Thankful Tuesday

It's Tuesday again and it's time to be thankful!

Today I'm thankful for:
1.  Random statements of faith
As a person who is often caught saying, "Because I love Jesus" as a motivation, it makes me smile and often laugh to see other wackos who randomly spout their faith.  This weekend I saw a handwritten sign scrawled on notebook paper and scotch-taped to someone's bedroom window that said, "Smile.  God loves you."  I did.  I also giggled at the hotel marquee with the scrolling letters, "Cable TV.  Free continental breakfast.  Pool.  Jesus loves you."

2.  Naptime/downtime
Although we don't get to take a nap daily any more, I cherish the moments when the house is still and calm and everyone is at peace with the world.

3.  Vacation Bible School teachers
This week is Vacation Bible School at our church, which also means that it's the week that our niece Morgan comes to visit.  I've been hiding out in my office working on other things, but outside my door, I can hear the teachers patiently asking each child, "Do you need to go potty?"  One teacher is even working with a leg brace and I heard her shout today, "Slow down!  My runner's broke!"  That's pretty awesome when you can't even walk well and you are devoting your week to teaching children for free.

4.  Accountability friends
Recently I said complained to my friend Stacy about something petty and she said, "Really Sarah?  That's about the third time I heard you talk about that in three days."  Oops.  I am grateful for being surrounded by people that love me and also call me to task when I need it.  Adam is great at doing that.

5.  Mail
I never know what the mailman will bring.  It's always exciting when it's a card from a friend or a coupon to Kohl's.

6.  The easy-going nature of Paul's basketball team
It's Paul's first season in basketball, and I am grateful that every parent and the coach for his team is not competitive.  Obviously at three years old he's not going to be a superstar on the court, but every action on the court is supported with a high five or a "Go Paul!"  None of the parents on our team yell at their kids for not getting the ball or make otherwise negative remarks.  We wanted this to just be a fun time for Paul without any stress and it certainly is.

7.  Lightening
I woke up last night in the middle of the night to let the dogs out and saw a fantastic lightshow in the sky.  It was beautiful and worth losing sleep over.

8.  Hotdogs
They're portable.  They're easy to cook.  They can be eaten outside.  I like the carefree nature of the hotdog.  (I've been grilling a lot lately for all the birthdays we've had around here.)

9.  The end of birthday season
This past weekend was Father's Day and Paul and Adam's birthdays.  A few weeks before that was Claire's, and a few weeks before that was mine.  I am glad that our spring birthday season is over and we don't have any parties to plan for the foreseeable future.

10.  flickr
I'm in charge of maintaining our church's website.  The problem is, when I'm uploading photos, I have to create a new webpage for each image.  It takes FOREVER!  This weekend I noted that our new senior pastor used flickr for her former church.  Now I have created a flickr account for us and can upload all the pictures at once and simply put a link on our website.  It's fantastic!