One Thousand Gifts (continued)

"He is not here; He has risen, just as He said." 

 (Matthew 28:6)

Giving thanks for the hope that Easter brings!
H-heaven; knowing that heaven is real and that one day I will bask in God's glory with the angels     because of the hope of Easter
O-open tomb; the stone was rolled away, not so that Jesus could walk out, but so that the witnesses could see and believe that He was raised from the dead and so that all of us can proclaim, HE'S ALIVE!
P-penalty- Christ paid the penalty of our sins by His death on the cross
E-eternal life; know that God has promised eternal life to all those who confess with their mouths, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in their hearts, God raised him from the dead, will be saved (Romans 10:9)

Continuing to give thanks...
#4426-#4456
-the hope of Easter
-the promise of eternal life
-that He's ALIVE!

-celebrating Easter with family

-enjoying a nice walk with my in-laws

-beautiful weather

-wonderful in-laws to celebrate Easter with

-enjoying the animals on our walk

-the opportunity to have a SUPER fun road trip with his father

-the fun that he and his dad are having!

-our  South Ontario weather where we are able to ski and swim outdoors in the same week!

-her excitement to get out the little pool 

-her excitement about everything!

-enjoying the warm weather (and warm water after many buckets of hot water)

-how she "reads" to her toys and tucks them into bed

-enjoying their P.D. day with their grandparents

-a fun morning, enjoying breakfast and the outdoors with Opa and Oma

-grandparents who are so involved with their grandkids' lives

-Paul's willingness to take two  preschoolers to the Dora show in Toronto!
-the fun that Deborah had with her best buddy
-that God spared the life of her best buddy's Mommy
-that she received surgery on time and is recovering well
-her friendship and our kids' loving, fun, innocent friendship

-racing their cars
-the help from another dad, greasing the wheels

-a nice evening visit with a friend
-a night out with my boys and watching "Heaven is for Real"
-Paul taking his daughter and his parents to "Heaven is for Real"
-Christian entertainment
-a great group of women whom I play volleyball with (and winning the finals)
-the many bonding opportunities, while driving with my dear friend, Jessica

Perspective

"For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will-" (Ephesians 1:4,5)

Yes, it's mid April and we have more snow.  There are a lot of unhappy people about that.  To be honest, I wasn't too thrilled about pulling out the winter coats from the basement after I had washed them and put them away.  However, I tried not to complain too much.  How could I when I heard Deborah's excitement?!  When I said, "Look at all of the snow", her response was, "Yeah!  Can we go out and play?  Can I put my skis on?"

She had a completely different perspective in regards to our never ending winter.  I love her enthusiasm and her excitement!  I love how a four year old is able to get so excited about anything!  I love her positive outlook on life.

How often, we compare ourselves to others, or view something in a completely negative light.  How often we complain about others, or about ourselves.  How does God view us?  He calls us "chosen" and "adopted as His sons/daughters"!  We are His heirs.  We are chosen.  We are His children.  He loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son for our sins.  Yes, we are sinners, but we are sinners saved by grace.  As Timothy Keller says (which our Pastor often quotes), "we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope"!

One Thousand Gifts (continued)

"We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (Colossians 1:9).

We have this wonderful ministry in our church with the girls' club, called "prayer pals".  We were able to meet out prayer pals on Friday evening, and it was so encouraging to see so many willing participants, of all ages, committed to praying for others.  There is so much power in prayer, and it is so encouraging when you know that others are praying for you.  

Continuing to give thanks...

#4410-#4425

-our prayer pal ministry

-for church members who pray for each other

-the power of prayer

-the encouragement and strength we get, knowing others are praying for us

-our GEMS leaders' commitment, and willingness to organize this ministry

-how she enjoyed writing back and forth in her prayer journal to her prayer pal

-how her prayer pal encouraged her in writing skills and gifts 

-dressing up "springy"!  

