kelly

Today is Veteran’s Day and I am thankful for those who have served to defend the freedoms, liberties and privileges we have in America.

I am blessed to be related to and know many veterans. My dad did two tours in Vietnam, my granddaddy served in WWII in the Philippines and my cousin has been to the Middle East. Mickey’s grandpa also served in WWII. I don’t want to go too far in mentioning names because the last thing I want to do is accidentally not mention someone. So, just let me say that I am thankful for each and every one that has served and protected. Today we celebrate veterans, but I want to also thank those in active duty who are either defending our nation presently or “at the ready” to serve on the front lines when called. Thank you! 

Freedom is certainly not free and we owe a debt of gratitude and respect to those who have gone before us in serving, those serving still and those who will some day heed the call to serve. These men and women are brave heroes who deserve honor not just today, but every day. Again…THANK YOU!

 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. – John 15:13

I imagine that this post seems pretty obvious in nature, but today I am choosing to be thankful for weekends! Specifically, autumn weekends since that’s where we are right now and the weekends have been pretty darn stellar, I must say.

My top 5 things to love about autumn weekends:

5) Fall recreation league soccer. Soccer season for Macey is now over for this season, but we all enjoy going to soccer games on Saturdays. (And some Sundays) Macey has such a sweet team. These girls play hard and work well together. While they may not have the most winning record ever, admittedly, they play with a whole lot of heart and that matters more in the grand scheme of life. Macey enjoys playing, Mickey enjoys coaching and Mariana and I enjoy attending the games. It’s great for our family!

4) Football! I seriously love me some football, y’all. With the exception of one (ugly, heartbreaking…) loss, the Georgia Bulldogs are having a great season and are up to #5 in the BCS right now. Love it!! And, as a long-time Falcons fan, I am thrilled that they are currently 8-0 and looking great too. This football season is going just right for this fan.

3) Sleeping in on weekends. Okay, fine…so what if “sleeping in” is now anything beyond 7am. It still counts. At least we don’t usually have to set alarms and roll out before the sun shines in the mornings. Ahhh. Every little extra minute beyond our week-day wake-up time of 6:15am is golden.

2) Chances to take in the beautiful scenery. We are having a really colorful autumn this year. The leaves are all ablaze and it’s just amazing to look around and see all the trees putting on one final splendor before winter. Wherever we look, we see God’s artistry and it’s just awesome!

1) Family time. This falls under any season of the year, really. Weekends are a great time to plan fun family outings or just enjoy vegging at home together.

So, that’s my day 10 thankful — weekends. And, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Be blessed, y’all…
Kelly 

I had every intention of having this post written last night and set to be updated to the blog when I woke up this morning. Well, that surely didn’t happen. By the time I was able to sit down and write a blog post, I was tired. And, I needed to go to bed on time because I had to get up early this morning. Early, as in 5:30am. Are chickens even up that early? (((yawn))) The reason I had to get up so early today is because I was substitute teaching all day. Around here, elementary school starts early and that means that when I work, I have to get there early. (PAUSE for a minute to give all sorts of props to the school staff who do this on a daily basis. You are seriously incredible!!)   So, since I was at school all day, I’m just now getting around to getting today’s entry done.

Today, I’m going to take the opportunity to be thankful for being a substitute teacher. Yea, sure,  I get up early on those mornings, but that’s what coffee is there for, right? There are some great perks about subbing for me. For instance:

• Flexibility in schedule. Not to mention, getting done right around the time the girls are done for the day.
• Getting to work in the girls’ school means I get to see them sometimes throughout the day.
• Our school has a seriously awesome staff. It may seem like I’m shamelessly sucking up, but I’m telling the truth. Honest. Best staff ever!
• The kids at our school are pretty amazing too! There is nothing like getting some hugs, smiles and even artwork (occasionally) from these kids. Love them!
•  A little extra spending cash never hurt anyone, right? 😉

Today, I am thankful for our backyard. Yep…that’s right, I’m thankful for a yard.

When we were house-hunting six years ago, we looked at many houses. We had a list of “features” we really wanted in a home and one of those features was a good backyard. When we saw this house the first time, we saw potential in the yard. It had a play “fort” out in the backyard, so, naturally, Mickey was all over it immediately. It wasn’t the perfect yard, but it had potential and we liked it. The yard was one key factor in our deciding to buy this house.

