Joy Dare 2013 - Day 19

3 Gifts That Might Never Have Been

1. As soon as I saw this topic for today I knew immediately what my first one would be. Or should I say "who" my first one would be:

This amazing little man! We weren't planning to have more than 2 kids. After Zane came along we were done. 1 boy. 1 girl. Perfect. We got rid of all the baby stuff and were good to go.

But God wasn't done.

And man, am I glad he wasn't.

We have a little phrase for Ty. He's the baby we never knew we wanted.

God is so good.

2. Our house.

It's small, but it's perfect for us. And we never would have found this house if it didn't take 3 years for our house in Indy to sell. If our house in Indy had sold when we wanted it to, we never would have looked at a house this small because our mortgage approval would have been higher.

What a gift. This is all we need.

3. Tony & I

If my friend hadn't broken a promise, the gift of my marriage might never have been. Now I realize that God is in control and because He wanted us together He would've made a way no matter what.

But Shannan definitely helped things along.

I had told her I thought Tony was cute. 

I didn't realize that she was friends with him. She promised she wouldn't say anything to him.

She lied.

I have forgiven her.

It was worth it.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 18

3 Gifts from God's Word

1. Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is as work within us.

2. 1 Thessalonians 5:24
The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

3. Romans 10:11
As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who believes in Him will not be disappointed."

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 17

A gift bringing laughter, prayer, quiet

A gift bringing laughter
I had to laugh at my absentmindedness today when I was making lunch for Ty and ended up with this:

Although now that I think about it, is this really a gift? I threw it away after all.

But it did make me laugh.

It was smoking!

My ability to multi-task today....not so much!

A gift bringing prayer

I took Zane to school a little late today because his tummy wasn't feeling so nice. Once he started wrestling with his brother and bouncing off the couch (literally) I knew he was feeling fine and I needed to should take him in to school.

Ty had to come along and insisted he bring his own backpack. He would have stayed if I let him. Walking back to the lobby this was my view.

And it made me a little nervous for the day in August when he'll be walking these halls as a legitimate student. A gift indeed. 

A gift that brings prayer....indeed times a gazillion!

A gift bringing quiet

Tonight I had a fellowship for my BSF group. I love hanging out with these ladies. They are such an encouragement to me. There were 5 of us. 

No children.

And even though we were talking, it was quiet. You know the kind of quiet I'm talking about.

Grown-up quiet.

A gift indeed.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 16

3 Witnessed Blessings

1. Watching my kids swarm their dad in the morning to wish him a "Happy Birthday"

2. Anna's perfect score on her Science Fair Project
This was our first experience with a Science Fair Project. Anna worked for hours one night collecting data on melting ice. She recorded everything in her notebook. The next day her notebook went missing at school. That was a Friday. We were celebrating Christmas with my family that weekend and her project was due on Tuesday. She persevered all weekend long to redo all her data collection. She got home from basketball practice at 5:30 on Monday and got started right away on her poster board display. I helped her lay everything out and glue everything on. We finished just before 9:00.
I was so proud of the way she just bit the bullet and redid what she needed to.
She definitely earned that perfect score.

3. Watching Anna and her best friend embrace in an excited hug every time they see one another.
Anna started at a new school this year. All of her friends from last year were starting at a different school. I prayed a lot leading up to the start of the year that God would provide her with a good friend.
He did. Big time.
We are so thankful for the relationship she has with Ele. What a blessing she is to Anna and in turn to us.
God is good!

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 15

I'm running a bit behind, but I'm still committed to this.
Let's play a little catch up

A gift worn, given away, shared

A gift worn
Today (actually 2 days ago because I'm so late in posting this) I wore my new black boots that I received as a Christmas gift from my in-laws.
Not snow boots because it looks like we won't need snow boots this winter.
I finally have a pair of tall black trendy boots.
A good gift.

A gift given away
Tonight (actually 2 nights ago because I'm so late in posting this) Tony and I gave new pairs of basketball shoes to both Anna and Zane. They both started playing on teams this week. Anna with her middle school team at Jefferson and Zane with the UpWards program.
They were both so grateful.
An appreciated gift.

A gift shared
Today (actually 2 days ago because I'm so late in posting this :) ) I shared my arms with some babies in the nursery at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Typically I go into the sanctuary to listen to the lecture but when they are short volunteers in the nursery I like to go in there instead and rock those sweet little ones.
I shared my arms, but I'm pretty sure I was on the receiving end of this gift.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 14

3 Startling Graces of God

1. God provides perseverance and answers prayers even when it comes to 5th grade science fair projects. Anna has a science fair project due tomorrow. We worked hard last week collecting data about melting ice. Hours of work were recorded in her notebook.
Then her notebook went "missing" from her desk at school on Friday.
Friday.
When we were leaving for a weekend at my parents to celebrate Christmas.
So we prayed. We asked God to help whoever took the notebook to return it. We asked God to help us figure out what to do if that wasn't going to happen.
And God came through.
He always does, doesn't He?
We didn't get the notebook back but we crammed in data collection whenever we could throughout the weekend. We melted ice like it was nobody's business.
And tonight we finished up the poster board after Anna got home at 5:30 from her first basketball practice.
Her goal was to be in bed by 9:00 so she would be rested to face another full day tomorrow.
I was tucking her in at 8:58.
God is good.

2. I read this grace today in my BSF lesson:

"The great truth of the gospel is that God credits Jesus' righteous life to us and accepts us just as He accepts Jesus. God declares us justified so that we may stand before Him."

3. It's a startling grace to me that God uses me to accomplish His will. Plain and simple. It's humbling.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 13

3 Things About Yourself You are Grateful For

1. I'm grateful that I'm physically able to run.
I don't really call myself a runner. I've written about my running before. I'm not fast. I only run because I like the way I feel when I'm done running. But I am very grateful that I have the ability to run. My feet are good, my knees are healthy, and my hips can handle it. I'm sure it won't be like this for the rest of my life, but I am committed to keep running as long as my body can handle it.
This year I've challenged myself to finally meet another running goal and I will be running my first full marathon in October.
My knees may not like me after that.

2. I'm grateful for my sense of humor.
I'm thankful that I love to laugh. I'm thankful that I laugh a lot. It helps that I grew up in a house with lots of laughter. It also helps that I married a guy who is pretty darn funny too.
I saw this quote the other day and thought it was perfect.

3. I'm grateful for my hair.

I have a lot of hair and it's really thick. My hairdresser tells me I should have no fear of having thin hair as an old lady. I also love that as I've gotten older (or maybe it's the hormones from having kids) my hair has developed this wave-like curl thing. With the right cut it's manageable and pleasant. No more curling irons for me!