Have you been here before?  Have you been given that revelation yet as to how very much our Creator loves and cherishes you?  If not, ask Him to show you.  He wants to, you know.  He's just waiting for you to ask and open your heart to Him.

No matter where you are in your life, no matter what you have done, He wants to show you His love.  Don't feel like you have to have things figured out and your act cleaned up to know His love.  Knowing His love is what is going to transform you.  He will clean up your messes as He cleans your heart.  He does this through His love for you.  Ask Him to show it to you, open your heart to Him no matter what you may think it looks like, because I have a secret for you.  He already knows what is deep down in that heart of yours, even better than you do and he STILL loves you more than anything in the world.  Allow His love to transform you, to comfort you, to sing over you.

Today's Thankful Heart - March 25, 2010

I've not done this in quite awhile, in fact I've not been blogging much at all lately.  But this evening as I sat here trying to wind down after a crazy and stressful week, knowing the same is ahead of me I started thinking of all the things I am thankful for today.  I decided it is better for me to focus on those things right now and thank God for all that He has done in my life, rather than worry about things that I need to do tomorrow and the next day. 

Today I thank the Lord for:

• My husband - yes we have our issues and to be honest I have my days where I just want to not even talk to him, but I know for a fact that goes both ways.  And in the end I know he is the one the Lord wants me to be with, he is the one I love no matter what and he is the one who has had a huge influence on who I am today.  God has used him so many times to teach me things about myself, to refine me.  He is an amazing man and when I bother to look past all the "junk" we tend to focus on, I know that he is my beloved.  Many times the people in our lives is not the problem as much as our focus and reactions are the issue.  This is so true with the person you have vowed to spend your life with.  It is so easy to take them for granted and focus on the "bad" things.  Love and marriage is about not focusing on what the world tells us to look at - it is about focusing on what the Lord wants us to look at - to treat our spouses with grace, forgiveness and the love that Christ has for us.

• My kids - Once again, those you love the most can be the ones to drive you crazy the most!  I truly am shocked at times that I don't have any gray hair yet.  But underneath all the craziness I love my children madly.  They are my world and even when I long to get away for some peace and quiet I know that after only a very short time I would begin to miss them terribly.  They try my patience, but they touch and warm my heart even more.  They love me no matter what, even when Mommy has "snapped" and lost it.  They are my precious little blessings.

• My job - my current position at work has been a blessing beyond belief.  And it is a reminder constantly from the Lord that He will keep His promises.  I held on for so long at jobs that I felt were sucking the life out of me at times.  Jobs that I grew depressed thinking of doing for the rest of my life.  But I never felt the "ok" from the Lord to move on.  I had plenty of opportunities but I never felt the Lord telling to me go, until this position came along.  And now I am so thankful that I waited on Him.  Yes, it is crazy and stressful right now - but I know it could be much worse.  I have a wonderful manager, I love the work I do the majority of the time and my job is flexible when I need it to be.  This is the perfect example in my life as to why I need to wait on the Lord even when things seem unbearable.  He will be my Strength!

Wow - it is amazing how great it feels to focus on your blessings.  And now with my focus on these I'm going to go discipline my dear boys who are supposed to be laying quietly in my room watching cartoons before bed but sound like they are starting WWIII and then I'm going to do some more work.  I pray everyone has a wonderful and blessed eveing.

Today's Thankful Heart - 7/8/09

No worries - I've not totally dropped the Love Dare. Things have been crazy here, but I'm still going to be posting on these. In the meantime though I figured it has been WAY too long since I've posted here.

Today I thank the Lord for:

• Being part of an amazing homeschool co-op with some wonderful families. The Lord is so much at work in this. I've been slowly getting the curriculum for my daughter (3rd grade) and my eldest son (K) for next year and I'm so excited to get started again. It is lots of work, but so worth it and rewarding!

• Kingdom Builder Books - this is a little local family owned Christian used bookstore. They are a homeschooling family and sell homeschool curriculum. I just ordered the last of my daughter's curriculum which will not be covered by the charter school (b/c the publisher is Christian). It is such a blessing that we have found this store!
  

