Multitudes on Monday

What a treat it has been to sit and not just seek but CRAVE the many gifts that God is sending my way now that I am asking Him to show me even in my everyday life! This season in my life is one of wonder and awe... I feel like a small child in school and can't get enough of the things I am learning. Part of me feels infantile and weak, but I know that is Satan working at trying his best to keep me from the truth. The other part of me is wanting to sit and listen and read and dwell in His presence all while feeling like He is sitting right there in the living room beside me. Really, is it any wonder I can't get enough of that? God's timing is perfect and I am so pleased that at this time, a time I morn the loss of my friend, my mom; that He is closer to me than I can remember and for that I am so counting my blessings!

#12... being able to buy 2 size smaller jeans!

#13... creativity... both mine and those around me

#14... technology

#15... answered prayers for friends and family

#16... peace

#17... children who truly are hiding God's Word in their hearts

#18... grace.. God's mostly, but also those who I have wronged or offended and their ability to show grace to me. Also, my ability to exercise it on those I love and care about and want to show Jesus to.

Hugs to you while you seek out your own multitudes of blessings this week!

February

For those who know me best, you know that February is a very hard month for me. For those who don't know me that well, I will tell you that this is the month I lost my best friend, my momma. It's also her birthday month so while the tears are also married with good memories and smiles, I miss her so very much! This was her favorite song of all time, and when ever I hear it, I think of her and the tears flow. A woman of great faith and determination and she truly believed that her God was a Big God who could do anything and I know she is with Him now watching over the sparrows too! I hope you too enjoy Sandi Patty singing this beautiful song she loved so much!

Multitudes on Monday

We are back here to Monday again and I am really enjoying looking for the gifts God keeps giving to me when I really take the time to look for them and not just take things for granted. Again if you haven't had the chance to check out Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience, I really encourage you to, right now! No, really now is good :) She is such a talented writer and I am just awed by her and her heart as a Jesus girl. I received her book today One Thousand Gifts in the mail and I am so excited to get started on it tonight when I snuggle down into our nice warm bed. Your blessings are there, I promise. You just have to look for them. God is so good to us and loves us so much and He lavishes Himself upon us. He could have had the rocks cry out in praise but He chose YOU and ME! He wants us to see our gifts and be thankful out LOUD! Girlfriend, get busy looking around you and get LOUD in thankfulness

#6... Christian Radio... I listen to it no matter where I am, home. car, work wherever and I am so blessed by it.

#7... My electric blanket... I know trival, but when I snuggle down into our bed and it is all warm and toasty, I am thankful!

#8... Soft and sensitive spirits. Many people are surrounding me at this time in my life that are filled with soft, sweet and sensitive spirits and for that I am very thankful

#9... Renewed Relationships

#10... New books! Thank you Ann for writting and publishing your newest child in the form of a book :)

#11... Lysa T

Hugs to you as you count your gifts this week!

This is the stuff....

If you're at all like me, you can so relate my friends!!

Multitudes on Monday

I have been hanging out, having coffee, and getting to know this beautiful woman at this blog http://www.aholyexperience.com/ for about a year now. I love her. I love her writing. I love how she makes me look deep into my heart and examine it. I love how she makes me laugh and cry with the same read. I just really enjoy this blog, more than most! So, I have decided to join her and other bloggers in the Multitudes on Monday blog posting. Its a chance to share our multitude of blessings that we are experiencing in our everyday lives. So my intention is to blog every Monday a few of the gifts and blessings I have experienced during the week. Look around and see what God has blessed you with this week. Leave a comment below and share some of them with me!

#1... coffee! I enjoy my cups of coffee with my Jesus, my friends, and by myself

#2... My husbands hands. They are rough and cracked from hard work, but the most gentle hands I have ever seen. The way he holds my hand in his....

#3... Blogs. Inspirational, funny, thought provoking, heart searching, educational.. I love reading others blogs.

#4... little boys (mine anyway). The love from them is enough to charge me for a whole day.

#5... Teen love. It reminds me of where Frank and I started and reassures me that love can last a lifetime!

Once upon a time....

I am a sucker for a good romantic story, so when I was rethinking the last 48 hours of my life, it sounded something like this:

