There are so many things to be thankful for this week such as my anniversary with Husband and the extra year we got with my Uncle Steve before his passing. I've already talked about this week, though, so I'm going to try to keep to some different things for today's thankful list. I am so, so blessed. This week, I have been thanking God for all of the special blessings he has given me. I always seem to run into wonderful people and I'm given opportunities that I could only dream of. I'm thankful for all of the blessings -- big and small -- that I have in my life. God is truly taking care of me. I'm sooo excited/thankful for the vacation Husband and I are taking to celebrate our first year of marriage together. We made our reservations last night and I canNOT wait to get away and spend some carefree time with just us. I'm thankful that The Hunger Games are finally here!! I've been looking forward to seeing the movie since I read the books and Husband and I are going on a date to see it this weekend. I heard it's spectacular! Can't wait to share the story with Husband! I'm thankful that I got to spend some time with Salice this weekend. I took her to the Aeros game for a (belated) birthday present and we had such a good time! We have a hard time coordinating our schedules so we seldom get to see each other. I was actually quite surprised that the game worked out for us.
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This week I am thankful for the beautiful Baby Kash who was born on Tuesday morning. I've been so blessed to share my friend Kim's journey through her second pregnancy and her delivery of a healthy, beautiful baby boy. We have been anxiously waiting for him to get here and it is wonderful to finally hold him and hear his adorable little cry. He finally gets to go home today and I can't wait to spend more time watching him grow! I'm thankful for this Lenten season. For some reason, I feel a very deep connection to the season of Lent and I feel this time of year always allows me to grow a little more in my faith and feel closer to God. It's a time to reflect on your relationship with Him and take in the blessings around you. I am grateful to have a church that also feels the importance of this time of year and I'm excited to share it with Husband. My Hermano always brings a smile to my face and I'm so grateful to have him in my life. Lately, he has been sending me funny pictures each day and I'm excited every time I see a new text from him because I know I'll get a good laugh from whatever he sent me. I know he is struggling so much with his disease and I pray he heals quickly. I'm also grateful for my best friend, Salice, who celebrated her birthday over the weekend. It has been an amazing 12 years with her and I'm so lucky to have a wonderful friend who is the perfect match for me! I'm always thinking about how lucky I am to have someone who compliments my personality so well. Happy Ash Wednesday everyone! For those of you that celebrate Ash Wednesday, don't forget to go get your ashes today! For those interested in a little more information about today, visit here. Today marks the beginning of Lent which is a time to reflect on Jesus and his 40 days fasting in the desert before his public ministry. Today (and the next few weeks before Easter) are a time to reflect and repent. It seems that during this time of year, I am able to truly give up something and not feel the same temptation I normally would. In honor of Ash Wednesday, I am going to provide a seafood recipe for those who don't eat meat today. Today's recipe is fish tacos. An easy/tasty/healthy meal! Fish Tacos with Corn Salsa Recipe from Fitness.com INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
This morning I began getting text messages at 5:15 from my dear friend Kim. She had her new baby boy at 4:50 and he was a healthy 7 lb. 10 oz. I'm so excited that Kash is finally able to meet the world and I'm excited to see him this afternoon!! This is the first picture I got of him and I'm sure there will be many more to come!! Congrats Kim and Kevin on your new baby!! Today is Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, and both days hold a deep meaning to me. I was raised Catholic and we always celebrated the days leading up to Lent and the important days during Lent. Though Husband and I now go to a Protestant church, Lent will forever be important to me. Our church actually does celebrate Lent and Ash Wednesday and I'm very happy that I can continue this tradition with Husband because his previous church never did. Living so close to Louisiana has also impacted my knowledge and appreciation for Mardi Gras. Even though many see Mardi Gras as one huge celebration, there is actually a lot of meaning behind the holiday. Read the link I included to learn a little more about the tradition of it. And, today, enjoy a huge feast!! This week I am grateful that Hermano's blood count came back better since his double-transfusion last week. His counts are still very below average but it's promising to know that they are looking better. We were afraid that his bone marrow wasn't working right because he is still losing weight (6'3" and 147 lbs. this week!!), but at this point, it looks as though the marrow is doing its job. He has another Remicade transfusion today and I hope that will start helping him keep on some weight. I can't wait until I have my healthy hermano back (the one that can take goofy pics on a train with me like the pic above!) but until then, I'm grateful for any positive news we get!! Keep praying! I'm also thankful for the many blessings God has given me in my life. Over the weekend, I mentioned to Husband how lucky we truly are. It seems like God also seems to put someone in our lives to mentor us and help guide us. There are times when things seem tough (and ARE tough) but we can't forget all the good things that happen in our lives as well. I told Husband, I'm sure we are overly blessed but at the same time, I wonder if it's because we recognize those blessings when they come along. I don't just expect