• Have a wonderful job - everyday I'm so thankful for my new position at work. I feel so tremendously blessed. I appreciate it so much more because I've been in positions in the past years which I did not care for the work, had less than pleasant managers and/or worked horrible overtime during month and quarter ends. Now I am even so much more thankful for a job which I love to do and feel like I'm actually contributing something useful to the company, a manager who is wonderful and no more long hours which make my kids forget who I am!

• My husband - I can't leave him out. I'm daily thankful for this wonderful man the Lord has chosen to place in my life. Today I had to go into work early so he got the boys all ready by himself (he usually does most of it in the mornings anyway). Then tonight I had plans to meet with my cousin for a bit and he picked the boys up from daycare and had them fed before I got home. Even more amazing is that he does many of these things on pretty much a daily basis.
  

Today's Thankful Heart - My Man

I posted on here once before about how we should brag on our men - it is good for our marriage. It helps us to focus on those qualities that made us fall in love with our spouse when we first met them. And it is good for them to hear (1st hand or from others) about how much we love, appreicate, respect and admire them.

So, I figured it was about time for me to do some more bragging on my man. I snapped the above shot today as he was pulling his bike out the garage and parking it on the side of the road. Later in the afternoon he was able to take it out for a spin for a bit. It has been awhile and I was happy that he was able to get out and enjoy himself.

I've mentioned before how good my hubby is at fixing things. He's rebuilt our laptop recently, completely rebuilt our shower and put in hardwood floors in our bathroom, among many other things. He is just amazing. He also rebuilt this bike. He bought it from his grandfather, completely tore it apart and built it back up. He is simply amazing! And pretty HOT too, if I do say so myself.

He is an amazing man, a wonderful father and a loving husband - and I'm so proud to say - He's my Man!!!! I love ya, babe!

Passover 2009

Last night my house church celebrated Passover for the 2nd year together. It was an amazing night. I ended up taking all three of my children with me which made things interesting. My daughter (7 1/2 years old) did very well and was excited to be able to ask one of the questions during the meal. My boys (4 1/2 and almost 3) were a bit more difficult to manage but everyone there helped and seemed to enjoy them being there. Even when my youngest tipped his cup over on his head (luckily it was pretty much empty!) and my other son kept announcing how very hungry he was, quite loudly, multiple times.

We each had parts in the dinner. We stumbled through some of the parts, but in the end we enjoyed wonderful fellowship with one another, delicious food, some good laughs, and beautiful music and worship. But most importantly we had an amazing time of remeberance of what God has done for His people and for each of us.

So today I am thankful for an amazing God who loves his people so much that he would pursue them and rescue them as he did the Israelites from Egypt and as He did each of us through His Son, Jesus. I'm looking forward to many more years of celebrating the Passover with my brothers and sisters!

Today's Thankful Heart - March 16th

I've not been posting much lately on any of my blogs. But that is NOT because I'm not thankful. In fact it is just the opposite. I've had so much to be thankful for but with that I've been extremely busy and my blogging has suffered.

So today I'm thankful for, praise God for:

• My new job - I've just recently finished the training of my replacement for my previous position at my work and I also just finished my last quarter end. I'll still be affected a bit by quarter ends, but not in such a way that my children don't see me for 2 weeks at a time. This is my first full week working in my new position and I am loving it. The work keeps me busy and I am really enjoying what I do. And my new manager is great!
• My parents - My parents are down visiting right now. Our three children are their only grandchildren and the kids love that grandpa & grandma are having a "sleep-over" with us. I wish we saw them more often.
• My husband - He is an amazing guy. I now have a bathroom with not only a wall and shower that has been fixed, but one that looks like a spa. I also have a new mattress and bedroom set which he was able to find for next to nothing which is beautiful. My hubby is amazing even without these things, but I realize more and more every day that I am blessed. He takes wonderful care of myself and our family even right now when things are tight for us. Words can not even express how much I love him and how much I appreciate all he does for us. My mom just got my youngest a pair of pajamas that say "My Daddy is my Hero!" All I can say is that I love that my children look up to my husband as their hero and he is my hero as well.

