Shannen is a friend of mine who moved away a few years ago when she was a freshman in high school. She is now getting ready to enter her senior year of high school and I miss being a part of her life. She comes to town occasionally, but I always wish I could be with her more.

Last weekend when the opportunity came up for Shannen to come stay with me for an entire week, I have to admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was in the middle of running like crazy back and forth from our county fair, school has started for us, plus this is big-time canning and freezing and preserving season at our house (read:  my kitchen looks like an explosion of green beans, corn, potatoes and tomatoes).

Of course I wanted time with Shannen, so I only hesitated for two seconds before saying, “Sure!”

Looking at it now, I don’t even know why I hesitated for two whole seconds. Um hello? Having a 17 year old girl in my house for an entire week when I am slammed with work? Thank you God for this wonderful blessing sent  from heaven!

Needless to say, Shannen is learning a thing or two about freezing and canning and green bean snapping and potato digging and apple picking. Working side by side has been wonderful. I’ve been able to catch up on the details of her life while we work together. She helps with the kids, helps me fix dinner, helps me with whatever in the world I ask her to do. 

I think I may keep her forever.

I’m so thankful that God knew just what I needed this week. I highly recommend that everyone borrow a sweet 17 year old girl during preserving season. (But you can’t borrow the one I’m borrowing…she’s busy…sorry.)  :)
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What are you grateful for this week? Write about it on your blog then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

It’s official. We have a 7th grader, a 4th grader, a 2nd grader and a pre-schooler. We began school this week. At exactly one day into it, I can say…so far, so good!

Here we are at our traditional “take your list, get a basket and pick out your school supplies” day. We try to do this the Friday before school starts to keep the excitement alive!

I spread out all of our books and organized them for the year…

See that USA puzzle up there in the picture? Last week when we were putting the final touches on the school room and getting supplies put away…I was getting SO frustrated. I was trying to get the boys to put their folders and notebooks away, but instead they grabbed the USA puzzle, dumped it out all over the floor and started working on it. They were up and down looking at the big wall map, talking about which state went where in the puzzle. I couldn’t get anyone to listen to what I was trying to say!

Just about the time I started to scold them…it occurred to me:  Hello Laura! They are learning and loving every minute of it. They can put their glue sticks away later! 

The instant they finished putting all fifty states back into the puzzle, they dumped it out again and started over. Then they started looking at all of their new books on the shelves and getting SO excited. They could hardly wait for Monday to come. (Actually, I saw Elias sneaking into his math book that day and writing in the first three answers and grinning at me like he’d really pulled a big one over on me!)

I love that the boys get so excited about school and learning! We have our moments...trust me.  If the boys really, really had a choice, they’d play computer games all day long. But I wish you could have heard them this morning as we sat on the living room floor with the globe and maps and colored pencils. You would have thought I was throwing them a party. (A loud party.)

Many of you commented or emailed that you couldn’t believe I was starting school on my birthday. It really was the best way to spend my day:  On the floor…surrounded by boys and books. It doesn’t get much better than that!
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know how God is working in your life!

God is so good. Each week when I think about what to write for my Gratituesday post, it’s never hard to come up with something to be thankful for. Because there is always so much to be thankful for.

And yet, I find myself trying to think of “something big” to tell you about. Some great event or situation that happened the previous week to share about how God is working in our lives.

Somehow it seems a little silly for me to write an entire Gratituesday post about how thankful I am that we have plenty of food in the house. Or that we were just given another box of hand-me-down clothes for the boys. Or that Matt has construction jobs lined up for several weeks.

Or…that we have a working toilet and running water. And electricity. And a computer. And a big kitchen. And beds–lots of them…and they are soft. And we have ceiling fans. And dishes. And soap. And shoes. And soft towels. And a washing machine. And a lawn mower.

Today’s Gratituesday is dedicated to all the little things. All the little things that are really big things when it comes right down to it. 

Because if you’ve ever not had a working toilet or running water…that suddenly becomes a big thing…right?

I’m thankful for all the comforts in life and for how God provides. He just provides.

