Three weeks in a row — woohoo!
44. My parents celebrated 29 years of marriage this week. I don't think I have to say anything else — that's pretty impressive. I'm thankful for them and for the godly example that they've been.
45. Veggies at the school cafeteria that aren't soaked in salt
46. Strawberries AND blueberries on sale this week at Kroger (side note: blueberries were my favorite snack as a kid. Mom used to stick a big bowl on them on the kitchen table and I'd finish them off — but oddly enough, I named my favorite doll "Strawberry," not "Blueberry")
47. Aloe (I got sunburned last week!)
48. Daffodils blooming on campus
50. Trees, flowers, grass, etc. blooming everywhere
51. Allergy medicine to help with all that blooming (today's pollen count is over 9,000! yuck!)
52. Ladies Bible study — the insight, encouragement, and fellowship it provides for me
53. A lit and safe pathway at the park for early evening runs
54. Grace (and a little bit of wisdom) in listening and participating in some hard conversations
55. Growing relationships with my girls
56. Not just knowing but seeing God at work in the lives of students
57. Hymns — thankful for them for lots of reasons, but here's two thoughts: 1. Glad I grew up in a church and a family where we sang them all the time 2. Glad my church, family, voice teacher, and choir teachers taught me the importance of memorizing the words — which all came back to me this weekend while singing a baby to sleep!
58. A long hike with good conversations, fellowship, and rain (and safety during the last two miles where we hiked back on the road to our car!)
59. The marriage conference at Midway Pres last weekend
60. Home cooked food at that conference — it's been a big fruit, oatmeal, cafeteria food, and cereal week, so it was especially exciting to get good food
61. The book of Deuteronomy — it's part of the RUF Bible reading program this month, and Chris is preaching through the Ten Commandments this semester. I haven't read it in a while ... and it's nice to be "rediscovering" it.
62. Finding a knee brace for my 90 year-old knees — and I can run (pretty well) while wearing it!
63. Red Gatorade (the not so sugary kind. I forgot the actual name)
64. Lots of glorious sunshine last week and this week
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
One Thousand Gifts Challenge, week 2
The One Thousand Gifts challenge continues:
21. My supporters. I got to send out newsletters this past week, and it's a joy and blessing to be able to thank God for each one of them as I fold, sign, and seal their letters. Words cannot express how incredibly grateful I am for each one of them.
22. Sharpie pens. My fav. I always keep a couple on hand, and I used them a lot this week for newsletter duty.
23. Friends who are kind enough to proofread my personal statement (for grad school) on super short notice and give me good feedback. (Thanks, Kyle, April, and Hannah!)
24. My alma mater — for many reason, but here's one unique one: Mississippi State plants a tree for every student (and faculty member) who dies before they finish school/while working at school. (They get permission from the family to do so, but the university pays for it and puts a plaque up under the tree.) I always thought that was really special, and it just adds to the beauty of the campus. Last week, my journalism adviser posted a photo of the one they planted for my friend Adam. It will look absolutely gorgeous in the fall.
25. Yogurt. Yep, that simple.
26. Good conversations with friends — specifically Rebekah, Katy, April, & Amy in the last two weeks.
27. Being able to share a former struggle/hardship with someone (and trusting that part of the reason the Lord put me through it is to help and share with others).
28. Spring break. Being able to take a break.
29. Seeing Stephen for a whole weekend.
30. Traveling mercies while driving to Knoxville. The weather was pretty nasty, and I missed all of it.
31. Stephen fixing the messed up screws on my MacBook. (They weren't put in properly after I had my battery replaced, and it had been bothering me for months.)
32. A great church service in Knoxville last Sunday with a challenging message on forgiveness.
33. New brakes for my car, and the Goodyear guys who looked out for me and my safety.
34. RUF for doing such a wonderful job of loving its employees and taking great care of us. They have really displayed the love and character of Christ to me, and are incredibly patient and gracious.
35. Pandora while I work, cook, clean, and study.
36. Reading the chain e-mails in my intern class and seeing how the Lord is blessing our crew with jobs, entering seminary, marriages, and a call to a third year of the internship.
37. On that note, especially thankful for my crew of third year RUF interns. There's going to be a good number of us, and I'm really excited about serving with them for another year.
38. This sweet kid:
39. The Gospel Coalition, specifically, its wonderful website with blogs, resources, and much more.
40. Having my parents and sister in town for a weekend, getting to hang out, eat, and explore.
41. Finding another ticket to The Color Run 5K so that Jen can join us.
42. The promise of 80 degree weather this week.
43. Sandals/flipflops — and being able to wear them again!
21. My supporters. I got to send out newsletters this past week, and it's a joy and blessing to be able to thank God for each one of them as I fold, sign, and seal their letters. Words cannot express how incredibly grateful I am for each one of them.
22. Sharpie pens. My fav. I always keep a couple on hand, and I used them a lot this week for newsletter duty.
23. Friends who are kind enough to proofread my personal statement (for grad school) on super short notice and give me good feedback. (Thanks, Kyle, April, and Hannah!)
24. My alma mater — for many reason, but here's one unique one: Mississippi State plants a tree for every student (and faculty member) who dies before they finish school/while working at school. (They get permission from the family to do so, but the university pays for it and puts a plaque up under the tree.) I always thought that was really special, and it just adds to the beauty of the campus. Last week, my journalism adviser posted a photo of the one they planted for my friend Adam. It will look absolutely gorgeous in the fall.
 |
| The tree looks a little scrawny without leaves, so here's the plaque. |
26. Good conversations with friends — specifically Rebekah, Katy, April, & Amy in the last two weeks.
27. Being able to share a former struggle/hardship with someone (and trusting that part of the reason the Lord put me through it is to help and share with others).