good things to happen, I am truly appreciate when something good DOES happen. I think faith has a lot to do with the blessings we get and I'm so grateful for everything we have right now. This morning I was incredibly thankful to finally get my coffee. Husband and I stayed up late watching a movie for his birthday (which I think went very well yesterday) and I was definitely dragging on the way to work today. You know when you're so tired that you're trying to will your eyes to stay open? That was me today. I have been very good on my Starbucks cutbacks (one of my new years resolutions) but today I HAD to get it. As soon as that coffee made it into my system, I was overjoyed. I'm hoping it will last through the day but I may need another pick-me-up this afternoon. Needless to say, as it reminds you in the picture, I enjoyed my coffee. Tulips in Norway. I love this pic! I'm also thankful for tulips! Tulips are my favorite flower and this week, I bought a bouquet and decorated my kitchen with them! I separated the bouquet out and put them into small vases around the entire kitchen. They are so bright and really dress up the place. When I got them, they were still buds but now they have opened up like those in my picture. I haven't taken pictures of my kitchen, but I DID take this picture in Norway a few years ago. It's one of my favorites! During that trip, we visited Norway and Amsterdam and I got sooo many amazing pictures of tulips! As you know, my brother has been incredibly ill. He is battling a sever case of Ulcerative Colitis and last week, we were days away from losing him. It's been hard for me to accept this and allow myself to grieve at all for the hardships my family has endured over the last 19 months but this weekend I had a little bit of a breakthrough. I finally allowed myself to accept the intensity of the situation and cry, like really cry, for the first time. It's hard to accept that someone so close to you is suffering so much. Especially when it's your baby brother. I've always felt so protective of him and it's hard to feel like you don't really have control over the situation. We have been blessed with so many wonderful people in our lives and this weekend was just another example of the great blessings God gives us. Husband and I met a pastor while we were golfing over new years. He is a very kindhearted man and he has offered to counsel us in different areas of our life. After speaking with him on Friday, I felt, for the first time, the ability to actually open up and ask for help for my brother. He was so kind and offered many resources for us. Most of all, he reminded me (I already knew but sometimes you just need that reminder) that no matter what, all you can really do is leave it in God's hands. I know I have put several Upper Room devotionals on my blog but I always feel like they speak to me when I read them each day. Today's really hit home because it speaks of patience that families had when the mine collapsed in Chile a couple years ago. I remember watching the recovery on TV and cheering when they rescued the last miner after 69 days. It hit home but I didn't think of it, at the time, the same way the writer of this devotional did. I love the thought at the end of the devotional. It says that a great deal of human effort was used to rescue the miners but human effort is limited. God is the one with the power to rescue someone no matter the conditions. This can be related to medicine as well. No matter how much we try to help my brother, I must put most of my trust in God and pray the He heals my brother soon. Below is the devotional. Please read. It is worth it. God Is Able Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. — 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NRSV) In August 2010 in Chile, the walls of a mine collapsed with a loud noise. Confusion and panic followed — then, total silence, total darkness. Underground, 700 meters down, 33 miners were trapped in a copper-and-gold mine. Above ground, the families of the miners took up a vigil. Camps were set up and the waiting turned into 69 days — families sharing the wait and the hope that the miners would be found alive. Living outside of relationship with God is similar to being trapped far underground without light, sound, communication, food, or water. The families of the miners were determined to wait for their loved ones for as long as it would take. How much more is God willing to wait for us to turn from our sin? And when we do, we are forgiven through grace and drawn close to God. Massive human effort and a great deal of money were spent to rescue the miners. But, as impressive as these efforts may be, they are limited. God our Creator has the power to rescue us wherever we are, in whatever darkness, silence, despair, abandonment, illness, or need. God’s power is unlimited. Share The Author: Mila Roxana Guerrero Jaramillo (Biobio, Chile) Thought for the Day:Our rescue is the blessing of finding Christ. Prayer: Dear God of hope and grace, help us to place our confidence in you, not on what humans know or can do. Amen. Prayer focus: Miners and their families Today's Thankful Thursday is very deep and meaningful for me. Sometimes hardships make you feel more appreciate of the things you have at this moment. That's what the majority of today's thank yous are about. Today, overall, I'm thankful for life. Today I am thankful for Team Challenge. Team Challenge is a group that partners with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America to help raise funds to find a cure for Crohn's and Colitis. I ran a half marathon with them in 2010 after my brother was diagnosed with Colitis and I raised over $3,000 to go toward research. I'm grateful that there are organizations out there to help raise awareness and do research to try to help my brother lead a more normal life. As I write this, my brother is undergoing his first treatment of Remicade. Remicade is a biologic drug that is used for Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis patients (along with some other auto-immune