Thursday Thanks Tank #153

Today I am thankful for:

1. Sanity. I feel like I am lucky to still have mine.
2. Teachers. I am amazed at what they do each day.
3. Businesses that support schools. I guess I probably had this one last week. I've been busy collecting donations for our school's upcoming fundraiser.
4. Supportive Parents. My parents are fantastic. Faced with disappointment, they still support and encourage.
5. My husband's job. I'm not sure where it is taking us. I am thankful that he has a good job.
6. Flexibility. In the last 3 weeks, I have been given serious thought to three possible locations where my family might end up. As each door closes, there's a new opportunity waiting.
7. Clothes. I am a little (read that as a heckuva lot) behind on laundry. I am thankful for clothes.
8. Being available. I am too busy. I have too much on my plate. I am thankful that this week, when called on to help someone, I made myself available.
9. Honesty. One of my kids came home today quite distraught. Turns out he got in trouble at school. He shared it with me because he wanted to- not because the teacher made him. That was a beautiful moment of honesty.
10. Skype. I've been skyping with my husband this week. I'd prefer to be together but skyping is sweet when you are apart.
11. Mentors. A sweet friend passed away today. She will be missed by many.
12. Space. I am finding more and more of it as I clean out. It's so refreshing.
13. Grace. I've been given grace this week by friends, by my kids, and by God. I am very thankful.

Take time to be thankful today. You will be glad that you did.

Thursday Thanks Tank #152

I am thankful for these things and much more:

1. Laughter
2. Pizza for dinner
3. Hanging out at a friend's house
4. Inhalers
5. The quiet in the house after the kids are asleep
6. Sleeping in during spring break
7. coffee
8. my niece's continued recovery
9. nerf gun wars
10. my daughter's well-loved security blanket
11. businesses that support schools
12. taking time to read
13. surprises
14. a different perspective
15. pictures drawn by my 5 year old brought to me first thing in the morning
16. my husband

Wordless Wednesday: Not Good

Driving Lessons

We were on the highway, returning from a town 30 minutes away.

With a sheepish grin on his face, my oldest said, "Momma, I have a new motto."

"I need to be prepared at all times."

"I need to know what I need to know before I need to know it."

My response,
"Uuuuum, how will you know what you need to know before it's time?"

"I have to be prepared for everything. When I think of something I will need to know, I need to know it before it is time."

I nodded,wondered what he was up to, and kept driving.

In the few moments that followed, as I drove down a highway surrounded by farms and fields, I thought about my life as a road. I keep driving taking turns here and there but I don't stop and I don't turn around. I can't.

If only it worked that way. There is so much I know now that I wish I knew back then.

Thank goodness it doesn't work that way. If I knew what I know now, I would have made different decisions and some great things in my life would not have happened.

Despite the twists and turns- and missed turns- we keep driving. Pressing on. It's what we can do.


My son? He interrupted my thoughts to say:

"Soooo... I was thinking that you should go ahead and start teaching me how to drive."

Not on your 9 year old life -or should I say, mine!