Multitude Monday

• A back yard to play in
• A story of grace to share
• One night sleep, one night interrupted pattern
• Grilled cheese shared with the girls
• Christmas money from my sweet in-laws
• Bronwyn’s ability to climb (even when it gets dangerous)
• A free night of baby sitting
• Coming home to find a sweet Aeralind tucked in Mandy’s arms
• Talking to Mandy
• Hot Ham and Cheese sandwich
• Fleece lined pants
• Catty wiggles
• Fun shaped notebook (Dell notebook shaped) brought home by sweet husband
• Food on the table
• Pumpkin waffles
• So many ways to create
• Email
• Saving over $100 dollars on a grocery trip for the whole month by using coupons/and sales
• 12 boxes of cereal (enough for over a month) as a result of that trip
• A cheerful smiling “Hi!” from sweet Bronwyn after a night of crying and morning of crabbiness
• Homemade blueberry preserves coating little faces
• Our Christmas/Jesse tree surviving for over a week in a home with 2 crazy toddlers.
• Slowly spending/savoring our Christmas money from my in-laws
• Derek and babies playing with rubber balls in Target
• Teaching both girls to say and sign hat
• Toddler carrying around books
• Silly blueberry faces
• Letting the girls knead pizza dough with me
• The resulting pizza—sautéed onions and peppers and muenster cheese with leftover bratwurst  on an olive oil and spices base
• Derek for saying “I’d love some pizza!” while we ate bratwurst and Caesar salad
• $9.99 in CVS ExtraCare Bucks to spend however I like
• My mom willing to croche some newborn photography props for me
• Pulling Bronwyn out of the toilet bowl unscathed (did I mention she loves to climb everything!)
• Hearing about my dad’s mysterious and delicious tomato plant that was still producing right up until the weather turned cold
• A long nap for all crabby parties after a crazy night
• An Amazon book order with SwagBucks earned giftcards 
• Holding both babies in a rocker at tchurch nursery as we waited on Daddy
• Playing fetch the balls with the babies as I record some of my blessings
• Bronwyn lugging around blankets and talking to them
• Aeralind bouncing on my lap
• Blueberry preserves on little bottoms
• Sunshine on cold days
• Climbing–Oh the constant climbing!
• Finally hearing the girls talk and understanding them
• An opportunity to be paid for a passion
• Wonton/Egg Roll Wrappers.  I’m obessed with all I can do with them
• Being made new in the likeness of Christ

A little over a year ago I started this journey with the Gratitude Community.   A year of diaper laundry. A year of nursing.  A year of battling strong will. A year of conviction of selfishness. A year of growth.

Most every week I recorded tiny gifts of grace given to me by the Father.  I captured moments that otherwise would have been lost.  But most of all I found joy.  Joy in the here and now.  Joy in the good gifts from a heavenly father.

It’s hard to express the shift in my heart.  Hard to tell you that I look at each thing differently.  How wonderful it feels to savor sweetness over and over reading all my multiple blessings.

And I’m learning (slowly) that the right questions do have the perfect answers.  Yes, He is Good. Yes, He gives good gifts.  And those gifts, those graces, are unmeasured, vast, and free for me to open each day.

942. Waking up to Sun after 2 dreary days
943. my Good Morning Girls
944. Moving bookshelves
945. Bronwyn chewing on my Thanks notebook
946. Family Breakfast date at Chick-fil-a
947. Aeralind walking inside of the play area tunnels
948. Both girls going down the giant twisty slide
949. Having bathtubs/showers (even if I hate cleaning them)
950. Bronwyn walking around chewing on a dinner plate
951. Aeralind having the plate shared with her to do the same
952. The smell of ham frying
953. A squirrel eating out of a drawer on my porch
954. New PJ’s trailing behind little girls as they chew in their tags
955. Goind down big slides backward all by themselves at the park

956. Playing with Mia (another 14 month old we met) at the park
957. Sitting and eating crackers with Mia at the park
958. Couponing sites
959. Feeding little girls Pie Crust “cookies”
960. Measuring cup “toys”
961. Little girls playing in dirt at the farm

962. Bronwyn sitting on guitar cases facinated by the muscians

963. Aeralind shaking grass by it’s roots in joy

964. Other people keeping an eye out on the girls as they try to escape or jump off chairs
965. Going to the farm for Thanksgiving
966. Being invited 3 years ago
967. The girls snuggling with Peter and playing with him
968. Voices lifted in thanksgiving songs
969. Exhausted snuggly babies
970. Talking to Dad, Monica and Mom all on the same day– longing for them to be at the farm.
971. Trusting my gut and taking girls who are having trouble sleeping at night to the doctor where they were diagnosed with ear infections
972. Waking to a child screaming and my first thought being “I haven’t thanked Him for 5 consecutive nights of sleep!”
973. 5 Consecutive night of sleep after the start of antibiotics
974. Aeralind snuggles in the middle of the night
975. Bronwyn finally wearing herself out
976. Borrowing photo equipment from Rachel
977. Taking photos of little Gabriel
978. Learning to use photoshop elements
979. Snuggling with Derek watching NCIS
980. Praise and Gratitude Spreading like a Wildfire
981. A brief conversation with Mandy about an issue on my heart
982. Moleskin journals to write thanks
983. My toaster oven from college still working
984. Toddler girls in their first pigtails

985. Pie returned with my thanksgiving dishes
986. God working tiny threads together to make something beautiful
987. A dream coming true
988. Diapers-their constant drone in the washer saving me money
989. Christmas tree put up and lovingly petted (like the kitty) by the girls
990. The distinctive smell of winter finally arriving in the cool air
991. Little girls sharing food at the dinner table
992. Little girls who are not picky eaters
993. Chasing squealing toddlers
994. $5.95 giant Long Island Cheese pumpkin on sale to cook and freeze for more pumpkin treats
995. My sweet husband. I am so spoiled.
996. Little girls using forks and spoons correctly (sometimes)
997. Free trial of photoshop elements and the money earned to purchase it on sale
998. Beginning to understand their little words: book, ‘itty, ba (ll)
999. Ann Voskamp sharing her humble journey–daring us to join a community of gratitude
1000. Grace Unmeasured: a song to remind me of my own journey of gratitude.