patients) to help them overcome flareups when steroids and chemo do not work. Can I get your prayers that his treatments will go well and he will get his life back? I'm also thankful for the 12 1/2 years we had with our dog Daisy. Last night, my brother's dog had a stroke that paralyzed her entire left side of her body and my parents had to put her to sleep this morning. My brother is struggling with losing her but I reminded him that we were lucky to have her in our lives for over 12 years. She was such a sweet and good dog for our family and we will miss her greatly. This week I am thankful for the text message I got this weekend with a picture of Carrie on the trampoline with her girls. Apparently, Carrie "woke up" on Friday and had her personality back and did not remember the last 3 months of suffering she endured. She was able to go out and jump on the trampoline with her daughters and attend their basketball game on Friday night. We don't know what happened or why we have been blessed with her in our lives again (the doctors don't know why she is all of a sudden herself again or what to expect in the future), but I am so grateful that she is able to spend time with her family and be in our lives as the Carrie we know and love. It's truly a miracle. And I'm thankful for the beautiful lilies Husband brought me last week. They really bloomed this week and they remind me how beautiful life really is. It's strange how something like flowers can bring such beauty and happiness to the world but they can really turn a mood around. I made sure to send a picture of them to my brother to cheer him up. I think he appreciated it :) Hey guys! I hope you had a great weekend. Ours was SUPER packed and I'm still recovering from it. We got to hang out with 3 different couples that we love to see and we celebrated my dad's bday last night. Instead of a weekend recap, I thought I'd post of things I found on Pinterest that I absolutely love. These few pictures are so sweet and inspirational. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Click on the pictures to visit the site where the pins were originally found.
As some of you know, I like to read The Upper Room Daily Devotionals and sometimes, if I really like one or it hits close to home, I share it with others. Today's was a wonderful devotional and it is very comforting. It's a good message for all of us at every stage in our faith. Hope you all enjoy reading it and it gives you something positive to think about. Message to Heaven: Read Philippians 4:4-7 Do not be like [those who pray using empty phrases], for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. — Matthew 6:8 (NRSV) Each New Year’s Eve we continue a family tradition of shooting off fireworks, ringing in the new year with the old, iron dinner bell, and joining in prayer. One New Year’s Eve, my young son, Sam, decided to write a message to God and attach it to one of the rockets. He wrote his message on a piece of notebook paper, front and back, attached it to the rocket, and lit the fuse. In seconds, sparks flew and the rocket soared into the star-studded sky in a blaze of glory, the message burning into the night. Afterward, my son sadly lamented, “My message went up in smoke.” This was a perfect opportunity to remind Sam that God knows what we need even before we ask. We may sometimes feel that fireworks are required to get God’s attention. But in truth, God holds us in loving hands and attends to our every need. In the darkest night, no matter what time of year, we have God’s undivided attention. The Author: Sarah Justus (Georgia, USA) Thought for the Day: Every request we make gets God’s close attention. Prayer: Dear God, thank you for always being ready to hear us and to give us what we need. Amen. Prayer focus: Children learning to pray It's my last day of work before the Christmas weekend and I'm so excited to spend the next few days with family and loved ones. I hope you all take some extra time to be thankful this weekend for the many blessings you have in your life. I know I am. Today I am devoting my Thankful Thursday to the upcoming weekend and all that it has in store. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I am thankful for Christ's birth. As we celebrate this weekend, we need to remember the reason we are celebrating. Not the presents and good food and decorations (though, I do love all of those things) but the fact that Christ was born on Christmas day. I am thankful for his birth and the sacrifice he made for all of us. Don't forget to keep Him extra close to your heart this weekend and share his love with those around you. I am thankful that I will know all of the songs they sing in church this weekend :) I love singing at church but often need to follow along in the Hymnal. This weekend, I will know all of the songs and I'll be able to truly sing from my heart and not be distracted by trying to follow the music on the page. I love the many beautiful Christmas songs and the celebratory music and words. I'm thankful for giving this season. The space under our Christmas tree is COVERED with presents. Only a couple are for Husband and me and the rest are for our family and friends. I love giving presents to others and we have put a lot of thought and work (yes, some are homemade) into the presents we are giving this year and I can't wait to see everyone receive their gifts. The best part of the holidays is when you arrive to someone's house (family or friends) and you can give them a gift to show how much you love them. I'm also thankful for the many hours we have set aside for our families this weekend. We have a 4-day weekend and are planning to spend a lot of quality time with everyone. I am so grateful to have some extra days to spend with the ones we love so much. I hope you have an opportunity to spend time with your family and/or loved ones this holiday. If not, be sure to let them know how much they mean to you and how much you wish you could be with them. Merry Christmas everyone. And God Bless! |
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