28. Spring break. Being able to take a break.
29. Seeing Stephen for a whole weekend.
 |
| Final UT home game this season — and they won! |
31. Stephen fixing the messed up screws on my MacBook. (They weren't put in properly after I had my battery replaced, and it had been bothering me for months.)
32. A great church service in Knoxville last Sunday with a challenging message on forgiveness.
33. New brakes for my car, and the Goodyear guys who looked out for me and my safety.
34. RUF for doing such a wonderful job of loving its employees and taking great care of us. They have really displayed the love and character of Christ to me, and are incredibly patient and gracious.
35. Pandora while I work, cook, clean, and study.
36. Reading the chain e-mails in my intern class and seeing how the Lord is blessing our crew with jobs, entering seminary, marriages, and a call to a third year of the internship.
37. On that note, especially thankful for my crew of third year RUF interns. There's going to be a good number of us, and I'm really excited about serving with them for another year.
38. This sweet kid:
 |
| Don't worry — she's not mine. |
40. Having my parents and sister in town for a weekend, getting to hang out, eat, and explore.
41. Finding another ticket to The Color Run 5K so that Jen can join us.
42. The promise of 80 degree weather this week.
43. Sandals/flipflops — and being able to wear them again!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
One thousand gifts challenge
So if you haven't read One Thousand Gifts, you really should. It's a NY Times Bestseller, an Amazon bestseller, and USA Today bestseller — but most importantly, the author is a Christian woman who clearly really loves Jesus and is committed to sharing joy, despite life's hardships. (And this book isn't all lovey-dovey — she's gone through some REALLY hard things in her life.) She has a great blog, and she's issued a challenge to her readers to list their blessings via blog once a week — totaling 1,000 for the year.
Obviously, I'm a little behind on the challenge (but apparently, you can start whenever, so I'm not really that behind) ... but better late than never, right? She has these great little banners that you're supposed to put on your site, but I can't get the image to show up on my blog — oh well. So, 1,000 blessings in a year means listing 20 per week ... wish me luck! Here's the list for this past two weeks:
1. Thankful for the ministry of NightLight Atlanta (and many other groups) working to end human trafficking in Atlanta, & glad I get to partner with them in a 40 Day Fast (I gave up sugar/sweets and fried food!)
2. Three of the Kennesaw RUF ladies are joining me in that fast — it is much easier to fast knowing that others are keeping you accountable!
3. Glad to be writing again — freelancing at World on Campus a little bit
4. The Green at Kennesaw's campus. We had an absolutely gorgeous day last week, and it brought hundreds of students outside to play.
5. Sweet friends who call and text to say hi
6. A precious note from Adam's sweet mom
7. Lots of blessings to write about in my spring RUF newsletter
8. E-mails from the office reminding me that summer conference is just around the corner (doesn't the beach and sunshine and good teaching sound wonderful?)
9. Getting to share about RUF with my church here in Kennesaw
10. Running twice without my knees hurting
11. Running a couple of times with my knees hurting — thankful that I have knees that still allow me to be active!
12. Fruit being on sale at Kroger (especially since I've given up desserts)
13. Finding my favorite gloves that have been missing for two weeks
14. E-mail. It's just a great invention.
15. Reduced fat Cheeze-Its. (They're still not good for you, but I am thankful for their deliciousness.)
16. The fact that mold hasn't come back to our apartment (after a long saga of deep cleaning, cutting holes in the walls and ceilings, finding the leak/problem, putting in new drywall, and repainting)_
17. The fact that I live in a nice complex with great repairmen who did all the work listed above. It would have been really bad if I had to do all that on my own.
18. StrangeBrew coffee (and the fact that they ship so I can have it every morning)
19. A weekend away in Townsend with Stephen and his mom
20. Valentines from Jake & Cole, and my parents
Obviously, I'm a little behind on the challenge (but apparently, you can start whenever, so I'm not really that behind) ... but better late than never, right? She has these great little banners that you're supposed to put on your site, but I can't get the image to show up on my blog — oh well. So, 1,000 blessings in a year means listing 20 per week ... wish me luck! Here's the list for this past two weeks:
1. Thankful for the ministry of NightLight Atlanta (and many other groups) working to end human trafficking in Atlanta, & glad I get to partner with them in a 40 Day Fast (I gave up sugar/sweets and fried food!)
2. Three of the Kennesaw RUF ladies are joining me in that fast — it is much easier to fast knowing that others are keeping you accountable!
3. Glad to be writing again — freelancing at World on Campus a little bit
4. The Green at Kennesaw's campus. We had an absolutely gorgeous day last week, and it brought hundreds of students outside to play.
5. Sweet friends who call and text to say hi
6. A precious note from Adam's sweet mom
7. Lots of blessings to write about in my spring RUF newsletter
8. E-mails from the office reminding me that summer conference is just around the corner (doesn't the beach and sunshine and good teaching sound wonderful?)
9. Getting to share about RUF with my church here in Kennesaw
10. Running twice without my knees hurting
11. Running a couple of times with my knees hurting — thankful that I have knees that still allow me to be active!
12. Fruit being on sale at Kroger (especially since I've given up desserts)
13. Finding my favorite gloves that have been missing for two weeks
14. E-mail. It's just a great invention.
15. Reduced fat Cheeze-Its. (They're still not good for you, but I am thankful for their deliciousness.)
16. The fact that mold hasn't come back to our apartment (after a long saga of deep cleaning, cutting holes in the walls and ceilings, finding the leak/problem, putting in new drywall, and repainting)_
17. The fact that I live in a nice complex with great repairmen who did all the work listed above. It would have been really bad if I had to do all that on my own.
18. StrangeBrew coffee (and the fact that they ship so I can have it every morning)
19. A weekend away in Townsend with Stephen and his mom
20. Valentines from Jake & Cole, and my parents
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