t-h-a-n-k-s.

• ward church
• "there are my friends" - emma (when she saw stella and her girls)
• getting to skype with yaya and grandaddy (thanks to matt & denise!)

• laughing at "bride and prejudice"
• watching "it's a wonderful life" 
• deep fried candy bars.  yup.  well done, peter koontz.

• comfy clothes
• christmas break
• caroline's interest in and excitement about giving
• shoes lined up outside of doors

• doughnut in the market (.20 well spent)
• coke with ice and lime
• fun patterned wrapping paper

• the father of my children gives them such good gifts (caroline's is a daddy/daughter date to Twiga (hotel/restaurant) that lasts long past bedtime! eli's is a trip the atlantic hotel to get app upgrades.  emma's was a box of lollipops and starburst - just what she wanted.)

treasures all along the way

• sweet conversations about caroline's future and what God may have in store for her
• seeing the Australian news documentary "The Surgery Ship" - especially thankful for the reminder of what God is doing in and through this vessel and her crew
• the last of the christmas packages are wrapped up and packed up and well on their way 
  
• unexpected quiet
• knowing it hurts because you've loved
• Miss Miriam's radiating joy & enthusiasm for teaching French

• surprisingly good iced coffee
• cabin full of relatively calm kids
• "driving around" looking at christmas decorations as a family 

• hannah's willingness to watch emma on tuesday mornings from 8:30-9:00
• instant oatmeal (it wins the non-existent "food of the week" award)
• fun stamps!

• robin's e-mail...grandly encouraging
• adverbs
• beautiful good-bye notes

• lovely definition of humility (from brennan manning)
• the poem andrea shared...and the way she shared it
• "good things come in orange packages."  true.

• cooking with an apron on (first time for everything)
• double headband that matches perfectly
• sharpie pens
• life change

• hundreds of cookies are baked and waiting for dozens of little hands to ice & decorate them
• emma's peaceful and delightful behavior during the baking of previously mentioned cookies
• tortilla chips with lime (Corazonas, you officially have a new fan - and you're giving the instant oatmeal a run for its money this week....)

• ken's willingness to go above and beyond
• cinderella's example of gracious kindness
• adding really good books to the library's collection
• corny jokes (ie - what do you call an old snowman?  water.)(why are pirates so mean? they just "arrrr")(you may need my grin and giggle to go with that last one....)
• perfect presents from the whites (wishing i had done more puns with "white christmas")(thankful for a lifetime to be able to do that...)

(special deliveries)

thought it might be a fun little experiment to show the packages God put my gifts in/delivered them to me through this week (that's what's in the parentheses)

• great steak & exceptional cinnamon rolls (galley team)
• when God sends just the thing you need -- in this case, a sturdy envelope to mail a piece of artwork (beth)
• successful sweet tea making (coached by tierrah)

• the way God has used LuWanna here on the ship (obviously, LuWanna)
• the life and impact of Nelson Mandella (Nelson Mandella...ok...this experiment may not work)
• a book of poetry that i could've written - if only i could write poetry!  poems that i "get" (anonymous donor to the library)
• parties that come together peacefully, easily & inexpensively (hannah, stephanie, erin, catharine)
• grand mix of productive and lazy (brought to you by the letter "R" and the day "Saturday")
• God's faithfulness in the laundry room continues 
• the limerick mr. josh wrote for emma's birthday (mr. josh)
• nice Georgia dinner (fellow Georgians on the ship!)

• teeth cleaning appointment is over (leslie for the booking, lisa for the cleaning)
• sitting still 
• ballet "performance" to the song "come and worship" - absolutely beautiful. (mrs. gretchen, caroline & the rest of the girls that danced)
• my worth is not in my ability to make magazine worthy cakes/cupcakes (terribly runny icing on emma's cake)
• hearing whispers in the hallway as wonderful ones put up special decorations for emma's birthday (KJ and sarah)
• nick's willingness to be our AV guy (nick)
• cabin inspections happened on a day when things were relatively neat (marilyn & katie)
• emma's life (emma?)

• laughing at "Mr. S's" story time abilities (steve schwind)
• "the man with the cat" christmas picture (that whole crowd of awesome people)
• dinner with miss catharine (catharine, carnivore staff)
• suzanne's beautiful christmas card (suzanne, janice - for having photoshop on this computer and sharing it with us)
• new commission charts (dave ramsey...nick...cash kids...reception for laminating it!)