-enjoying the company of my fun friend

-the fun that she had at the "big" school

-how she willingly and excitedly went on the bus

-how they look out for her and take care of her

-enjoying her day at the high school with her new friend

-a friendly battle of the books competition
-working together as a team
-the love of books

One Thousand Gifts (continued)

"Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire." 

(Proverbs 29:17 TNIV)

Fourteen years.  

Fourteen years of parenting.  

Our baby turns 14 today.  Although I have been parenting for awhile, I am still learning about this thing called parenting every day!  I try to learn from my mistakes, and embrace each day as a new day.  I also try to embrace each stage of our children's lives with excitement and thankfulness to God.   I am encouraged by my sister-in-law's comments about how she has enjoyed each stage of her children's development.  I have loved watching our son grow from a quiet, curious content toddler to a responsible, fun-loving, and still quiet, young man.  We are so thankful to God for entrusting him to us and giving us the privilege to parent him and call him our son.  

Continuing to give thanks...

#4392-#4409

-celebrating our son's 14th birthday

-enjoying each stage of our children's lives

-God, entrusting us to be Jesse's parents

-his responsible character

-his patience and love to his little sister

-his athleticism

-the joy he brings to our lives

-his loving heart toward others and towards His maker

-learning her moves from her big brother

-celebrating with grandparents

-creating forts

-how they love to squeeze into tiny spots

-his grateful and thankful heart

-honouring the many volunteers of Compassion Canada
-enjoying the company of three teachers for dinner (an especially quiet dinner that night!)
-sitting on the couch, drinking tea with an old friend
-enjoying tea and a nice visit with another friend
-Deborah enjoying her play dates

One Thousand Gifts (continued)

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" 

(Psalm 147:3) 

It was heart breaking to see the brokenness.
I had never been inside a jail before.
I also have never been outside of a jail, waiting to visit an inmate.
The brokenness surrounded us.
I was surprised and saddened to see so many young children in the visiting line.
So many broken families.
So much hurt.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4413905-barton-jail-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence/

Yet, we were encouraged with our visit with our friend (who's in prison for drinking and driving).  He told us how he sees God's grace in tangible ways all the time.
There is "hope for the helpless... love for the broken heart...grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing...cry out to Jesus".

"Cry Out To Jesus" (by Third Day)

 To everyone who's lost someone they love

 Long before it was their time

 You feel like the days you had were not enough

 when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains

 Keeping you back from your life

You believe that there's nothing and there is no one

Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless

Rest for the weary

Love for the broken heart

There is grace and forgiveness

Mercy and healing

He'll meet you wherever you are

Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on

They lost all of their faith in love

They've done all they can to make it right again

Still it's not enough

 For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains

You try to give up but you come back again

Just remember that you're not alone in your shame

And your suffering

When your lonely

And it feels like the whole world is falling on you

You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus

Cry to Jesus

To the widow who suffers from being alone

Wiping the tears from her eyes

For the children around the world without a home

Say a prayer tonight

Continuing to give thanks...
#4368-#4391

-God is able to heal the brokenness all around us
-God hears the prayers cried out to Him
-God is able to break the chains of addictions
-He comforts the lonely
-He heals broken marriages
-His grace and forgiveness
-His mercy and healing
-hope
-the opportunity to visit our friend in jail
-the letters that our children have written to him and the letters that he has written to us
-his determination to be healed, by God's grace
-his testimony to God's grace
-Paul praying with him through the telephone line
-being stretched in ways we would not have expected

-the joy she brings every day
-singing "Let us have a little talk with Jesus"

-getting together with sister-in-laws, celebrating Diane's birthday
-going out for lunch with my sister, celebrating her birthday

-baking together

-how she decided she needed a rest (and pretended to sleep on the floor)

-how he is learning patience (as he had to wait a long time for his new Rubik cubes to come in the mail)

-learning to use tools (even if they were pink)

-one last skate of the year

-how God kept us from making plans on Saturday night, so that we could be available for a last minute dinner arrangement with a dear friend