Tales of a Thankful Mom

        One of the reasons that I love having a blog is that it gives me a place to record the many reasons that I have to give thanks. Each weekend I like to pause and look back over the previous week and share my gratitude list. Here are a few of the things for which I am thankful. My Princess received her standardized test results from the last school year. She did very well on her English Language Arts test. She was very excited about the test results, and I am so proud of her. We went swimming yesterday. My children love a day at the pool. I had a nice talk with a dear friend earlier this week.  My brother and nephew spent a couple of days with my family and me. I am thankful for opportunities to talk with my brother. I love hearing my brothers perspective on things. I have begun taking walks with my children. I think we are going to like this new daily habit. My son is really looking forward to his birthday coming up next week....

     My youngest daughter moves at her own pace. I tell my friends and family that she is my stop and smell the roses child. I will admit that sometimes going through life at my Cuddle Bug's  pace makes me feel like I am losing my mind. (Will you please put your shoes on already?) I do notice that when I slow down and see the world through her perspective I notice beauty that I may not have seen if I was going through my day at a more efficient pace. May I remember that the next time I tempted to rush my noticer. Each week I gather with my friends over at Five Minute Friday to write for five minutes on the topic of the week. This week the word was pace. You can learn more about this wonderful community at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com.

     I have been greatly encouraged by being a part of the launch team for #ConfidentMomsandDaughters by Maria Furlough. I love that she was a straight talker, truthfully conveying the challenges that our daughters face growing up in today's culture. I also appreciated Maria's encouragement that we need to fight for our daughters. The Holy Spirit is with us, and He is with our daughters. As the below quote states He is our biggest hope in being a good example for our daughters, and for having empathy for her situation, whatever situation that may be.                              Speaking of setting an example, how can I expect to teach my daughter that she is God's workmanship, if I do not remember that the same is also true for me. I want my daughters to know that God loves them so much, and that creating each of them pleased him greatly. Each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made...