• fresh ink for the library stamp (whoever ordered it way back when? robin? carol?)
• sweet time of late night note writing 
• fun "chalkboard christmas pictures" (google)
  

i love how He makes the ordinary extraordinary.

i love being able to type in key words from a quote into a google search and have multiple fun looking versions of that quote come up.  it's much more fun to share it this way than to simply type it in black and white default font.  though sometimes black and white default font is simply perfect.

i am so ordinary. so simple in so many ways....

...seeking to faithfully, diligently and consistently live my simple life as an offering to the Lord...trusting that He will bring forth extraordinary results.

and another artistic rendition....

so many gifts along the way.

• andrea diallo's smile
• delicious thanksgiving meal (it may not look like much but it was AMAZING)

• special thanksgiving celebration
• dessert table (this was only about 1/4 of it...i took the picture a little early)

• perfect cup of pressed pumpkin spice coffee
• listening to caroline & emma sing in dutch
• pajama day at school (it's amazing how easy it is to get kids out the door when getting dressed and fixing hair isn't involved)
• this picture: (it just makes me laugh)

• the way nick speaks God's Truth
• i successfully ordered lunch in french (and that, my friends, is the extent of my french speaking abilities)
• amy moser's willingness to watch emma for a few minutes (last minute!)
• "walk with me along paths of peace; enjoy the journey in my presence." - jesus calling
• caroline's plastic bag juggling skills

• finding the right words/approach with caroline and her major meltdown 
• package from the edfeldts!

• delightful date night...sunset, popcorn, cold coke, best friend, laughing at crabs scuttling about...
• the kids' excitement about decorating for christmas (and their willingness to straighten up the cabin so that the decorating could happen!)
• spreading out the opening of gifts over the entire month (round one: the Smiths from Texas!)

• "use all Your skill to put me together; i wait to see Your finished product." - psalm 25:21.  i am a work in progress...
• "God's almost done healing my knee!" - emma
• playing the "ha!" game at lunch (and the laughter that ensued)
• lovely and precious note from scotland (my first mail to come through the Dutch Mercy Ships' Office!)

confession (and thankfulness)

i must confess...part of me didn't want to post my thankful list for the week....there's a little something in me that doesn't like to do what everyone else is doing - and knowing that millions were making their own "thankful lists" today sort of made me not want to share mine....but that's just wrong.  terrible reasoning.  so...as usual...my thankful thursday list....

• guys playing games in our home
• birthday coffee/treat with steph & remy
• getting to wear my rain jacket (well, it's just my jacket...but i wore it because of the rain not because of the cold...)(it's the first time i've worn it in a year and a half!!)
• talking to my sister
• unexpected cancelled meeting (i love the space that it freed up)
• emma's cuteness with the ukelele (wish you could have heard her playing and singing...but she was not allowing videoing)

• doritos
• pontificating and solving all the world's problems every Tuesday and Thursday between  6:00 and 6:45am.  
• sitting mindlessly at the Atlantic Palace (quite palace-like indeed)
• caramel macchiato that's still good 6 hours later (that usually doesn't happen)
• amy kay - a lady worth celebrating.  so glad she had another birthday! :)
• africa is rubbing off on our children (or at least carrying babies on one's back is rubbing off on one of them)

• amazing french press instructions (and the fact that the instructions were typed out in the first place)
• anytime any of our children sleep past 8:00
• jess bezaidenhout's heart and passion (i still don't know how to say her last name)
• listening to eli sing (crouched outside of his door, unbeknowst to him)
• "mama, the barbie on the game is dressed modest." -emma (as she was requesting to watch her friend gracie play a barbie game on some handheld device....i'm thankful that our 3 year old already has modesty as a part of her vocabulary)
• thinking of my family gathered at the cabin (thankful for that picture...and the memories from years past!)
• nick's pie crust making abilities (and his willingness to take on pretty much any task and achieve success)

He gives such good gifts...

• impromptu opening of the cafe
• beautiful baptism on the beach
• fresh bread
• mr. nick veltjens and the impact he has had on our family

• watching caroline swim/play in the pool...perfectly content on her own
• quick naps
• fantastic lunch prepared by nick (fries, chicken fingers with yummy sauce, mac and cheese)
• hearing the song from "perfect harmony"(such a good movie!)
• watching certain "cool guys" enjoy old school michael whitaker smith.  who knew?! 
• throwing frisbee on the beach (or anywhere)
• good conversations about meaningful things
• a brilliant way to teach the story of Joseph (i'd never thought of his other coats before)

• when people laugh so hard that they snort
• the way emma and leanne shared and swapped the markers
• the song "potter's hand"
• wearing scrubs
• learning more about the reformation
• eli's happiness over axis and allies

• 'chelle's willingness to share her speakers
• one christmas package complete 
• when all goes "according to plan" (good timing)
• the way the cabinet smells (with a bag of coffee that's been opened inside)
• hand written note that smells like molly (or, more accurately, smells like molly's house)

i like looking for the gifts...

