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These are a Few of My Favorite Things (100 to be Exact)

November 6, 2020 by Lauren 38 Comments

Jami Amerine, one of my favorite writers, said recently, “If I am losing it beyond the normal parameters of losing it, I write out or say 100 things I am grateful for.”  I don’t know about you, but the losing it thing describes me more often than not.  Especially in light of 2020.  And even this week!  Good grief.

 

Jami calls this exercise a gratitude blitz.  You can read what she said about it here.  Well, today this sounded like just the thing to kick off a month when many focus on giving thanks.  So I am taking a crack at it.  Hopefully something you read here will touch you, encourage you, entertain you or motivate you to make your own list.  And maybe we will decide – at least for a moment – that things really aren’t that bad.

 

Today I am grateful for:

  1.  Cheddar cheese flavored Garden Veggie Straws.  The bag is sitting right here in my line of sight, and they are delish.  Cures my chip craving for 30% less fat.  That’s what the bag says anyway.
  2. A husband working hard in the next room to provide for our family.
  3. My children.  I forget why right this minute, but I love them.
  4. Jesus.  Yes, He should have been first.  But my snack tasted so good.
  5. Beth Moore bible studies.  Some friends and I are currently working through Chasing Vines.  She is just so good.
  6. My cute Yorkie Meg.
  7. Facetime, without which I would not still be able to have long “face to face” conversations with my best friend.
  8. Noom and the determination to finally start losing some weight.
  9. A good check-up with my oncologist.
  10. A mom and sisters who are more like friends.
  11. Teachers and school administrators who have the hardest job in the world right now.
  12. The democratic process – even though I still feel conflicted about the vote I cast.
  13. The Bible.  That I can read God’s word every day in more translations than I can shake a stick at (that’s redneck for a lot) is such a gift.
  14. Half price Sonic drinks when I order on the app.  Not a paid advertisement, just a daily refreshment for me.
  15. Date nights.  A chance to get out of the house (socially distanced, of course) and leave my blessed children behind.
  16. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Without it Shelby would get into a lot more trouble when I’m otherwise engaged.
  17. Sweet, Christian friends for my youngest.
  18. Four youngsters that call me Lolli.
  19. Zoom.  Whoever knew I would use it so much?
  20. My Yoga Lite students who meet with me virtually twice a week.
  21. A spin bike given me by my mother-in-law that keeps me cardio’d up without wearing a mask at the gym.
  22. That these Texas temps are getting a little cooler.
  23. A comfortable bed – even if I don’t sleep as well since menopause.
  24. This blog, which gives me a creative outlet to talk about Jesus and other things important to me.
  25. Spellcheck, without which the aforementioned blog would be a dung heap.
  26. Fellow bloggers, from whom I learn so much.
  27. Books.  I will not reach the bottom of my reading list before heaven.  And maybe one day I’ll even write a book – the Lord and publishing houses willing.
  28. Romantic comedies, because they just feel good.
  29. My Papa, who is a very good girl daddy.
  30. My sister’s hand me down car for Allie to wreck.  I mean drive!
  31. Shelby’s unconditional, child-like love.
  32. Allie’s singing voice.
  33. My one year old niece.  Everyone needs someone or something that cute and sweet to remind you of what’s good in the world.
  34. Special educators and therapists.
