Counting My Blessings...

This picture was taken by Jon on Monday, June 1st.

Safety during the storm

We had quite the crazy storm here this past week. I'm very thankful it didn't hit us harder. And I'm very thankful we are all safe.


Computer wasn't fried after getting facebook virus :-\

A long story short: I clicked on a link that I thought was a video (titled "My home video" along with a link...posted right in my facebook status update line) that Jon had put together for our anniversary and posted on my facebook account... I bypassed all security features because I figured if it was from Jon it would be fine...and lo and behold our computer got a virus! And I proceeded to send totally inappropriately titled posts to people in my facebook account, causing others to get the same virus on their computers. Ugh. Sickening feeing. Thankfully, my husband is in the know with computers (being a computer teacher). He was able to fix things, get rid of the virus and did not even once get mad at me or make me feel bad! Wow, that is love! Anyways, I am very thankful that I did not ruin our computer, lose important data, etc...

Good kids

I feel like the most blessed mom. My kids are really good...I mean, they aren't perfect. But they are about as near perfect as kids could be! LOL And what really blows me away time and again is when I go to the school and the kid's classmates or teachers know me as "____'s mom" and then have this look on their face like I am really to be respected/liked/looked up to for simply being "____'s mom." I talked about this with my kids last night and mentioned how this is exactly how we should be as Christians, as God's children. When people see us our desire should be they would want to get to know our Heavenly Father and that they say, "I'd like to get to know their Daddy. He must be pretty nice because _______ is nice. "etc.

Great parents

My parents are such a blessing. I'm thankful for their love and care. I'm thankful for their example. I am GREATLY blessed to have such amazing parents.

Wonderful grandparents for our kids

Both my parents and Jon's parents are a great blessing in our lives. It is a joy to see them invest in our kids' lives. To see how our kids look up to them, look forward to time spent with them, feel loved and cherished by them....wow! My heart is singing!

13 years of marriage
We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary this week. I am very thankful for my husband and our marriage. I posted more here and here.

Great piano recital

I had my final piano recital on Saturday. All my students did fabulous! And we ended the year with an ice cream sundae party. I'm very proud of my students. I even had one student play a song he had composed. That was a first! The song was really good too:-)

Students for next year already set!

I'm very thankful that I don't have to worry about finding more piano students. I already have a full roster of students for next year. Woohoo! (And they are fabulous students to boot:-)

Lunch supervision has improved GREATLY over the past month or so

Something seems to have changed within me since spring break. I had a breaking point around spring break and thought for sure I was going to quit my elementary lunch supervision job. But God used words spoken by my husband to remind me to stick with things and push past the learning hurdles. And I have to admit the past month or two has been much improved. I feel I finally have authority in the classrooms and playground. This doesn't mean the kids all listen to me. But it is more something internal for myself. I feel like I don't have to worry about "earning" this authority any more. I feel that when I have a bad day, it's just a bad day! It's not sending my whole self-esteem with this job plummetting. So, this is a good thing. And I've really been enjoying the relationships with the kids. It is actually a pretty special privileged job to have...with its' share of challenges;-)

A close friend's spiritual growth very evident as she reached out and was a witness

This has to be the icing on the cake after many years of planting seeds, discipling this friend and growing together spirtually. It was such a joy to see her, at our last ladies bible study, reach out and begin to invest in another lady's life, speaking God's words of truth to her. Wow! It blew me away how much she has grown and blossomed! Praise God!!!!!

Friends on board with TW

I'm very excited about a few friends from church joining the Thin Within summer study started by Heidi. It feels great knowing there are others who are "on the same page." And I'm looking forward to the "new thing" that the Lord is going to do in all our hearts. I'm ready to PLUNGE DEEPER!

God's lavish love and acceptance
He loves me! He accepts me! I am His child! Thank you Lord! I long to more fully understand and embrace God's lavish love. And I long to extend His lavish love to others more and more each day. I posted a bit more about this here. And taking it one step further, I REALLY long to love HIM more and more each day.

Good to get out jogging
Though I don't much like exercising...it DOES still feel good to get outdoors jogging again. I love the fresh air, the outdoors scents, the sound of the birds and the frogs, the sight of the sun rising... It is such a blessing to be outside and moving and praying and praising God.

Fun family times at the park
Last week we went to a provincial park nearby and went biking, the kids did a bit of swimming (in very cool temperatures!) and had a wiener roast supper. Always lots of fun to be together:-)

Fantastic book
I just finished reading an absolutely fantastic book called "I Dared to Call Him Father" This book was easy to read (I could hardly put the book down), and was very inspiring.

Amazing ministry opportunity with muslim lady
Following the reading of the above book, I had an incredible visit with a muslim friend. I felt God nudging me to pray with her and she granted me the opportunity. As I finished praying for her she wiped tears from her eyes. It was clear that the Holy Spirit was moving.

Great to be God's instrument with others
I am so humbled and thankful that God deems me worthy of being His instrument. He wants to use me for His purposes. Wow! Blows me away!

Good health
Self-explanatory. I'm thankful that we're all pretty much healthy and well. This is always a blessing that gets easily taken forgranted.

Finances working out
We felt God urging us to return to Mexico this summer...but knew the finances would be a bit tight. But the Lord provides. Some backpay settlements that Jon was awaiting are coming in prior to summer. Praise God.

Summer is around the corner!

It feels so good to have the weather warming up. Almost able to walk outside without a sweater or jacket! Woohoo! And with summer being around the corner comes holidays, more family time, our trip to Mexico! It's just around the bend...