• the little ice in the far back right corner of the ice machine on deck 6
• He is all sufficient.
• putting chairs back as worship
• KJ is back onboard!
• playing ping pong with caroline in our cabin (it's a pretty legit set up)
• moriah's blogpost
• moriah's willingness to take Grade 2 out on deck 7
• sweet friday morning with Grade 1
• a friend who asks what we want/need in a package
• "Thou and Thou only, first in my heart."
• glue (and how things can be fixed with it)
• watching emma have conversations with really incredible adults
• thankful trees and leaves
• sweet girl who immediately adds to the tree
• aletha sivak
• 11.12.13
• time with rachel greenland. what a treasure. 
• Ruthless Trust (dianna's #1 book recommendation of the year)(and i'm only on chapter 2)
• authenticity on deck 7
• "of the 400 people on the ship, you're the one i wanted to talk to."
• the truth Mrs. Parrish planted in my head and heart "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs"
• packages!!!!!!!
• having a sandwich maker/toasty machine in our cabin. oh.so.convenient.
• having a story that can be shared with others
• incredibly easy and fun way to encourage my most favorite one
• fantastic playlist
• beth edfeldt
• "i am yours and you are mine..." - line from hillsong's "Oceans" (and also song of solomon, i suppose)
• weezer's blue album.  it's just what some days call for.
  

junk and fire.

i read this quote a while back on a blog...it rings heart-wrenchingly true for me (italics mine).  

"There’s nothing like moving to a foreign country (community) to reveal all the crap that’s in your heart.  Seriously. I have cussed more, cried more, been more angry, had less faith, been more cynical and, generally speaking, have become in many ways a worser person during my last two years (year and a half) of serving in Asia (in Africa on Mercy Ships).  Call it culture-shock if you will, but I tend to think the stress of an overseas move thrusts the junk that was conveniently- covered before out into the blazing-hot-open."

the junk has been thrust time and time again.  

but i welcome it.  i want the junk out....out in the blazing-hot-open so that God can deal with it and make me more of who He intends for me to be.  the Refiner's fire...terribly wonderful.  beautifully difficult. 

i'm thankful for the patient and gracious dealing of our God.  

my prayer today...

gifts & presents & love

this is a long one...maybe i should've done a separate birthday thankful list....

• being in "equatorial West Africa" to see the solar eclipse
• dishwater running down my arms 
• "where You are...I am free..." (that's why the dishwater was running down my arms)
• re-supply of stickers
• reformation party!
• salted caramel goodness

• learning (or at least attempting to learn) "thriller" with caroline
• cleaning up and cleaning out
• pizza with the Koontz family
• Twiga!
• sharing books
• painting magnets with my girls

• reading/thinking about things i've never thought about before
• having inside jokes (it's such a fun way to connect)
• moments so sweet you can't help but stop and soak them in
• a sweet big sister taking care of her little sister
• getting cashews at breakfast (and realizing that not everyone does)
• communion bread (in so many ways)
• birthday decorations

• soooooooooooo many wonderful words and thoughtful gifts
• a friend who knows i "collect" bouncy balls
• plantain chips on the door handle
• chicken & fries for lunch (thanks to erin)
• favorite facebook day of the year
• emma's birthday song & coloring for me

• eli's quick response to cleaning up the milk that his littlest sister spilt
• gretchen's willingness to run running club
• birthday prayers from my family
• tub o' cotton candy
  
• the gift of questions
• bucket o' cotton candy
• helicopter shooter things that light up...playing with them on the dock with my family
• cake!!  delicious cake!!

• cake for breakfast
• Kactus cheeseburger
• cecily's hug
• little dutch shoes to hang on our christmas tree
• fabulous orange pen

• emma saying "boo-yah"
• the way God makes my birthday special year after year
• being on the same page/wavelength/whatever you call it as nick
• how God knows and takes care of the desires of my heart
• cupcakes on the 5th 

• good news from the screening in brazzaville!
• tic-tac-toe with caroline
• really good quotes
• the merging of 2 "fonts" - so much so that it's hard to tell if i wrote it or if beth did