We’ve been here six years now and the yard has undergone transformations in these years. The rough version of the play fort has now become a nice play fort that has a play set attached to it. We have a trampoline that the girls just love! (Don’t worry, it has an enclosure and they are super safe on it.) A couple of years ago, we had our deck rebuilt and that added to the cool factor of our backyard too. We’ve had trees taken out which provided more space. And, just this summer, our yard underwent probably the greatest changes to date. You see, we used to have this “gully” in our backyard that even had  bridge built over it by someone who lived here prior to us. The gully came about because apparently building materials were buried when construction was completed. Over time, those materials broke down and the ground sunk in as a result. That gully has always been an eyesore for us. Well, this summer we had dirt brought in to fill the gully and then had “Bobcat” work done to level that area and some of the sloping that leads down to our driveway. Then, we finally got to put in some sod. Grass in our backyard…at long last!! Yay!! We did just a portion of the front part of the yard. This gives the girls a place to play. I can’t even begin to describe how much I like the new look out there. It’s so cool to me! And, if that wasn’t cool enough, Mickey and Macey bought bricks and built us a new fire pit just beyond the sodded area. Then, they graveled around that area. Again…way cool!!

So, it’s not at all a stretch for me to be thankful for our backyard. It has gone from being mostly dirt and trees with potential to a family-friendly hang-out place. We have hosted parties in our yard and have gotten to fire up a couple of nice bonfires already. It’s great! Not only can we play and relax back there, but we can hang out too. And, for that, I’m thankful. 🙂

I don’t have any really recent photos of the yard, but here is a shot looking from the deck out toward the play fort not long after the sod was installed:

For comparison, here is a “before” shot from a couple of years ago:

And, here is a shot where you can see some of the great fire pit that Mickey and Macey built for us. This was taken right before Macey’s soccer team came over for a bonfire party.

Hope you all have a blessed day!
Kelly 

I had something different planned for today’s post, but it has really been on my heart today to be thankful for God’s plan.

It goes without saying that yesterday was a big day for our country. Election days should be big days, really. The privileges we have to vote and choose our leaders has come with a high price tag and none of us should take that for granted. It seems that this election season was highly tense and divides seem higher than ever, just in my observation. I saw a status on Facebook yesterday that included a wish for America to be like we were on September 12, 2001 – united. While no one would wish for a catastrophe to bring that to fruition, clearly, I think that is a sentiment that many of us share. I wish we were not so divided. I wish we were truly the UNITED States of America, as well as a nation under God. And, maybe we will be again one day.

In all of this, I keep coming back to one of my all-time favorite and most comforting passages of Scripture – Jeremiah 29:11. I knew when I went to bed last night without knowing election results that no matter what the outcome, God has a plan. I knew that, assuming I woke up this morning, and I did, that God would still be on the throne and that His plan will prevail. See, it doesn’t matter who is president and it does not matter which amendments pass or fail. We fixate on these things because, yes, they mean something to us in the here and now, but, in the grand scheme, let’s not lose sight of the fact that God has got this. Before any of us so much as walked into a voting booth, God knew the outcome. So, what we need to do is pray for His guidance, wisdom and mercy upon the outcome. The bottom line is this – whether or not “your guy” won the election, it’s done now. The decision has been made. So, if you celebrate today, celebrate prayerfully for the leader of this nation. If you are disappointed today, pray for the leader of this nation. Pray and realize that God knew all of this before any of us were twinkles in our mother’s eye. This isn’t a surprise to Him and He has a sovereign plan for each and every one of us. Trust that.

I don’t mean for this to come across as some sort of sermon. Heaven knows, I’m not fit for that. When I dole out advice here, it’s as much for myself as anyone. I can’t even begin to tell how many times I’ve sought comfort in the words of that favorite Jeremiah passage. And, it’s not just a passage for when things don’t seem right either, it’s a great reminder and encouragement for every day life. While the focus is typical on verse 11, I also love the two verses that follow. Check this out: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13) How awesome of a promise is THAT? It does my heart good, y’all. That’s as plain as it gets for me. That’s good news and we can all use good news whether we are celebrating on this day or feeling downhearted.

Today, I encourage all of us to remember and focus on the fact that God has a plan and it is for His people to prosper and not to be harmed. That doesn’t mean we won’t see trials along the way. That doesn’t mean that everything is going to go smoothly and without issue throughout our lives. We are going to face trials, tribulations and hardships. We are going to be disappointed and have our hearts broken more times that we ever care to count. But, we have hope and we have a future. THAT is what I am focusing on because I know that God has a plan and His plan will always work out for the best.

Be blessed, y’all.
Kelly