914. An entire set of baby shoes in my coat pocket
915. Little girls gnawing on French bread “hush food”
916. Collecting grease in a plastic container… melting container… grease all over counter/cabinets… laughter 🙂
917. Mill-my-own Peanut butter at the store.  I had no idea it was a luxury until recently.
918. A long naptime for all 3 of us after a long night for mommy.
919. Baskets of clean laundry
920. Reading Max Lucado’s Come Thristy
921. Working on a quilt
922. Purging my sewing supplies
923. PBJ covered polka dot wearing girls
924.Bronwyn feeding Aeralind cheerios
925.Eric asleep on my bed
926. Aeralind climbing into every container she can fit her body into
927. Bronwyn riding or standing on her tractor
928. Mischievous little girls climbing on boxes and tearing every book off my shelf
929. Feeding Eric
930. Filthy face
931. Last yellow dandelion of the season

932. Enjoying our hand me down play set
933. Being outside in this warm spell
934. Looking at clouds
935. A meal shared with friends
936. Aeralind and Bronwyn “attacking” Seth and all the giggles ensuing
937. Working on a surprise with Jenny T.
938. A mid week day off
939. Wandering the Habitat Re-Store with Derek and the Girls
940. Butternut Squash Soup
941. Pumpkin Scones

There’s a mess in my bonus room. 
A whole closest spilled into the room. 
A mess that had been hidden has escaped.
But good things came of it: my freezer is now in my downstairs bathroom.  A new outlet run through the closet to make it happen.

I pause, now, looking longingly at that mess and hoping it will clean itself. 
Sometimes I lack self-discipline.
Okay.
Most of the time I lack self-discipline.

Another mess comes to mind: the one in my heart.
I sigh quiet.
Lord, come spill out the mess so that You can make
Good things.

897. My bible study group.  Tears held back as I ask how to train myself to believe the truth.
898. A husband who speaks the truth daily: You are beautiful.  You are His image bearer.
899. Little girls waking mid night, each nigh: reinforcing the lesson: Keep Counting Gifts.
900. Diapers still sodden in the washer, waiting for me to act.
901. Little girls asleep upstairs.
902. Impromptu Family renunion survived with joy
903. My allergy attack… leaving rapidly (when the festering jack-o-latern was removed)
904. Thick skin coupled with a tender heart.  Being given the grace to know when to ignore and when to repent.
905. Sitting in church with hubby. Alone.  Babies at home with grandparents.
906. Little girls devouring turkey.
907. Attending a class on Dealing with Defiance.
908. The support offered in my church: even with it’s 2000 attenders.  Large churches can be a glorifying community of disciple makers.
909. An unhurried moment with no babies fussing, no husband hurrying to share hearts with sweet Nana Stevens
910. Nana willing to train me: whether she knows she is doing so or not
911. A call from Heather J and the opportunity to serve her and sweet little Eric.
912. A quiet monday home
913. Contemplating writing truth to memorize on my wall.

That woodpecker is outside again tapping on a new corner of my house.

My husband and his father made him a birdhouse and applied it right over the hole he had been carving. 

It’s the perfect house for a woodpecker.

And he doesn’t want it.

What right does he have to reject a good gift crafted just for him?

And thinking about his rejection, I lower my head in shame for the many times I have done the same.

No thank you, God, I don’t want to spend the first summer of our married life laid off and unable to find work.

No thank you, God, I think I can solve this situation my way instead of waiting on you to answer.

No thank you, God, I don’t think your plan right here is good enough.

Last night, upon being woken by a moaning child for the 7th night in a row, I had a small victory (lets just say the other 6 times weren’t always victory.. ahem).

I laid there listening to her cry and I gave thanks.

I gave thanks that her lungs worked. 
I gave thanks that she wanted to snuggle with us at night.
I gave thanks that she was able to eat cheerios at 4 am.
I gave thanks that my husband was so willing to run all over the freezing house collecting a cup and cheerios.
I gave thanks that I had been chosen to receive that precious child as a good and perfect gift.

And within about 40 minutes we were all asleep again in our cozy beds.

Giving thanks is shifting perspective day by day.

878. Cheerios and sippies and benadryl given in the middle of the night
879. Derek’s parents arriving safely
880. My father in law, Andy, replacing a built in desk with a cabinet in my kitchen
881. Cooking up a surprise with Derek’s mom
882. Apple cake with brown sugar frosting
883. Bronwyn cuddling with Andy
884. Aeralind leaning one Carol
885. A morning out with Derek (alone!) for Chick-fil-a
886. New red shoes
887. Aeralind in my moby wrap on a long hike
888. Bronwyn in a hiking backpack talking to her daddy
889. Going to bed early
890. Snuggling weather returning
891. Growing enough not to lose my temper or cry at my third package mishap
892. A message left to encourage Karen
893. Days spent at my sewing machine
894. The Tortoise and the Hare

895. Pumpkin Carving with the girls

896. A God who delights in giving good gifts to His children