Today's Thankful Heart - Feb 8th

I have not been online much lately, but I figured it was about time for me to check back in. I'm hoping to be writing quite a bit more, definitely on this blog in the upcoming weeks. I am beginning the "Love Dare" tomorrow along with a group of women with whom I've become very close.

I'm excited about this, but also a bit nervous. I do love my husband very much and think he is definitely worth this challenge - but what if I fail? I have an issue with failure. I tend to not try something if I think I may fail. Not a good way to live your life, really. Kind of boring at times.

So, I probably will fail at times going through this next 40 days, BUT I believe the Lord is going to teach me a lot through it and as I already said - my hubby is definitely worth it!

So, today I'm thankful for the Lord's mercy when we fail, His strength to carry us through and His love in all of it.

Today's Thankful Heart - Jan 23rd

Today I'm thankful for the Lord's direction and discipline. I received an email from a good friend the other day. It was a very lengthy email which she had forwarded from another friend of hers regarding a dream and its interpretation.

One section of the interpretation spoke very clearly to me about a spirit of indifference in my own life. I've long believed the Church has fallen asleep, but God has made it very clear that although I may be awake enough to recognize that there is a spirit of indifference, I'm not immune to this spirit myself. In fact, He made it quite clear to me that this spirit actually has a much greater hold on me and my walk with Him than I've ever realized.

As I'm looking back through my journal notes, I've come across an entry from just over a week ago. It was a prayer that I wrote in regards to Proverbs 3:11-12.

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
~ Proverbs 3:11-12

Lord,
Please give me the wisdom to recognize your discipline and to accept it as a gesture of your love for me. Help me to make the necessary changes in my life in regards to this discipline. And thank you for your discipline and rebuke.
In Jesus' Name - Amen

Isn't amazing how the Lord is faithful to answer our prayers when they are in line with His Will!

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.
  

Today's Thankful Heart - Jan 10th

Today I'm thankful for:

• God's Direction - He is so amazing. A group I'm a part has been fasting and praying the past week for God's direction in this new year. He has answered each of us in different ways, but we have all received direction from Him. The fasting ended yesterday and I was beginning to think that I had missed what the Lord had to say to me, but then today He answered me very clearly. He is such an amazing and faithful God!
• Time with my children - My dear husband went into work this morning for a few hours. The kids and I ended up spending time at two different parks today and had a blast. I really need to do this more often. Then when my hubby returned home my daughter and I went to the library and picked up some books for school (she is doing a report on horses this month). Then while my husband fixed dinner the oldest two donned their new helmets and road their bikes to the park with my youngest and myself following behind on on foot. They are all sleeping good tonight!
• My Husband - Nothing in particular - I am just thankful for him and all he does for this family. I'm blessed with a man who is a very mechanical person (I definitely am not!) and he is able to fix pretty much anything. Today he took apart our laptop because where the screen attaches to the laptop has become loose. He is always taking care of things for our family like this. He is an amazing man and he takes wonderful care of our family.

Today's Thankful Heart - Jan 6th

Today/this week I'm thankful for:

• A daughter who surprises me more and more all the time. All my kids are precious, but she is at an age where I'm really starting to see her grow in the Lord and it is amazing and wonderful to see.
  
• Being able to homeschool my daughter. Even though I work full time I've been able to participate in a 3 day a week homeschool co-op and homeschool her the other two days. We are both enjoying it so much and it is drawing us closer together as well. Lots of work, but oohhh so worth it!
• A new Journal! Last night I filled up my journal and today I get to start on a new one! Yeah - I love journaling and starting a new one is always so much fun and so exciting (okay - so maybe I'm a bit of a nerd!)
• God's faithfulness - this year has not really started out any different from any other. Still just as busy as ever, still have the same worries/issues going on in my life for the most part, but for some reason it just seems different. Brighter and more hopeful for some reason! I know God is at work in my life and in my family no matter our circumstances. It is amazing how that changes things even when nothing on the outside has changed!
  

