Thankful...

...for oh so much!  It's that time of year again.  I challenged my kids at school today to name one thing they are thankful for.  Of course most of them said the same things...family, friends, pets, and XBox.  But as I thought about the same question, my answers were a little different.  Yes, I am certainly thankful for my family and friends, but there are a lot of other "things" in life that make me happy.  A friend recently told me, as I lamented their true insignificance, that they are just little Earthly reminders of God's grace in our lives.  So with that in mind, here are some of the things I am thankful for this year.

1. Diet Coke

Are any of you really surprised?  It is the first thing I consume every day, and likely one of the last before I go to bed.  

2. Chick-Fil-A 

Without a doubt my favorite fast food.  The girls I lived with in the dorm at Auburn used to joke that I would eat it every meal.  Many, many nights I would get home from whatever class or lab I had been to and see who I could recruit to make a trip to the Chick with me. 

3. My Frye Boots

My mom bought them for me when I was in college and they are without a doubt my favorite pair of shoes I've ever owned.  I wear them so much I've already had the soles replaced twice. 

4. iPhone

How did I ever live without it?  Seriously, it's just another example of Apple genius.  And group messaging...well that has just revolutionized my life. 

5. Auburn
I spent the best 4 years of my life in Auburn.  Not only did I get a degree, but I made life-long friends. 

6. Family Dinner
Wednesday nights are my favorite night of the week.  I've had standing dinner plans every Wednesday night for the past two years with my favorite people.  I'm thankful for such a wonderful group of friends to do life with!

I'm afraid in the grand scheme of things, this list seems pretty trivial, but I am really thankful and blessed beyond measure.  As I told the kids at school, this Thanksgiving I am truly thankful and privileged to have a job I love and to have the opportunity to invest in the lives of these precious kids.  Science is important, but their eternity far exceeds chemistry and physics.  More than all these things though, I am thankful to be loved by the Creator of the Universe and to be in relationship with Him.

 I'm headed home to see the fam jam to day.  Word on the street is mama's made homemade dressing....and for that I am truly thankful too!

Happy Birthday...

...to me!  As my birthday week draws to a close, I can't help but think about what a lucky, lucky girl I am.  To have been celebrated for nearly a week by the people I love most in this world is a truly humbling thought.  What's even more remarkable is to see the Lord's hand in each relationship, season, and situation I've encountered in the last 25 years.  He has proven Himself over and over to be a God of the details and I have to catch myself when I doubt for one second that He might overlook something...He certainly will not.

I started the birth-week celebrations with a quiet weekend at home with the parentals.  We had the best time grilling out and catching up.  Several of our friends stopped by to share in the birthday fun on Friday night for cake and coffee...must be getting older since I've started drinking decaf!

Robert...the official birthday cake holder

One of the details the Lord did not overlook was providing me with sweet community and deep relationships.  We celebrated the big 2-6 and Halloween on Monday night with all my favorite people.  Lindsey planned such a fun party and we loved giving out candy to the (few) trick-or-treaters on our street.  Apparently we don't live on the most happening side of Oxmoor??

Our sweet Trick-or-Treat friends...Thomas, Lucy, and Lauren

In other exciting birthday week news, I found out on Monday that the Honduras mission trip I've been wanting to go on has moved to the last week in May!  So it looks like, if all goes as planned, the day school is out I will be headed south for a week to work with Forgotten Children Ministries.  I am so thankful that this opportunity has come my way.  The God of the Details strikes again...this trip has typically always been the third week in May (read: the LAST week of school) which is a terrible unacceptable time to ask off for five days.  It just so happened that someone mentioned the trip to me a couple of weeks ago and how I should go.  I kind of blew him off knowing the dates would never work out.  But I also remember praying that very night..."Lord, if you want me to go, then just work it out."  Well what do you know...not two weeks later, the dates have been changed and my name is on the list.  I'm taking that as all the confirmation I need.  If you know me well, this is a big deal for me...I've never been out of the country before, and I'm a real big fan of the Ritz-Carlton.  But I am super pumped about serving these sweet kiddos in Honduras alongside some of my friends from Birmingham!  Nothing says 26 like stepping outside your comfort zone, right?

And finally, the fam-jam has celebrated my birthday week in Vegas.  Hope they brought me something good!  Here's to the entering the second quarter-century....

All my favorite people...and the rally squirrel.  They sure do know how to make a girl feel loved!