A perfect begining

After dinner tonight I became rather bored, and decided I was in the mood to read. So I went to my shelf and picked up the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle. I have been working my way through the series for some time now, only picking one up when I am able to really devote myself to the book.
I was buried in the unfolding plot, passing the hours in adventure and peril with the characters as they faced insurmountable odds. Then came the end of the final battle. Just as the giant named Time raised his horn to his lips to sound the end of Narnia I heard fireworks exploding.
The new year had come.
I smiled to myself and kept reading, and if you know what lies at the end of that book you know what a lovely Eternal perspective I was treated to in this first hour of a new year.
Thank you Lord, for the favor of a perfect crossing into the new year, and for giving me another year in which to grow closer to thee.

Naptime

Today when Joe got home he went in the girls room and hung out with the kids, so naturally that's where he fell asleep. The kids were impossibly quiet for him though, and a few hours later I thought I'd better check and make sure they weren't into anything, old habits die hard a mother can't stand the sound of silence. I found Tali and Jay in my room watching kiddie movie, and Jordan was snuggled up next to Daddy, fast asleep.

Lord, thank you for letting her share that naptime with her Daddy.

Cuddly kids

Oh boy did I get cuddles today. Most of the kids at work I only see once or twice a week, so having them run up and hug me and not want to let go makes me feel so good. Today two of them fought over my lap, and let me tell you I loved that. I love being adored. I love sloppy kisses on the cheek and translating toddler into adult English. The adoration of a child is so much more real than that of an adult because kids are honest, brutally honest. If they love you, you know it, if they like you, you know it, and if you walk in and the start to bawl, well you had better get flirting.

Lord, thank you so much for K and S and all the extra snuggles today. I so needed them.

Olives and Artichoke hearts

Giving up tomatoes has been difficult, to say the least. When I finally made the break in July I quickly discovered that I used to eat tomatoes daily and didn't have any favorite recipes without them. I really did have to give them up though, because they gave me massively painful acne. Sure a healthy part of it was vanity, I looked so bad with these swollen lumps all over, but they were very sore lumps and all the creams and washes weren't working.
So I cut out the tomatoes, and it has made a huge difference, but... how on earth was I going to live without Italian food?
Thankfully I have olives and artichoke hearts to mix into my pasta bringing flavor and fun back into my Italian food.
Lord, thank you for olives and artichoke hearts and the other yummy plants with rich flavors.

Lazy days with the laptop

Joe has this habit of buying electronics, it's not really a good one, but I have to say it makes my life very nice sometimes. I worked a double today, but one shift ended early and the other started late. In between I got in some writing time on the laptop at McDonald's, then the break room. It is so very nice to have my head back in my book.
Hello beloved characters, I have missed you!

Lord, thank you for the abundance with which you have blessed us so that I am free to create so often.

Snow days

While I was really looking forward to the lessons in church today, there is something about sleeping in, not getting dressed, and the white glare coming through the windows that makes this morning perfect.

Thank you Lord for snow days.

The First Gift of Christmas

It wasn't gold, frankincense, or myrrh, it wasn't awestruck visitors. The first gift of Christmas was the love of a Heavenly Father to His children, delivered in the form of a child.
That child would grow and work the greatest work in the history of God's children, but today I am giving thanks for something else, something simple and yet elegant in a way only God could have done things.

In order to teach us about love, God sends us to parents, and then God allows us to become parents in our turn. I am only partially through this process, and I'm curious about the things I will learn as the years progress. Thus far I have learned this truth: that we cannot understand the love others have for us until we love in a similar way. It will be a long time before I understand the love that God has for me, but I see the smallest seeds of it in how I love my kids.

I am so thankful for that, I'm thankful I know about the relationship that I share with my Heavenly Father, and I'm thankful for the wise way in which He is teaching me more each day about how He loves me.

Thank you, Lord for bringing the first gift of Christmas, The Father's Love.