So thankful!

I'm sitting on my couch with Brandt. Doug, Austin and Jazz just left for Thanksgiving with the family. Brandt's been sick for several days, so I'm staying home with him. It looks like he's finally getting better, for which I am very thankful. I hate that I'm missing family Thanksgiving. For most of them, this is the only time during the year that I see them. But, I get to spend the day with my boy. We are planning on playing several games and just having fun, for as long as he's up to it. Sounds like a good Thanksgiving to me!

I've really been thinking about all I have to be thankful for. This whole year has been filled with thankful moments. One year ago Doug and I were fasting and praying if we were supposed to move to Indiana to help plant Second Chance Church. I can hardly believe it's been a year! Since then, we're both 100% certain of this call God has put on our lives. We've finished remodeling our house, listed it and at this moment are under contract with a closing date at the end of January. I've started homeschooling our kids and we all love it. My Jazzy Girl business has grown and has enabled us to get out of credit card debt and pay down our car loan significantly. We have all been healthy and Doug and I will be celebrating 18 years of marriage on Sunday. Wow! What a year!

As I reread that paragraph, I have to give 100%, total credit and glory to God.

James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.


None of these things are coincidences. I'm not even sure I believe in that word. God has worked everything out so perfectly. It was hard waiting so long for our house to sell. It's hard being one of the final couples to make it to Fishers. It's hard to miss all of the meetings and bible studies that are going on right now. But, God had a plan. He still has a plan. We are on His path for us and I'm so thankful. Doug recently got promoted to a temporary sergeant position. It will last until the end of January and possibly the first few weeks in February. We close on our house January 31st and Doug will work a few weeks after that. They both coincide so perfectly, it can only be a God thing.

It's so exciting to see God do things in your life. I hope others are watching and seeing how God is working as well. I'm so thankful for a God that loves me so much. Sometimes, I just can't comprehend it. You know what I do? I look at my kids and think, wow, God loves me more than I love them. Now that is something to be in awe of and so thankful for!

Blessings....

are mine and 10,000 besides

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz1NCajr0fW

So, this was not how I was going to start my blog. I typed in Blessings and just the words to this hymnal poured out.

This morning was Doug's morning to put the kids on the bus. I got woken up by him at 6:35 saying he would need my help because there was water all over the kitchen floor. I'm pretty sure the "Morning by morning new mercies I see" line from this hymn did not immediately pop into his head :) The water line to the ice maker somehow got a hole in it and was leaking. Not only is this not easy to repair since we dry walled in the shut off to this, but the water is sitting under our laminate flooring, causing it to warp. This is the floor you see when you first walk in the house, so very frustrating when we're trying to get it ready to sell. So, Doug had to take a vacation day to fix it. The good thing is, is that this should be only about an hour job. So, we decided to go ahead and start on the upstairs bathroom since he has the whole day off. At this time, the entire bathroom has been gutted and Doug is off to Menards to buy everything we need to finish it. This is the last big project in our renovation. So, what a blessing that he's getting started on it! It may not have been exactly when we planned, but it feels so good to have the last big thing underway!

I haven't had an etsy sell in three days. This is very frustrating to me because we rely on my etsy funds for all the little extras around here. But, as I was singing this song in my head "All I have needed, thy hand hath provided-great is thy faithfulness! really hit me. God has provided and is providing for everything we need. So we need to budget a little better, no big deal :) It's not like we're giving up anything big. Now, I only have three dresses to complete and I have all of my online orders done. I even have those thress dresses about 1/2 way done, so it should just take me a half hour or so to be completely caught up. Then I can focus on several local orders I need to get done, including about 10 dresses for a wedding. I can also work on things for my photo shoot that's in about a month and work on things for local shows. So, I'm going to get caught up on a lot of stuff. What a blessing!

So, when trouble comes, I'm going to try to find the blessings in it. Now, I may not do it well all the time, but I'm going to try.

Check out the words to the entire hymn. What's the saying? Oldy but a goody...

Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lyrics

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain