Thankful Thursday

"In happy moments, praise God.  In difficult moments, seek God.  In quiet moments, trust God.  In every moment, thank God."
~ Unknown

Everyday that I wake up I am always grateful and in awe to be among the living.  The first thing that I usually do in the morning, after I hit snooze on the first of my four alarms, is say a morning prayer of thanks.  I've come to truly appreciate the blessing that life is.  Life is made up of a series of moments- some good, some bad.  It may have taken me a while, but I feel like I am finally in a place where I can give God thanks for ALL of my moments.

This was NOT something that I was always able to do.  For a long time, when bad moments happened, I would look at as a personal attack from God as punishment for some past sin or transgression.  I'd crank up my woe-is-me pity party of one and sulk.  I'd ask God why He was bringing so much rain into my life.  Like wouldn't He prefer that I was happy instead?  

It was like Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 had become foreign to me.  I'm so thankful that I can now find comfort in that scripture.  It's kept me sane plenty of days since.  I'll explain in more detail in an upcoming post next week.

This week I am giving thanks school is over and we finally get back down to the business of having daytime adventures!  Moo was not happy that she was missing out on all of the morning trips to the park, Target, the Dollar Tree and anywhere else JJ and I would go after we dropped her off to school.  Plus, I can sleep-in more and turn off my four alarms until August gets here.

JJ is officially a chatterbox.  We converse here and there throughout the day, but with Moo home it's nonstop talking.  Yes, it drives me crazy sometimes like when I'm trying to write and keep my train of thought.  However, I'm learning to better tolerate it because there was a time when my little guy didn't talk.  To see how far he's come from being nonverbal to being able to communicate using full sentences and being able to say everyone's name just melts my heart.

It sounds cliche, but I don't really know any other way to describe the warm sensation I get when I truly reflect on his progress.  And I know that Moo has really played a big part in that.  She talked and still talks nonstop with him.  Even in the early stages when we couldn't understand what he was trying to say, she'd still spend hours talking to him and breaking things down to a level that he could understand.

The park is her favorite place to be with her favorite people- our family!

When it comes to compassion it's definitely clear that Moo is the most compassionate of my two children.  It just comes naturally for her.  And that makes me so much more protective of her because I don't want anyone to ever come along and break that part of her spirit.  I'm not sure what she'll end up being when she grows up.  For now her list of careers includes being a:

• Singer/Pop Star
• Chef
• Writer/Future Blogger of YUMMommy
• Mommy
• Something related to animals and nature.

What I do know for sure is that she's going to change someone's life and possibly even the world!  I wish the same for JJ and my future children.  No doubt with Moo as their Big Sister, her compassionate spirit will rub off on them more and more.

Lastly, I'm thankful for patience and peace.  I feel like God has been sending me signs/clues that there's about to be a very positive shift in my life, but I have to be patient and stay calm while I wait for Him to unveil His blessings and plans.  All last night I kept hearing Bishop T.D. Jake's voice saying, "Get ready, get ready, get ready" and Joel Olsteen's "God is bringing you a shift into your life" has been marinating in my head for a while.  So patient and peaceful is exactly what I'll be!

What are you giving thanks for today?