Thankful Thursday... So Much to be Thankful for

Happy 4th of July!  Oh, we are blessed to live in a country that is free!










I am learning day by day that gratitude changes everything!  The Lord is good ... and truly seeing the blessing around me is molding  this heart into one that is more content.  He is helping me to bloom where I am planted.  Changing me day by day... moment by moment.  The more I look for, the more I see!

"Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances.  

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you!"  

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Here are some things I am thankful for this week:


Time at the beach with my kids, yummy ice cream, a creative project or 2, and a sweet bunny

Add 

What are you thankful for?

Praying you have many blessings and much joy!

Kristen

What a Cup of Caterpillars taught me about God's timing and plans

Every year my preschool class learns about the life cycle of butterflies.  Several craft projects coupled with observing real caterpillars teach this lesson.  It is amazing to see the metamorphosis that occurs as these crawling creatures grow and change until they become beautiful flying butterflies with painted wings.  It never ceases to amaze me.. this transformation... it never gets old.   The same cycle happens each year ... it is predictable yet nonetheless magnificent... that is until this year.

Our caterpillar cup arrived in the Spring via a kind FedEx man.  He delivered three cups of caterpillars and food.  Each classroom had its own cup and all we had to do was handle the cup carefully and observe God's handiwork.   So we watched and waited.  All three cups had caterpillars eating and growing fat.  That is their job; to store up food and energy until they go into their
chrysalides (I always thought it was their cocoons... preschool has taught me many new things).  Two of the classroom had caterpillars that grew and wrapped themselves in their chrysalides to await emergence as butterflies.  And then there were my classes caterpillars... after seeming to grow, they stopped.  Not only that but they shriveled up and died.  No life... black... thin... dead.

In all my years of teaching, this had never happened.  Something had gone very wrong.   Instead of a joyful release of butterflies, we had a disappointing cup of trash.  We told the children that sometimes in life and nature, things like this happen.  Then, we contacted the company who said they would refund our money or send up a new cup of caterpillars.  We opted to try again.  By now, the end of the school year rapidly approached.  The chances of these caterpillars going through their lifecycle and fluttering about before school got out were slim to none.  But we had hope...  and so we watched... and waited.   There was nothing else we could do.  It was out of our hands. 

The days marched on.   The caterpillars ate until their hearts content.  The grew happily plump.  They nestled into their chrysalides.  We waited.   The second to last week of school arrived ... and still no butterflies.  It seemed like this would be the first year there would be no butterflies for us...  I went home on Friday feeling disappointed and sad for the kids.  There is something so amazing seeing something only God could do and it seemed as if this class was going to miss it.  I had a little hope and still prayed about it... but to be honest, things did not look very promising.

Monday came and when I went over to our butterfly net... lo and behold, there was one butterfly.  I was so thankful and delighted.  We would have a butterfly to release.   I was grateful... And then God did what never ceases to amazing me...  He gave far more than I could ask or imagine...

I came into school early on the last day to finish up a few last minute details.   We had a busy day planned (including releasing our butterfly).  I went and check out our net.  Much to my surprise, not only did we have that one butterfly... but all of butterflies had hatched.   And, oh what joy there was for us as a class... after waiting, being disappointed, trying again, and waiting some more - we had a net full of butterflies!    And, our joy was magnified by our wait... how exciting it was to release all of those butterflies on the last day of school!

 

 

 

So here is what I learned about God through these butterflies...

 

1- God's timing is never early... never late... never my timing... but always on time

 

2-  New life comes from dying ... dying to self

 

3-  He gives beauty for ashes  (Isaiah 61:3)

 

4-  He does "far immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20)

 

5- We are new creations in Christ just like those butterflies... beautifully changed by Him!

 

 

 

Praying you have many blessings and much joy!

Kristen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankful Thursday - Counting Blessings Along the Way

Happy Thursday!  For us it is the first day of summer vacation!  I love the change in pace.  

I don't know about you but all too often, I run too far ahead or  too far behind of where God wants me to be.  But, oh is His precious love and patience, He is growing me.  I am trying to live out these verses from 1 Thessalonians ...

"Rejoice always, pray continually , give thanks in all circumstances; for this God's will in Christ Jesus for you."    

So here, in this place, I am counting my blessings along the way.  Here are some recent ones...

 

 

a beautiful rainbow outside our window

 

 

 

take a closer look ... it was actually a double rainbow!

It reminds me that the Lord always keeps His promises...

 in even bigger ways than we could imagine

 

 

 

 

a summer cookout in the park with my family

 

 

 

 

Super Moon!  Oh, these pictures do not do it justice... majestic... breathtaking!

