GRATITUDE 184 Danny and Beth

A couple pizzas and a salad were all we needed to call it dinner with our dear friends the Anans.  You might remember Beth lived with us over a year ago.  It'd been a while since we had seen them and it was such a blessing to get to catch up and reconnect last night.  So thankful for the gift of having Beth live with us for those months.  And the friendship we built during that time. Thankful for God's redemptive work in all of our lives.  And how we get to share our stories with each other.  Thankful for friends like these!!

GRATITUDE 168 Boots and my growing little guy!

 I asked Judah to say "cheese" and he put his hands up for this pose...cuteness!

GRATITUDE 167 Sarah

Keeping with my summer camp theme...here's a picture I just got in my email.  Sarah, my friend who runs the summer camp was helping EG get adjusted this morning as our transition to camp didn't go well.  Solution? A little extra attention and a popsicle!

Thankful for you Sarah and the way you love on my little one!

GRATITUDE 166 Summer Camp

This summer God provided an  AMAZING opportunity for Emma Grace.  Under normal circumstances, we can't afford things like summer camp.  Two hundred dollars a week just doesn't fit into our budget.  But I was looking for something for her since I knew she needed the structure of camp to help her thrive during the summer.  I am not sure if I actually prayed about it or not.  (I am slowly learning to ask my heavenly Father for the things I need rather than trying to work them out in my own strength)  But me not asking did not stop him from responding to this need.

My friend Sarah runs a small Christian summer camp with rotating teachers and classes.  They offer everything from ballet camp to baking and lego camp!  She suggested I apply to work at the camp which would give me a discount on Emma Grace's tuition as well as provide a salary which I could apply to the remaining cost of EG's tuition.  After a lot of paper work, fingerprinting, drug tests, and trainings, I was hired!  On top of providing a financially viable option for our family, there are so many other ways in which the situation has been a blessing to our family!!   Here are a few for which I am very thankful.  Oh how kind our Father is!!

1.  I get to connect with Sarah almost daily and deepen a friendship that I really value.

2.  The teachers at camp L O V E my Emma Grace.  There is one teacher in particular who has a special affection for my girl.  So awesome that God is showering my girlie with love throughout the day.

3.  It's small.  Which is perfect for a little one who could easily be overwhelmed by a massive camp.

4.  It's fun.  I mean REALLY fun.  She's engaged , learning, and exploring.

5.  I got to teach there which was really good for my creative bones to get some exercise.

6.  Jack even gets to go a few weeks of the summer and during the other weeks, he's getting intentional time with his mama.

7. I am confident that these teachers are protecting my child, loving them well, and shepherding their hearts toward Christ.  That does a mama's heart good.  

8.  Sarah does things like call me just to let me know how things are going and send pictures throughout the day.

God just decided to heap blessing upon blessing on our little family through this camp. We are thankful.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His steadfast love endures forever.

GRATITUDE 165 A Florida Winter

If you live in central Florida, you know that you can pretty much set your watch by the afternoon thunderstorms that blow in from the Atlantic.  Every afternoon at almost four on the dot, the blue skies and sun that have filled the day give way to ominous clouds, beautiful lighting strikes, high winds, and torrential down pours.  This lasts for an hour or two and then the sun returns for the late evening, bringing the humidity up and the mosquitoes out.  This daily weather pattern lasts for all of June and into July.  By August the storms are gone and all that's left is the sun and the heat.

My first couple of summers in Florida, I was slow to catch on to this weather feature.  Almost every afternoon we would be at pool enjoying the sun when seemingly out of nowhere the storms would come, cutting our swim time short.  And somehow I was surprised each and every time.   We'd race out of the pool at the first sound of the lightning alarm, and I'd gather gobs of towels and my crying kids and we'd head home.

But this year things are different.  For one, I am not surprised by the weather anymore.  I finally get it.  It's just a fixture in the months of June and July and I have made my peace with it. We rarely try to swim in the afternoon.  And secondly, my kids are bigger which means we aren't as desperate to get out and get all our energy out.  And finally, there are weeks when both my big kids are in camp.  So the storms roll in and everyone is either tucked in at home, reading with mom, or happily playing at camp.

What's more, I've started to love these afternoon thunderstorms.  I am seriously disappointed when we don't have a storm!  My friend Erin calls this time of year "Florida's winter."  And she's right.  What's so lovely about winter is the cold that pushes you inside to all things cozy...pajamas, fires, books, and quiet.  There's something therapeutic about a snowstorm blowing outside while you sit in a warm home taking it all in while sipping a hot drink.

