Multitude Mondays

August 22

597. An unexpected thoughtful gift from my father in law
598. For Raquel kindly inviting us to MOSI this morning.

599. For how much Beckham reminds me of Jack and how much I love seeing him

August 23
600. For being able to mop and sweep this morning
601. For having a productive day
602. For $1.50 Tacos at sinigual tonight
603. For spending time with Scott, Steve's old friend during dinner tonight

August 24
604. For time this morning praying with Bethany over things that are weighing in our hearts
605. For a fun lunch with an old friend Abbey who I don't get to see that often
606. For the joy Abbey had telling me about her mission trip to the Dominican Republic

August 25
607. That even though Jack didn't nap today he is still a happy and energetic boy
608. For how much he makes me laugh
609. For planting our first vegetable garden today. Love that I get to do this with Jack!

August 26
700. For Mandie sending me a kind and encouraging note
701. For my mother in law taking Jack for a few hours this morning so I could get things done around the house
702. For Jack's uncontrollable laughter as he plays piano with bepop

August 27
703. For celebrating sweet Elizabeth's second birthday today
704. For getting to know more women in our church and feeling more connected
705. That after Jack gave Elizabeth a big hug, she fell back on the floor and it brought tears to my eyes from the laughter

706. For a good quiet time this afternoon

August 28

707. For being able to take healthier steps in eating
708. For a good sermon this morning on the book of Revelations
709. For Steve working hard on fixing things around our home
710. For having family close by to spend Sunday afternoons with
711. For BBQing and playing cornhole

Multitude Mondays

559. For a desire to make some changes
560. For attending Celebrate Recovery in Brandon tonight

August 9
561. For the ability to do things which I don't want to do, but I know I should do
562. For rain this afternoon

August 10
563. For Jack's funny facial expressions

August 11
564. For excellent health news this morning, taking a huge weight off my shoulders
565. For a good shot appointment for Jack

August 12
566. For laughter which brought tears to my eyes this morning
567. For a fun morning with dear friends and their little boys

568. For watching Jack crawl on the floor after Anlon

August 13
569. For time with our dear friends the Lorches and meeting 3 week old baby Clayton today

570. For how sweet little toes are
571. For arriving in Orlando to meet family members I hadn't seen in a very long time.

August 14
572. For my sister Mariela having time to love on Jack

573. For getting to know my first cousins better
574. For a fun evening in downtown Disney

August 15
575. For being with my abuelita to celebrate her 80th birthday

576. For late night girly movies with my sister
577. For really appreciating and missing my husband Steve tonight


August 16
578. For spending a good couple of hours talking and watching TV with my sister Mariela
579. For my mom's delicious cooking which I wish I had
580. For a heartfelt conversation with my mom

August 17
581. For the wonderful feeling of returning home after being away for a long time
582. For actually really enjoying doing laundry today
583. For Jack's joy to be home as well

August 18
584. That despite everything going opposite as planned today (and having a rough day), dear friends were kindly praying for me
585. For having a testimony to share at Celebrate Recovery tonight
586. For somehow not being nervous at speaking in public and having peace at night.

August 19
587. For time to focus back on taking care of our home and other things
588. For a friend hosting us for lunch
589. For an hour to myself tonight getting dinner ready
590. For snuggling with Jack tonight

August 20
591. For time to catch up with girlfriends this morning
592. For celebrating the arrival of baby Parham
593. For Jack's quality time with Steve today
594. For being able to rest tonight while Steve took care of Jack

August 21
595. For a husband that takes care of Jack when I'm sick (bad sinus cold)
596. For being able to encourage a friend tonight.

Multitude Mondays

This past week I've been thankful for

August 1

539. For finding bings that were affordable to help keep our home organized
540. For a zest and joy for being able to stay at home with Jack
541. For the power of praying/having a quiet time with Steve

August 2
542. For Jack's funny laughter today
543. For an enjoyable family dinner

August 3

544. For Steve and Jack surprising me with flowers tonight
545. For an hour to myself and being able to get a lot done
546. For Jack being happy and smiley today despite my grumpiness

August 4

547. For laughter in our small group tonight
548. For all that Steve and I are learning through this study

August 5

549. For young children loving on Jack
550. For being able to lay down in a friend's couch
551. For being encouraged by a friend

August 6

552. For quality time with memaw and bepop
553. For a yummy dinner outing tonight
554. For Jack being very happy today

August 7

555. For a kind invitation from a new friend
556. For a sermon about 'fear' which spoke to my heart
557. For the second reminder this week of how blessed we are

Multitude Monday

Our internet has been down today and I will not be able to post multitude mondays. Will do as soon as connectivity comes back up. Too much typing for my phone! :)

From a mother's perspective

This week I had one of those special, eye opening moments with my sweet boy Jack and I thought I'd share here.

On Monday morning as we are getting ready to head out for the day, I had taken a green publix bag (you know those reusable ones?) and had filled it with random items I wanted to bring along in the car.

As I am finishing it up, Jack comes up to me and takes the bag from me and yells out 'Mine!!'

He proceeded to take out all the items out into the floor until the bag was completely empty. He starts repeating over and over again 'Mine, mine, mine!!' with a very serious and almost mean look on his face.

He put the bag on his shoulder, put his arm up in the air, and then twisted his wrist back. It took everything I had in me not to LAUGH in front of him! It looked like he was holding a man purse and he was quite proud of it.

I wasn't quite sure what to do at this point, but at least I did keep a serious face and not laughed with him to encourage his behavior.

I got up from my chair to go over and talk with him, and he inmediately jumped back and started running the opposite way.

I walked behind him, and he started running faster. Then he did something he hasn't done before. He ran and hid from me.

I found him trying to hide behind the bed of our master bedroom. As I approached him, he continue yelling louder and louder 'Mine, mine, mine!!'. It was almost as if he was posessed. I mean what was so special about an old, dirty, broken in many places green publix bag?

I realized three things right then.

First, that just because Jack really REALLY wants something to belong to him, doesn't actually make it his.

Second, I realized that he would not have been able to win this battle. I had the power to take the bag away from him anytime I wanted. He was not in control.

Then I realized that his bad attitude really made me want to take the bag back. The more he yelled out 'mine!!', the more I wanted to take it bag. A good attitude would have made all the difference.

I chose to extend grace and let him keep the bag. I walked over to him and said 'Jack, I will let you keep the bag if you ask for it with kindness and stop yelling out mine. Otherwise I am going to take it back'. Which he quickly did, and then I went on to find another bag to use for the day.

I was thankful for this moment with my son. I don't know if I could've handled the situation better, but I handled it as best as I could.

I was reminded of this reflection of our relationship with our heavenly Father. That all things belong to him, no matter how badly I want to hold on to them. I was reminded of how silly I must look to him when I really want to keep something and have a bad attitude about it.

And I am thankful for the moments when He chooses to extend grace.

Multitude Mondays

I was not good about keeping up my thankful list during our time in San Francisco this past week. Steve and I went for a week and had a wonderful time! I plan on posting pictures from our trip soon and will pick back up with Multitude Mondays next week.