  35. Fenfluramine, which has worked wonders for Shelby’s seizures and given her better quality of life.
  36. A wonderful marriage.
  37. Tylenol and Sudafed for sinus headaches.
  38. The cute way Shelby pronounces “skunk” to sound like “stunk” and squirrel without the “s”.
  39. Vegetti made from zucchini to put pasta sauce on.
  40. Iphones.  I can talk, text, post, take pics and videos, read the bible, check my calendar and do my banking all from one little incredibly expensive device.
  41. My friends, who are often my sanity
  42. Pretty clothes.
  43. The Baylor Bears and the Dallas Cowboys.  You lose some, you lose some.
  44. A pastor whose teaching is excellent.
  45. Podcasts.  So informative.  So entertaining.
  46. Bark, that helps me keep an eye on my kid’s digital activity.
  47. Medical insurance.  Since paying for Allie’s broken leg and surgery we owe zero dollars for drugs or doctors for the rest of the year.
  48. Christmas.  I don’t know what it will look like yet, but it’s still my favorite time of the year.
  49. Air conditioning, ’cause Texas.
  50. Family hand-me-downs that remind me of sweet family history.
  51. Fast food.  We aren’t using it as often these days, but it’s nice to know it’s there.
  52. Allie’s smile.  It cost a small fortune, but it’s beautiful.
  53. Plants I have managed not to kill yet.
  54. The direct avenue I have to God through prayer.
  55. Hoka tennis shoes.
  56. Massages and ice packs.  Getting old is a you-know-what.
  57. My hometown.
  58. A lazy boy recliner that I used to nurse two babies and recover from a double mastectomy.  It still supports me every day (please don’t break!).
  59. A warm cup of flavored coffee.
  60. Stainless steel tumblers that keep the coffee warm and the water cold.  What a modern miracle!
  61. My Macbook Pro.  She was hard to get used to, but once you go Mac, you never go back.
  62. Hair dye and a talented colorist.  No one wants to see me without either.
  63. Nail salons.  Connecting mothers and daughters when nothing else can.  (If you own a salon, you are welcome to use that slogan!)
  64. Hamilton.  If you don’t know why, WATCH IT!
  65. An old, flawed and outdated home.  But it’s mine (and the bank’s).
  66. No car payments.
  67. Saving daily Facebook memories in my camera roll to reminisce over dinner with family.
  68. Funny memes
  69. Laughing out loud.
  70. Everything bagel seasoning.  It…is…everything.
  71. T-shirt dresses and cozy joggers.
  72. Sleeping late.
  73. Word search puzzles.
  74. Balderdash, PassWord and Taboo
  75. The unlimited grace God gives to me, a sinner.
  76. The hope of heaven.
  77. My wedding ring, second edition (I lost the diamond from the first.)
  78. My charm bracelet.  So many gifts.  So many momentos.
  79. Opportunities to cheer my kids on.
  80. Fall.
  81. Getting presents.
  82. Papermate Flair Pens in multiple colors.
  83. A new crockpot that cooks at the proper temperature.
  84. That it’s homemade chicken noodle soup season.
  85. Clearance racks.
  86. That I get to “wife” and “mom”.
  87. A family legacy of faith.
  88. The unmerited love of God.
  89. The beauty of creation.
  90. A second generation of the same family that is now serving as caregiver to Shelby.  The help is much appreciated and these ladies are a blessing.
  91. 80’s pop.
  92. 90’s country.
  93. Kitchen gadgets I don’t even know the name of that help me brown ground meat and finely dice onion.
  94. The Keurig
  95. Blog link-ups.  To share my work and engage with others.
  96. Online shopping.
  97. Also, boutiques and thrift stores.
  98. Do not call lists.
  99. Charities like The Tim Tebow Foundation, International Justice Mission, The Epilepsy Foundation and Make a Wish
  100. You, the reader, if you are still here!