Hooray for the little things!
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Share what you’re grateful for! Write about it on your blog then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

I’ve been wanting one for a long time. I’ve been trying to figure out if I’ve been needing it…or just wanting it. I saved up for it. I researched it.

And last week I got it.

My new laptop computer. It’s actually not new…just new to me and that counts, right?

Now, I can write while sitting in my recliner. Or upstairs. Or outside. 

And…when Matt needs to do computer work in the evenings…we can both get computer work done. At the same time. Together.

I’m very excited about my new laptop! See? Look at me? I’m blogging from the couch!!

Photo courtesy of Justus

Now, I’m wondering how I might be able to wash dishes from the comfort of my couch? (Kidding. Of course I’m not that lazy.)  (Actually…letting the boys wash dishes while I’m on the couch sort of works, doesn’t it?)

:)

I’m thankful that God provides enough for little extras like this that just make life a tiny bit easier. 

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Blog about it, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us  know what you’re thankful for!

I have started this post and deleted this post about four times. 

God did something really awesome this weekend at our family reunion and I want to share it with you because it is so great and God is so great.

But I guess I just really can’t. It’s sort of a private family matter and I can’t figure out how to write this post without saying too much or saying too little and confusing you all to pieces.

Can I just tell you that God did something terrific at our family reunion this weekend? And that I couldn’t even sleep Friday night because what happened was something I’ve been praying about for around ten years? And that even though it was maybe just a little thing that might not amount to the miracle we’ve all been praying for…it might be the first step toward something wonderful?

I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting this was. And is. And…how much more I am in prayer about the situation now.

God answers prayer. Sometimes it takes over ten years. And it may take many more years for our continued prayer about this situation to become the miracle we’re asking for.

But I believe that God’s power is at work in this. Without a doubt, God’s power is more powerful than any other. I’m on my knees. And…even though I’m being vague…I’d appreciate it if you’d join me. 

God’s goodness shouted out to me this weekend. Don’t you love it when that happens?
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

Last Saturday it was HOT. I was feeling rather useless by late afternoon. All I felt like doing was sprawling out under the ceiling fan in my recliner. And so I did.

Imagine my joy when Elias and Justus came to me and asked if they could PLEASE make dinner for everyone. I have no idea what made them want to do this.

Side note:  Saturday afternoons are the hours we’ve allotted in the week for the boy’s Play Station time. I couldn’t even believe they were giving up those precious minutes to make dinner. Without being asked. Or threatened.

So off they went (while I stayed in my cool, useless position in the recliner) to scrounge up some dinner. They put together the greatest meal! Seriously, you should (have your kids) make these sometime. (And I should have my kids write their own ebook.)

Elias spread mayo on the tortillas he found. Then he topped them each with the cooked chicken leftover from a few days before.

In the meantime, Justus carefully cut up tomatoes….

And carrots…

Then Elias stuck a piece of spinach on each tortilla and some tomatoes and carrots. Check out his cute little tortilla assembly line!

Now, wrapping them up was a little tricky because they were so full…so I had to get my lazy self off the chair to help. It’s okay though. I’d already gotten my lazy self up to snap the above pics. 

For ONE WHOLE HOUR they worked hard on that dinner. They were amazing and darling little servant-hearted angels. And they were SO EXCITED to be making dinner for the family.

Hearing their sweetness and joy in the kitchen was all the refreshment I needed on that hot summer day. (And wow…was my tortilla wrap YUMMY!)

I’m so grateful for precious moments like this with my kids. (It’s good to have these moments to hold onto when they’re tearing my living room and each other apart.)  And I’m grateful that they are learning to serve.
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Blog about it, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

It’s been a long, painful road. You know…the kind you can’t possibly walk through without God’s holding you up?

Matt’s brother Randy and his wife Kari have been on quite a journey for the past several years. They’ve dealt with pregnancy and loss…excitement and disappointment…triumph and tragedy. 

Too many times.

It’s been painful, for all of us…Randy and Kari most of all. They’ve clung to God through it all. Because all the time…God is good.

Two years ago, God gave them a new opportunity. The opportunity to adopt.

With this new possibility came a new kind of joy…and a new kind of fear. This adoption process was not a simple one. (are any of them simple?)

