Feeling Truly Blessed

This week I have felt truly blessed. After a very rough couple of years, my life is in a place of rest. A place to reconnect with God's holy spirit, to appreciate His blessings and gifts in my life, and to strengthen my relationship with Jesus.

I've been taking time to list things I'm thankful for - and the list is over 100 items long already. Here's just a few of them:

palm trees, cool mornings, warm & sunny days, a home of our own, having Tim home for 5 days, family dinners, birds singing, green grass, having good kids (in spite of all of them being teenagers), access to so many healthy & organic food choices for my family, Tim's job being enough to pay our bills, friends I love, miracles I've seen, and so many more!

Take time to give thanks for what you have that's good in your life. If you're in a place where that's hard right now, write them down - even the littlest things.

Philippians 4:8
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.

Taking a breather

I'm just so thankful that God allows me to "take a breather" when I need one. I was super-busy when we first moved here, trying to get the house in order, the unnecessary stuff had to be stored in the shed, or thrown out, or donated to Goodwill. I had to be sure the kids finished up this year's homeschool stuff, and Tim was gone for a 2-week run (still has another week to go), so I had to learn to be a single parent to three very emotional teenagers while he's away. This weekend, I get to take a breather. I'll get a few chores done around here, but I'll get to spend some time with the kids, maybe watch a movie, do some cooking, enjoy church Sunday morning, and then plan out the next week. Trying to create a new schedule to keep the kids from being bored (yet again) seems to be a high priority right now. I like that although I believe I'm here to make a difference in the lives of new friends, neighbors & acquaintances, I get time to just rest, relax, and recharge first. I have such a hard time finding the happy medium between being too busy and bored. This time, living here in town, I plan on allowing God to dictate how, when, and where we spend our time. I'm not going to just jump into everything I can and hope God blesses my efforts. Instead, I'll learn to wait on His direction - to be sure I'm doing what HE wants me to be doing, not just what I happened to come across. My hope is that the next (and last) 4 years of our homeschooling journey will be wonderful, and my kids will grow into mature Christians who want to live a life of servant leadership for and to those around them. I pray to become a good example for them. I hope our marriage continues to grow stronger and closer in the process, in spite of Tim's new work schedule having him on the road most of the time. Only by obedience, trust, faithfulness, and prayer can I become what I was meant to become in order to fulfill my true purpose in this new season of my life. So what season are you in? What do you hope to do or become this year? What are you thankful for? I'd love to hear from you!