We've lived without winter for almost ten years now.  It was mild in our city in Asia and often warm enough for short sleeves on Christmas.  And winters here, well....think biking in January, outside dinning, and kids hiking on trails.  Really all things pleasant.  But not cozy.

June afternoons however, with storms that often take down small branches, push us inside to all things cozy.  Books, cups of hot tea and my Snoopy Christmas pajama pants.  It's almost as delightful as a snow storm.

Today, I am thanking God for his power shown in these storms.
For feeling small compared to forces of nature
For moments snuggled in my home, safe and cozy
For wind
rain
lightening
thunder

GRATITUDE 164 Just keep swimming

Looks like I am not going to make it to my goal of 365 GRATITUDE posts...but as Dori says in Finding Nemo, I'm going to "just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"  So much to be thankful for these past two weeks that I've missed on the blog.  I was just so exhausted from experiencing all of it, that my blogging went down the tubes! Oh well, here's a recap of some of the things I am most thankful for these past two weeks!  

Thankful for:

 The fact that we're NOT MOVING!!!  What does a mummy have to do with that, you ask?  Well, I'll get to that!  We've had our house on the market for about a month, just praying and seeking what God might have for us.  We wanted to downsize into a less nice neighborhood so we could give and save more.  We got a few offers but nothing close to what would make it worth it for us to move.  So we took our house off the market last weekend and we're staying!  We both felt relief, as showing a house IS A LOT OF WORK!  We were a little sad that God didn't open the door for us to move but we also have a lot to celebrate!  He's provided this home for us and it's clear now that HE wants us to stay.  So we decided to throw and big "housewarming" HEHE party with our neighbors to celebrate that we are staying.  We love our neighbors and they love us so celebration was appropriate.   The night included wine and dessert, lots of sparklers, pop-its and confetti guns, and a great neighborly time!  Somehow we ended up wrapping Sierra, our very lively and animated neighbor as a mummy at the end of the night.  

Thankful:

That God made it clear what his will for us is regarding our home.
That he is all wise and knows what is best for us.
That we have a great home and a great neighbors, TRULY a gift from him.
That Andy leads our family is wanting to live for eternity, not for here and now.

Another reason I've been off the blog is because SUMMER is HERE!  Jack is home with me all the time, as well as Judah...which means I am one BUSY MAMA!!  That boy has so much energy and talks non-stop.  I am adjusting to them home more and I am really thankful for this chance to be with him more.  Here my kiddos are playing with a rice sensory bin that we made for my summer camp.  (more on that later)

Thankful:

for summer
for big thunderstorms every afternoon
for chances to connect with my kids more than I do in the school year
for a chance to work on training them in ways I can't during the school year
for grace to keep going when the days are BUSY and long
for friends to take Jack and give me a break sometimes

Also during my last two weeks MIA on my blog, my in laws came to celebrate EG's birthday.  This is the second year Kathi has come for her bday and Mary got to come this year.  LET ME JUST SAY, these ladies make everything a celebration!  SO FUN to have them here with us!  So fun.  And it happened to overlap with my week teaching camp/our last week showing our house so they were a HUGE help.  I did zero cleaning the week of my camp and our house would have imploded without them here!  

 Somehow we always end up with a week long celebration of EG's birthday.  We had a pie, a Chinese cake, and a cupcakes.  Our friends Liu Yi and Zeno, who ADORE our kiddos also came by for one of the celebrations!

 Mary is amazing.  She helped me A TON with teaching my camp and she is just delightful.  So fun to spend time with her.  Gosh, I am blessed with an amazing family!

 Thankful:

For Kathi and how she makes everything special
For the way she loves me like a daughter
For Mary, delightful, fun, and so helpful
For my Emma Grace.  God is writing an incredible story in your life, Emma Grace.  (And in mine through you)  You are a gift from God to me.
For Emma Grace's excitement over her metal detector, oh my!!!

And in the midst of all the chaos (mostly delightful...all except showing our house) was my week to teach at Emma Grace's summer camp.  Can you guess what I taught about?

 I had 6 kids and we traveled ALL OVER China, learned the language, explored the arts,  celebrated the new year, and now we are pretty much Chinese!