Today's Thankful Heart - Dec 31st - Reflections on 2008

Today I'm thankful for this past year. In many ways it has been the hardest year of my life, in my marriage and life in general. However, at the same time it has been the best year of my life. Through all the ups and downs the Lord has drawn me closer to Him. It was because of my deepening relationship with Him that I've had the strength to change my attitude and how I deal with certain situations. That in turn has brought many amazing changes in my life.

God is amazing and most of all He is faithful. I've started to realize this year how very much He really loves me, and how very little I deserve that love. It is funny how those two things seem to go hand in hand.

So tonight as I look over the past year and all the Lord has brought me through and all that He has taught me I am thankful for the journey so far. I also realize it has just begun. There will be many more hills and valleys before I reach my eternal destination, but I can trust that through it all the Lord will be with me and has a plan for my life and the lives of those I love.

Today's Thankful Heart - Dec 21st

Today I am thankful for, praise God for:

• Our local library - I'm a total bookworm and I love getting new books to read. This time it is the Complete C.S. Lewis and four books in a series by Michael Phillips (Secret of the Rose series).
• Pennies and M&Ms - I'm trying something new with the boys, we'll see how it goes. I've been reading a book called Creative Correction which has some really good ideas in it. If this works I'll be sharing it on one of my other blogs.
• Christmas - I just absolutely love Christmas. I always have, but this year I'm really starting to cherish my family more than I ever have before. This year we are a bit more financially strapped than in the past, but we are still finding so much joy in the holiday season. I feel like my children are starting to truly understand that Christmas is not so much about getting gifts as it is about giving to others and cherishing the blessings the Lord has given us. My four year old son has been talking to me lately about what Christmas is all about. He'll tell you it is about how much God our Father loves us and how He sent his Holy Son for us. I love hearing my kids talk to me about God and how much they love Him and know that He loves them and is watching over them.
  

Today's Thankful Heart - Dec 14th

Wow! It has been awhile since I've posted on any of my blogs. I've not forgotten to be thankful, just haven't had much time to be online.

Today I'm thankful because:

• I only have one more quarter end with crazy hours to make it through before my job transfer at work is complete.
• God is still walking beside me (sometimes carrying me) even when things are so crazy in my life that I don't have time to blog or even journal! Even those times when I've let the busyness of life interfere with my time with Him. He is so amazing faithful and gracious.
• My family is healthy and we are looking forward to spending a wonderful Christmas together. The kids understand that things are a bit tight this year, but they are more excited about the wrapping gifts and giving them than they are about getting them anyway (for the most part!)
• Spending Thanksgiving with family. We took the kids up to my hubby's grandparents this year. I was a bit worried about us all being in their small house and how they would handle the kids, especially the boys. However, I need not have worried. We had a wonderful time!
• Eggnog - I found some vanilla spice egg nog. Yummy!!!!

Today's Thankful Heart - Nov 23rd

I've not posted over the past couple days but that does not mean that I'm not thankful! Today I'm posting for a few things from the past days. I am thankful for, praise God for, rejoice because:

• My 4 year old is now begging me to do devotions every day. I've found it is easier for me to engage him one on one, so each night before bed we do the next letter in the alphabet. We'll talk about the things that describe God that begin with that letter. Then we praise God for those things and sing a song. His favorite right now is "Awesome God" and we've added some hand gestures that he loves.

• Days off and good talks - I had Friday off from work again and helped out at our homeschool co-op. I was in the preschool and had a blast. On top of it I had a really good discussion with two other moms. We really connected. One of the things we discussed was love languages and how this can help in raising your children to be strong in their faith. I had started reading the Five Love Languages of Children awhile back and have decided to pick it back up. Just from us talking and sharing I believe my main languages are quality time and words of affirmation. I may need to go get the original book and see if that helps in my marriage too. If I understand my dear husband's love languages better it will be easier to show him how thankful I am for him and to show him the love of Christ.