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

 

And now for this week’s featured post!

 

What Do You Mean When You Say You Believe? by Michele Morin is an important post.  As a writer, I put a lot of importance on words, but the weight we put on the word “believe” when it comes to God has eternal consequences.  Visit Michele at Living our Days.

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The Maiden Monthly Muster of 2020 and Grace & Truth Link Up

January 30, 2020 by Lauren 26 Comments

Does anyone else feel like January has been 87 days long?  I think I’ve lived many lives since New Year’s Eve!

 

Family

My Baylor Bears played in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, so we spent January 1st hanging, working a jigsaw puzzle and watching with my parents and my PawPaw.  We would soon learn that we are losing our beloved coach to the NFL, but word has it that His replacement brings a lot to the table.  Now I have to wait until August to find out!  Baylor basketball is coming in HOT (men’s team #1 and women’s #2), but alas, I don’t dig hoops.

 

Allie’s choir served as the chorus for her high school’s theater production of Mary Poppins, so we are fighting against with the urge to speak primarily in a British accent.  And others are struggling as they hear it!  Allie also attended LIVE weekend – a discipleship retreat for teens at our church.  We had 240 plus teenagers attend!   The worship, preaching, fellowship and small group time make it the best weekend of her year.

 

While she was doing that, Chuck and I escaped with the help of our parents to try to relax from the weight of family issues and recent tragedies.  Oh, and we celebrated 21 years of loving and supporting each other.  I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am that Chuck chose me and continues to choose me every day.  There is no one I prefer in the good times and we keep holding each other up through the bad.  Thank you, Lord.

 

Friends

I had the blessing of helping some great friends with medical appointments.  I took one to the hospital for hip replacement surgery and sat with her granddaughter for the duration.  The next day I went with a childhood friend to an MRI appointment.  Then I got to take a meal to a recovering mentor.  I know most of us – myself included – have a hard time asking for help.  I often feel like it’s an imposition.  But I can honestly say, it is such an honor for me to be asked to support a friend.  So don’t deprive me (or your friends) of an honor by trying to do the thing all by yourself.

 

Every week I get to meet with a group of women who refer to themselves as “life group misfits”.  We’ve all had trouble fitting into and maintaining a place in traditional church life groups.  But we found each other and call ourselves “Lady Friends”.  That name brings me almost as much joy as being in the presence of these precious, funny and real women.  And I finally had enough flex in my daytime schedule to squeeze in lunch with another lovely.  We had so much to catch up on that she brought a list of things to make sure we covered!  I loved it.  She made me feel like a celebrity being interviewed on a talk show!  Then the two of us and our husbands double dated the next night.  We planned to eat a progressive dinner, going to three different restaurants for appetizer, entree and dessert.  Well, it was Saturday night in a Dallas suburb  so we should have known wait times would slow us down.  We only made it two places, but had fun in the process.

 

Entertainment

When I could steal a few moments alone to read, I devoured Why I Hate Green Beans:  And Other Confessions about Relationships, Reality TV, and How we See Ourselves by Lincee Ray.  This felt like laughing and relating with a girlfriend.  And last I checked it was free on Kindle!  Sharing Love Abundantly in Special Needs Families:  The Five Love Languages for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities by Gary Chapman was a little disappointing.  I learned so much from his original Love Language book, so it seemed like a good idea to read this with a young mom I’m mentoring.  We found it, quite frankly, lame.  But it gave me one really good idea.  So there’s that.  And I finally came back to and finished Rosemary:  The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson.

 

We caved into some FOMO and subscribed to Disney+.  Our first show?  High School Musical the Musical the Series.  We loved it.  Clunkiest name for a series ever, but we pushed through.  And having all the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse videos available for Shelby on demand is both a good and a bad thing.  During the Christmas hiatus, I enjoyed catching old episodes of Wings, but now all our regularly scheduled programs are back in full force.  Plus, it’s awards show season.  Something I kind of like (as long as I can fast forward through the boring parts), and my husband kinda hates.  Even though we didn’t watch any of the Grammy’s, we watched Gayle King’s Grammy Special!

 

We only went to the movies one day this month, but made up for it by watching two in a row.  Knives Out is a fantastically fun Clue-style who done it with lots of twists and surprises.  Just Mercy wrenched my heart, opened my eyes, and called me to do better.  I highly recommend both. And I added a couple more podcasts to my earbuds.  After hearing at least 10 people rave about Dolly Parton’s America, I am now 4 episodes in.  So good.  I have never really been a Dolly fan, but she is pretty fascinating.  I also downloaded Showmance:  The Glee Recap Edition.  I loved the show (the first two seasons anyway), but the jury is still out on the pod. 

 

My husband and I still carry heavy burdens of grief and struggle for on-going things in our families.  We humbly ask you to continue to bring us and our loved ones before the throne of our Heavenly Father.  Your prayers mean so much.

 

Thanks for looking over my January with me.  What did you do in yours?

 

Featured Post

Today the featured post from last week’s link up is from Laura Thomas.  She shares a touching story from her own life to illustrate God’s faithfulness to us.  You will be so encouraged if you click over and read.

Now for The Featured Post

Treasures From the Sea:  Family Miracle, Faithful God

by Laura Thomas

 

Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.

Grace & Truth : A Weekly Christian Link UpGrace & Truth exists to point people to Jesus! We hope this link-up will be a source of encouragement every week. If you’re a blogger, we hope you’ll use this space as a way to meet new friends within the Christian blogging community. If you’re a reader, we hope that you’ll encounter new bloggers that love Jesus as much as you do! Most of all, we hope you’ll meet Jesus here.

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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