In all seriousness, even though it was A TON of work, it was a really fun week and gave me an opportunity to do something I really love:  work with kids in an educational capacity.  I feel like most of my job these days (being a wife and mom) hits on things I am not very good at:  discipline to KEEP doing laundry and make meals, train my kids, etc. But making paper dragons and teaching kids Chinese through silly games happens to be my super power! HEHE  

Thankful:

That Kathi and Mary held down the fort while I taught

For this little camp that is PERFECT for Emma Grace

For Sarah, my friend from church who runs the camp,  and our deepening friendship

For the precious kids who came to my camp

For the fun we had

For a chance to use my gifting and creativity 

For the realization that I AM INCREDIBLY BLESSED that I don't have to work outside the home! 

Lots to be thankful for these past two weeks!  

GRATITUDE 163 A teacher's help

I am teaching at Emma Grace's camp this week and it just so happens that my sister-in-law is an elementary school teacher.  She whipped me into shape and really helped me make a great plan for my China camp.  And we had a blast working on it together.  So thankful for her help.  For her delightful spirit and that God gave me such great in-laws.

The kids and I are having a blast with them while Andy is very busy at work this week.  Again, I got such a gift when I married into this family.  Thankful.

GRATITUDE 162 Kathi and Mary

I have the best in laws on the planet.  Seriously.  So thankful for them. We had a great day today with Mary and Kathi.  So thankful to have them here.

GRATITUDE 161 Saturday Thanks

Training for Andy
A job he loves and is being equipped to do
Interacting with believers in business.  So refreshing.
Forgiveness.  I've stunk at parenting this week.
Running into a good friend at the store and taking her girls home with us today!
Baked spaghetti
A humble husband
A great day for Emma Grace
God's promises that helped me through some difficult moments of the day
That God is leading our family in the possible sale of our house
Good friends coming for dinner and a movie last night
Good neighbors.  Really good.
A Hard thunderstorm
A hot shower
A new broom
My in-laws coming tonight for a visit

GRATITUDE 160 A child who felt loved tonight

We had a little birthday party for Grapey Girl tonight.  She felt very loved.  And I am thankful.  Thankful that God has given us grace to celebrate our children and for that love to sink deep into their hearts...praying they would know the Father's inexhaustible love in even deeper and richer ways!

GRATITUDE 159 A third child

Having a third child just about put me over the edge...Well, let's be honest... A third child did put me over the edge and that's no laughing matter.

Adding a third child who was a HORRIBLE sleeper, had reflux, and would not eat solids til after a year was really more than I could handle.  The first 18 months of Judah's life weren't pretty. Adding that to the already full plate we've been given was just about enough to sink this little family's vessel.  But we made it.  By God's grace.  It was the most humbling year and a half of my life and I learned so many lessons.  So many.   It was a form of pretty severe training/trial that the Lord had us in but I can honestly look back and say I am thankful.  This verse comes to mind.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

I feel like I am reaping the harvest of righteousness in my life because of all that God did during that extremely trying and painful season.  I sense my own frailty and weakness more than ever but I also stand more firmly on God's unshakable commitment to me and my good than I ever did before.

And today, having a third child is easy peasy.  He eats well, sleeps well, LOVES his big brother and sister, thinks he's five and isn't disobeying.... YET!!!!  Today I took Jack and Judah bowling and I loved watching him bowl...yep, he thinks he is five.  This little third child of mine, who is a delight during this season and undoubtedly will  prove to bring many seasons of trial (as all kids do) is a gift.  And today I am thankful for him.

GRATITUDE 158 Banana Bread

Getting behind on posting my Gratitude posts.  I have things I am thankful for, but I am just getting behind on posting...but like my new-ish running habit, I am not gonna let a missed week keep me from lacing up my shoes and getting back out there.  So here goes!!

Today I am thankful for the smell of banana bread and a chance to bake with Jack.  We had a fun/intense day at home...that child is wild...our highlights were reading in the fort we made and baking banana bread.  My cooking has been less frequent and less frequently homemade since we moved to the US and added a third child.  So every time I pull out my trusty Better Homes cookbook with a thin layer of Chinese cooking oil all over it, distant memories of a life where I cooked (homemade) a lot come rushing back.

We gobbled up almost all of the banana bread when it was hot out of the oven.  Yummy.

Thankful today for
Banana Bread
yummy smells in the kitchen
pats of butter on slices of warm bread
comfort
reading with Jack in the fort
imagination
a new computer
Andy for all the work he did to pick it out and set it up for me
a medication that is really helping one of my children
Judah and Jack's relationship
The promises of God that give hope to a brokenhearted friend