ThinMint

It's not about the big stuff anymore. I'm loving the simple moments. It's about cuddling on the couch with the little ones while I read out loud. And my oldest ones still letting me read out loud to them. It's about going outdoors so they can tell me over and over, "Hey, Mom! Watch this! Watch me!" It's about chatting with my husband about our hopes and dreams then praying together. It's about showing my oldest ones how to cook and bake, and what to do when they like someone. Or what to do when someone likes them. It's about finding joy drinking a cup of warm tea and watching a chunky bumble bee visit a flower. It's about picking out stars and listening to the night creatures that visit our yard. It's about friends who really listen and understand and don't get all judge-y. It's about falling into bed and thanking the LORD for all the good He does for me and those I love. I hope you're present for all the beautiful little things and tuck those moments into your heart to savor over and over.

Please share all the good & inspiring, delightful, awesome, beautiful things: stories, memes, music, news, images, bible verses -all the goodness you see!

Me, responding to @Tim in the chat. Hoping it encourages you, too: I agree about the mind feeling cluttered. And it is! Has mankind ever been as mentally bombarded and emotionally drained as we are in this day and age? I've been feeling His tug to let loose, let go, surrender, chill, be silent. I'm feeling Him invite me to just be with Him. I've been pushing hard to finish up all these little tasks within because it feels like it will help prepare with all that's about to happen without. There's the literal clean-up inside the home -all these little stacks and piles begging to be sorted and purged and put away. But, there's the clean-up mentally and emotionally that needs to happen as well. Frankly, I'm tired. He knows it, too, thus the call to just take shelter under Him. Before I enter that sacred, divine, wonderful place with Him, I must surrender. All of it. The things I cannot control but want desperately to control; the cockiness; the hurt I've been hanging onto (even subconsciously); and all the million other things I cling to for some bizarre reason. I'm getting to the point where I'm just about ready to dump every yuck just so I can crawl into that warm and soft and lovely place under His wings. (Been doing it issue and concern by issue and concern, but lately feeling the need to toss all of what remains.) Perhaps I should have made this the challenge for today -that we truly just let every worldly worry slip through our feeble grip and allow ourselves a restful reprieve within His wings. No surprise that humor was posted instead. Laughing has always been important to me. God bless all of us -especially the ones who know they are messy and know He is the only Who truly accepts that about us.

Challenge #6

Bits and Pieces It’s taken me a long minute, but I finally got a Fall table scape set up in the dining area. It’s set up on a lazy Susan so I can turn it at will to get different perspective. It’s made up of a lot of this and that, bits and pieces. Plates and bowls and candlesticks from Dollar Tree. Last year’s arrangement from a smaller table, which is itself a mishmash of parts. Votives from my emergency stash. It might look messy to you, but Fall is kinda messy. Leaves!! So I like it. So is life, at times. Point is, much like this arrangement, God uses it all. Whatever messy you have or had, He uses it. Wait and see what HE comes up with! It’s sure to be spectacular. 🎉🍂🍁🍂🌾 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8 : 28 KJVAAE

We know people (by way of my best friend) in western North Carolina who are directly impacted by Hurricane Helene. Here is what we have learned over the last few weeks. On October 6, washers and dryers were brought into Burnsville, NC. Then on Monday they hauled in trailers containing 30 showers. On October 9, the army confiscated the showers and relocated them to the temporary army base... for themselves. Also they brought a tank. The family we know did not experience loss of life, however they have found corpses of friends they knew. Their adult daughter's house washed away. She is moving to Winston-Salem with her young daughter as they lost everything when the house washed away and her employer is closed indefinitely. This family is also seriously considering moving. Because there is no water, the health dept has closed all restaurants and the two grocery stores can only sell prepackaged goods. (How long will the stores be able to keep their doors open?) The estimate for water restoration is 4-6 months, but you will still have to boil it. The latest estimate for back to normal living water is 2 years! We would not be surprised to see an exodus of people leaving the mountains. (Which would work out nicely for the entities wishing to mine the land.) There are no words for the devastation our countrymen have suffered. I hope to learn soon of God's miracles coming out of this catastrophe.

With Jesus 😊

Please share all the good & inspiring, delightful, awesome, beautiful things: stories, memes, music, news, images, bible verses -all the goodness you see!