• Yummy recipes - my husband found a recipe for a layered pumpkin cheesecake that I made last night. It has to be in the refrigerater for a few hours after it is baked so we just tried it today. YUMMY!!! I'm taking some of it to church tonight. The crust is made of gingersnaps. I love gingersnaps!

• Eggnog - seems people either hate or love this stuff. No real in between. I for one, love this time of the year because eggnog makes it's appearance on the shelves again. I was "good" this year and I bought the low fat version and I'm mixing it with milk when I drink it. (My preferred way is the "full" fat version with nothing to dilute it!) However, it may be a bit strange that considering how much I like coffee and eggnog, I really do not like the two mixed!

Thankful Turkey Hands and Adoration

Today I am thankful for seeing fruit of the Lord in my daughter's life. This evening as I was doing some stuff around the house I overheard my 7 yr old daughter with the boys (ages 4 and 2 1/2). She was teaching them adoration.

At our church house and at our homeschool co-op she has learned about the ABC's of adoration. At the co-op each week they focus on one letter of the alphabet. They discuss words starting with that letter which describe God. They then praise God for these traits through prayer and worship. After they each have a sheet of paper with the letter and they get to color and draw those things on the paper. They are keeping them in a binder and by the time the year is done they will have an entire binder of Adoration.

I happened to help out last Friday in her class - the letter was L. They came up with Love, Lion, Light, Lamp, and Lamb. (I think that was all of them)

I was so thankful that my daughter not only understood the concept of devotion and adoration, but she was teaching it to my sons as well. It warmed my heart to hear them together speaking about God.

She told me later that every Wednesday night she wants to do adoration and a craft with the boys. She wants to do the teaching herself which includes planning the craft, helping them with it, doing the adoration and doing some Bible reading.

Tonight she had them tracing their hands and then cut out the hands to make turkeys which they taped together in a long line. She then asked them what they were thankful for and wrote it on each turkey. It is now hanging on the boys' door. The picture below is the turkey "wreath" she helped them with and her own turkey that she made last night. She had told me she was going to write on it what she was thankful for. Later that night I found it on the boy's door with their names listed on it.

Today's Thankful Heart - Nov 17th

Today I thank God for:

• His Mercy and Grace - no matter what I do He picks me up, dusts me off and puts me back on my feet - He does it all in love, kissing away the tears and the booboos.
• His Faithfulness - even when we can't see, hear or feel Him, He is there. Walking beside us, sometimes carrying us through whatever comes our way.
• His Discipline - yep, this one is yucky sometimes, but without it we would never mature. I'm thankful that He does this in love because He wants us to share in the blessings He has planned for us.
• His Wisdom - I'm so very thankful that I have a God that is bigger than me. One who is willing to impart some of that wisdom to me if I will but only ask and receive it.
• His Love - I'm thankful for His unconditional love. For loving me although I do not deserve it in any way. For showing me what it truly means to love and to be loved.

God's Faithfulness

I realize I did not post yesterday, however Friday night after posting my daily Thankful Heart I came across a post I did a year ago based on an entry in my journal. You can read the post I'm referring to here on my Ang4him site, but I'll be reposting the most pertinent parts here. This has been on my mind all weekend, so I'm posting about it tonight - this is my Thankful Heart posting for this weekend.

First a bit of the backstory (or in this case the poststory, I guess). I've mentioned on my blogs recently that the past year has been both the best and the worst year for me, my marriage and my walk with God. My hubby and I have been through some rough times before, but this year has been the worst in my mind. It has been a very scary roller coaster ride. However, through it all God's been revealing His heart to me. I've come to better understand His love for me, and due to this I have changed and the way I treat my husband has changed. This blog in fact is a result of those changes (read here for my reasons for starting this blog).

