Gratitude Challenge November 8

Today I'm giving thanks for my beautiful, bouncy, bubbly Sweet Petunia. She is pure joy most of the time. Her effervescent personality draws people to her, and she loves on them with her whole being! She is not known as our daughter -- we are known as her parents! EVERYBODY knows and loves this girl, and I'm so proud of her efforts to reach out to people and make them feel known and loved. (One of her favourite things to do at church is stick on a "Greeter" pin and welcome everyone to the service. And she's really good at it!)

She's also a great hugger and kisser -- interrupting her play on a regular basis to fill her love tank with cuddles and kisses. I'm so grateful for the ways she brightens my life, and the lives of everyone she meets, with her sweet, loving nature.

This precious girl loves God and wants to pray and be prayed for so she can know Him more.  I'm even grateful for the fact that her "dark side" makes me more aware of my own need to let the Holy Spirit produce the Fruit of the Spirit in my life. Her feisty fury sets fire to my fleshly ways, proving I need Him as much as she does in those hard moments ;) She is a blessing no matter which way the winds of her passion blow!


What are you thankful for today?

Gratitude Challenge November 7

Today I want to express my gratitude for my DS12 (almost 13). Very different from DD14 in many ways, he, too, is funny, creative, and insightful. He's not often a talker, but when he does talk, it's easy to see he is a deep thinker and feeler -- and I can relate to those traits (though the boy brain is beyond my comprehension ;) . He's really "growing up" these days. Even a month ago, I would never have imagined him going downtown to feed the hungry with our church. But that's what he did on Saturday. Not only did he go down there -- he went down there on his own (i.e. without a familiar family member. Of course he was with people from our church, and we felt good knowing Pastor Peter was hanging with him -- but such an experience is waaaaaaaaay out of his usual comfort zone!). I suspected that his withdrawn nature might mean he wouldn't particularly enjoy the experience, but he said it was "Awesome!" and that he definitely wants to go again. That makes me a proud mama! 


I prayed for his presence in our family, and am so blessed to have him for a son. I thank God for him and the ways I grow and learn because of him. He has helped shape me as a person, and I think I'm" better" because of my boy. 

Serving dinner at "Feed the Hungry". Now if only HE would eat as much salad as he was serving!

What are you thankful for today?

Gratitude Challenge November 6

Based on this post, you may be able to anticipate the next three things I'm thankful for -- but don't let that stop you from reading ;) 


I am thankful for my 14-year-old daughter. She's smart, witty, courageous, compassionate, creative, and delightfully affectionate. She has some things to figure out about the world (don't we all!) -- but God's going to use her in mighty ways one day -- I just know it. She is the child I longed for when my womb was empty -- and she has been a blessing her whole life. Now, it's worth bearing in mind that my definition of a blessing is "anything that brings us closer to God" -- and she has done so in both sweet and sorrowful ways! ;) But even when I'm driven to my knees as her parent, I am eternally grateful for her presence in my life. I hope one day she will grasp the depth of that truth. 

What are you thankful for today?

Art Every Day - November 5, 2011

So art every day has been a little bit unattainable -- but I saw this cute idea at Art Projects for Kids and since DD9 had some friends over today -- and it looked simple -- I thought we'd try it. It took (me especially!) a lot longer than I anticipated, but we all enjoyed the basic drawing and colouring activity. There's something soothing about applying colour to paper with markers. 


Here is DD9's cat:

Her 9-year-old friend's:

And her 7-year-old friend's:

And mine:

Any thoughts on what we might do with these cute kitties?