"Once Upon a Time, there was a man who worked so very hard day in and day out. Seven days a week he worked for those he loved most, his bride of almost seventeen years, his only daughter, and his three knights in training. While the loves of his life missed him dearly while he was away, they loved him so very much for being a man of integrity, hard working, and dependable, knowing it was for them that he had the rough hands and aches and pains that he wore very much like the ratted jeans he stepped into each morning on his way out the door. On this particular day that starts the new week, he arose early to assist his bride on her job that takes her away from their home a couple of days a week. He takes care to be sure she is all set, from making sure she has food to making sure her coffee is just right. They work side by side without anything verbalized. You see when you know someone as long as these two do, no words need to be spoken. Glances, body language, and love speak louder than any words ever could. He heads off to his second place of employment and works long, hard hours in the cold air. His job requires him to be in the cold air and work with water all while having a smile on that handsome face and being a pleasure to all he comes in contact with. After his time card has been documented and his feet are placed into his ride to home, he heads to the grocery store to pick up a few items his bride asked him to so that she could be at their home, staying warm and snuggling with the three knights in training. It seems to her that it is a long time before he arrives, but he does and her heart beats a little faster when she hears his footsteps in the doorway. He arrives like a little boy all tired and dirty from working hard out in the elements of weather and from it being the beginning of the week but having had no time off to rest. He bring her a card telling her how proud he is of her and how much he loves her and thinks of her through out the day. Her heart melts and for a brief moment they are seventeen and eighteen again.
The following morning, life is back to more of the same. He arises and pulls on those jeans and wears the aches and pains once again. His face is both sad and happy at the same time. Sad to leave those he loves most again, yet happy that he is blessed enough to have a house full of love. He heads out the door and kisses her with a kiss that lasts all day long, on purpose, he needs her to know there will be another for her when he returns later on after the sun has set. He meets up with her at their eldest knight in trainings basketball game and in a crowd of people, his eyes meet hers and she is the only person in the whole gymnasium. He cheers for his son with pride and when the game has been won and is complete, they head to their home and settle in for a cozy evening. However, the youngest of the knights, is weepy and pale. He lays on his mother, this mans bride, and he is worried about this young man. The youngest lays between the two people he knows love him most and this man who has worked so hard for so many days partners with her and takes care of him regardless of how very tired his bones and earthly body are. Their glances meet and love is exchanged. While she holds her youngest in her arms, the man places his hand on her arm to let her know, he is worried too but believes in his Father who loves him more than even she does. The night is long and there are many tears but the sun rises with a resting knight and his momma sleeping and the man again puts on his ratted jeans and aches and pains and heads out of the door. Life continues and time wears on him but he is oh so blessed and in love with his bride of almost seventeen years."

This story is still being written and I pray there are so many more chapters to this book. The point of my story is this. Romance wears many faces. From the card for no reason to holding a bowl for the youngest child while he is sick. I love him and I can't imagine my life without him walking beside me and carrying me when I need it most. I love you sweetheart!

Reviewing 2010 and Looking Forward to 2011

How did it happen that I didn't update my blog since October 2010? I just looked back at my blog drafts and I had 12 drafts that I didn't get to finish between my last blog and today....I think life has had me pretty busy, don't you? So, to make this post not too long but in order to catch all of my readers up to date on our lives, I am going to do a brief listing of what we have been up to since the end of October and then let you know some of the things I am looking forward to in 2011.

Since October I/we have:

• My sweet husband gave me my Christmas present early and sent me away on a mommy-break with one of my best girlfriends to New York City! It was the best gift he could have given me this year. We did all the typical "touristy" stuff, saw the sights, did the shopping, and the eating. We saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, my sweet friends life-long dream and made our way over to Carlos Bakery in New Jersey, home of the TLC show Cake Boss... a dream of mine for a long time! This was a trip I will never forget and am oh so grateful to have experienced it with one of the most wonderful girls I know. Thank you sweetheart for knowing just what I needed even more than I did!
• At the end of this trip, this same girlfriend and I joined other women from our church and I attended my first Women of Faith Conference in Hartford, CT. What an amazing experience this was! I laughed, cried, had my heart broken only to have God start healing it, and got to know some women from my own church that I didn't know well at all. The speakers were amazing and the worship team that lead over 10,000 women in praise and worship songs was the most amazing thing I have ever been apart of. I can only imagine what Heaven will be like! I know this was not the only WOF conference I will have attended in my lifetime, that's for sure!
• We celebrated Thanksgiving in our home in Vassalboro for the first time. What a blessing to have our family and close friends here with us. We had lots of room for everyone to hang out and play games and it was such a great meal. The family time was the best and most important part and the memories made will last a lifetime!
• Just after Thanksgiving, I weighed in twenty-five pounds less than I was in September.
• We decorated our home for Christmas right after Thanksgiving. We had 5 Christmas trees and soft white lights lighted our home most days and evenings well into the New Year. We had get-togethers with friends and family over the holidays and enjoyed getting to know each other better and celebrate the true meaning of CHRISTmas!
• 2010 came to a close with a huge get-together with lots of friends and family! New Years Eve was a home full of special people sharing good food, laughter, games and memories of the past year. It couldn't have ended any better than being kissed by the boy turned man who has had my heart for the past twenty years

So, that brings us current. Let me list a few things I am looking forward to and some goals for me for 2011....

• Every other month, inviting friends over to our home to share dinner with us and get to know them better.
• Blogging at least twice a week
• Monthly date nights with my boyfriend
• Watching our children grow and move into new areas of life this coming year
• Continuing to get physically healthy! Being a lighter weight, buying smaller clothes, and actually running on the roads this spring.
• Starting a new Bible Study
• Learning contentment... in all things

Thank you all for your friendship and love that you have shown to me and my family this past year! We are so blessed by knowing all of you and we are excited to see what happens with all of you this coming year! Happy New Year!!!