I've been thankful in the past few months for what this year has brought and for the changes in myself, my husband and our marriage, as well as my deepening relationship with the Lord. I've been thankful that although it has been painful, God has given me beauty for my pain. Then Friday night I stumbled (I actually believe the Lord led me) to a post I did last year in November.

I had just recently found the Spiritually Unequal Marriage (SUM) blog and Dineen had done a post called The Most Dangerous Prayer, which spoke to me. After reading this post I wrote the following prayer in my journal and the Lord gave me the verses I have posted below.


My Prayer:

Father,
I am falling to my knees asking what I have always been afraid to ask in the past. Asking for the one thing that matters more to me than anything else aside from You. I'm completely surrendering my husband to You, trusting in You fully to take us both through whatever lies ahead. Lord, I am asking that you do whatever it takes to bring my beloved to saving knowledge of You, to a full relationship with You as his Lord and Savior.

After praying this - the Lord gave me these two verses:

Ephesian 3:16-19
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I fully meant this when I prayed it but I had pushed it from my mind. I was thankful before finding this that God has used this past year to draw me closer to Him and to teach me how to be a better wife to my husband, but now I've realized that I actually prayed for exactly what happened over the past year. I may not have imagined it happening in the way it did, but I did pray for it and God was faithful and answered my prayers - in His Way and His Time. He is so faithful.

I know this journey is not over yet. God is still working on my husband, our marriage and most of all me. I find it such an encouragement to look back over this past year and realize that God was even more in control than I had ever originally thought. He has worked so many things together in my life to get me to where I am right now. We have further to go, but right now I'm exactly where He wants me to be and I'm thankful for that!

Today's Thankful Heart - Nov 14th

Today I'm thankful for, praise God for, rejoice because:

• I had the day off and I spent it at Daniel Academy. I had some comp days coming to me that my manager wanted me to take before the next quarter end and they needed some help in the preschool for our homeschool co-op. So this Friday and next I've taken the days off and will be helping out. In the end I was not needed in the preschool so I helped with my daughter's classes today. It was amazing! I love homeschooling and this co-op is wonderful! I helped out a few months back and I was amazed today at the difference in the kids when it came time to be in the Prayer Room (these are 1st and 2nd graders!). It is amazing to see how God is working in their lives!
• Peppermint White Mochas - need I say more?
• Bike Rides and parks - after school today Tyler and I came home and went for a bike ride and stopped at the park down the street for a bit. It was wonderful to get out, get some exercise and spend some time with my daughter - can't say I'm as thankful for the bike seat though!
• My husband - what can I say? Nothing in particular today, I'm just thankful for him. He is amazing and I love him more and more all the time.

Today's Thankful Heart - Nov 13th

Today I am thankful for, praise God for, rejoice because:

• My hubby is so sweet - last night he could not sleep so he decided to go out to the living room to surf the net and watch some television (our bed has been bothering his back lately as well - time for a new mattress, we've had this one since just after I graduated from college! The couch is very comfy!) Before he left the bedroom he turned the TV to a Christian music channel. Even though I was asleep he was still thoughtful and changed the channel to something he knew I would like in case I woke up. This is not the first time he has done this. The little things like this are what make me feel loved and they are the things I cherish the most
• Clean babies - tonight Shaun had some errands to run and had Tyler with him so I picked up the boys after work, fed them and gave them baths. I love the smell of baby shampoo and clean babies.
• Being missed - work was very busy today. I had the opportunity to help a couple different individuals with things and after they expressed to me how much they were going to miss me when I transfer the beginning of the year. It is nice to hear that you are appreciated and that others find you helpful.
• My hubby's cologne. My husband always wears cologne. He is not one of those guys who smells like they have bathed in it - but he does always dab just a little bit on. I used to think it was so funny because he is a mechanic. I never understood why he would go through the trouble when he was just going to go to work and get all greasy anyway. But I must say I love it. When he leaves in the morning and when he gets home at night I love to put my arms around him and kiss his neck and get a wiff of his cologne.