There were times it sounded like the whole thing would all fall through. And then it would all seem okay again. And then it wouldn’t. 

I think we’ve all been holding our breath for two years.

Until last Friday. Friday, we could let out our breath and jump for joy!

The sweet baby boy God gave to Randy and Kari back in October of 2007 is officially and totally theirs! 

This is the best Gratituesday ever.
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Share what you’re grateful for! Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here! If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

Have I ever told you that I have a great dad? Not a perfect dad, but a great one.

He spent hours with me in our shed, in our yard, and at the gym trying to help me figure out how to shoot a free throw and for Pete’s sake how to serve a volleyball over the net. That took a lot of patience on his part…because let’s just say I’m not a natural athlete. (I’m not any kind of athlete, really.)  I have fond memories of him running beside me at every track meet while I was warming up to run the half mile race. He would always come straight from working in the field, so his pliers would still be in his pocket. As he ran beside me and gave me a pep talk before the race, his pliers would bounce up and down on his belt. I can still hear the sound of his pliers while he jogged beside me.

My dad taught me a lot about the Bible…how to talk to people…how to see people’s needs and try to meet them.

Here’s what I’m realizing:  My dad has always been great at giving advice.

You want to know the greatest advice my dad ever gave me? When I was playing “the dating game” in college and getting so frustrated with the whole thing, I asked him, “Dad, are my expectations just too high? Am I looking for a guy who just doesn’t exist?”

He told me this, “Laura, you aren’t the kind of girl that boys want to date. You’re the kind of girl that they want to marry.  Don’t compromise on the kind of man you’re looking for. Don’t ever compromise. There is someone out there that is exactly what you want.”

I loved the advice, but still didn’t really think that there was anyone out there in this whole wide world that would meet my expectations for a husband. Still, I held onto my dad’s advice not to compromise. I didn’t want to date around anymore feeling like, “Well, this guy is great, except for (fill in the blank).”

It wasn’t long before Matt and I began dating. I could tell from the beginning of our relationship that he was different. And…it didn’t take long to realize that he was the definition of “exactly what I wanted in a husband.” With no compromising.

When my dad walked me down the aisle on my wedding day and handed me over to Matt, I know he did it with confidence. Not only did I find just what I’d been looking for in a husband, my dad found exactly what he’d been looking for in a son-in-law.

Not compromising was the best advice I ever took.
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Share what you’re grateful for!! Blog about it and come link up here! If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

Apparently it doesn’t take much to make me giddy and excited. Take me to a strawberry patch…and I’m like a kid in a candy store. A STRAWBERRY candy store!

Last week, we had the opportunity to go to a farm and pick strawberries (in trade for some homemade bread and other goodies)!! I had been out there one time last year, but I had forgotten how BIG this patch was and how BEAUTIFUL the strawberries are!! 

I could not stop saying, “Thank you God!!!” and “Oh this is SO cool!” for about ten minutes after we arrived. It is the greatest strawberry patch. I had a couple boys who didn’t feel well that morning, so Asa stayed home with them. This meant that Justus and I were on a strawberry picking date. He was just as excited as I was and a super trooper. He worked so hard with me! We chattered the whole time together and talked about bugs and berries and God’s goodness. It will be a date with my boy that I will remember forever. 

Somehow, Justus got a picture of me picking strawberries in quite an interesting way. It was like this:  my feet were in a good spot and there were strawberries ALL over the place..and I didn’t want to trample any berries or plants…so I just left my feet there and saw how far I could reach and how many strawberries I could pick without changing foot positions. No WONDER I was sore afterward!!

Look at these beauties!!

I’m so thankful for the generosity of my friend who let me come have a party in her strawberry patch. I’m thankful for all the yummy berries we’ve been eating. I’m thankful for all the berries I’ve been able to put into my freezer for slushies and smoothies.

And…I’m thankful for the sweet memory I made with my handsome date. Now that everyone is feeling better, I think I need to make plans to take several more handsome dates back to the patch!
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What are you grateful for?! Join us for Gratituesday! Read the details here, then come link up with us. If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!