 

 

 

 

lying beneath these two old trees and relaxing in their shade

 

 

 

 

 

Del's Lemonade... a local treat!

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me, what are you thankful for this day... in this moment? 

 

Blessings,

Kristen



What I Wore Wednesday - And a Proverb to Clothe Yourself In

Linking up again with Lindsay at The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday.  When it gets to be summer and I am out of school for break, it is easy to just throw on whatever I can find... in an effort to not just throw on a tee and shorts, I am posting what I wore to keep me on my toes a bit... join me... you will change how you feel... and it doesn't take long to put a little effort into what you wear.

Here are some recent outfits:

shirt - Old Navy (2nd hand)

jeans - Old Navy (2nd hand)

Shoes (2nd hand... aren't they cute?)

dress - WalMart (had it for about 5+ years)

cardi - Walmart (old)

Sandals - Target (clearance - at least 3 years old)

here is a casual outfit for a cookout with my husband and children

shirt - (2 hand) 

bracelet - Claire's (new only $1)

 coral shirt (Bob's Stores - $2... and my favorite color!)

shorts - WalMart (also new)

What is your style?  Join me in the challenge to put your outfits together!  

And, since true beauty comes from inside, here is a Proverb to clothe yourself in...

Blessed are those who find wisdom,

those who gain understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver

and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies,

nothing you desire can compare with her.

Proverbs 3:13-15

Praying you have many blessings and much joy!

Kristen

A Little Organizing in the Fridge

Well Good Morning!  I'm back to blogging!  The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for end of the school year events.  Between my school and my three kids' schools, there has been little time for blogging and anything extra.  I did find time to squeeze in a little organizing project I wanted to share with you.

Our fridge is just the right size for our cottage kitchen but can get cluttered up and disorganized very quickly with five people using it.  I knew we needed a better system for keeping it organized.... and I wanted to do it on a little budget.  Organizging and making a space look good doesn't have to take a ton of time or cost a lot of money.  Just tackling one area at at time can make a huge difference!

Here is what our fridge looked like before I got to it:

it was hard to find anything in it

So, I took a quick trip to our local dollar store and then got cracking.  I first took everything out... threw out scary spoiled food science projects and washed down the shelves and drawer.  Then I put things in general categories and put them in these cute bins.  I have seen them all over but wasn't willing to pay the price until I saw these at the dollar store... don't you just love the color?

I don't think this picture does the color justice:)

To help us keep things in their place, I found some pretty vintage labels on-line to print out.

you can find them here... they come in a few pretty colors and are editable!  

I printed them on plain white paper and laminated them but you could use labels ... 

I adhered mine with my glue gun... this way I can easily remove and replace them if need be

The whole project cost me $5 and change...  small cost but big impact.  Gotta love that!  And, it is saving us money... now that everything is organized, I can find what I need easily and leftovers are used up instead of wasted.  

Hope this inspires you to tackle an area in your house!

Praying you have many blessings and much joy!

Kristen

Thankful Thursday - Eucharisteo - Giving Thanks

"Rejoice Always, pray Constantly, give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God is Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Day by day, this is what I am learning to do.  One step forward; two steps back.  Being molded and made more and more into who God wants me to be.  

I just finished One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  It is a powerful, poetic book filled with a bundle of wisdom.  It is not a fast read by any means.  It is one that needs to be contemplated and savored one bit at a time.   Ann Voskamp takes a challenge to search for "gifts" from the Lord each and everyday... in the big and small... in joy and sorrow.  Being in the here and now... opening your eyes to see is right in front of you regardless of circumstance.  Looking and really seeing gifts that are everywhere.  It is finding the vision to see clearly where and what they are.  Over and over Voskamp see Eucharisteo being lived out in her life by recording gifts in a journal.  Eucharisteo is from the Greek word eucaristeo - meaning "giving thanks", "to be grateful".   You can learn more about One Thousand Gifts here.  And, read her online journal at A Holy Experience.  It is to me a confirmation of what I have felt called to do over and over again in my life... give thanks... always. 

Here are some things I am grateful for this week - eucharisteo indeed!

humor - 

found this on Facebook today  at KLOVE's Scott and Kelli's page. 

 made my kids and I laugh so hard... 

which is so good as we are in the home stretch of school

this pool and fun times cooling of in the summer with my kids and friends

we had a couple of holes but they are patched and the pool is filled

a sweet beaded necklace made by one of my students... so sweet!  

My class knows I love anything beaded and the gift of a child is so precious!

baking and eating yummy treats... 

this week the pantry is low as we are in the school year end flurry of activity 

and the budget is tight with all of the activities... 

so thankful for finding the ingredients to make corn muffins, granola bars, and banana muffins

gorgeous flowers given to me by another sweet student... 

my table looks so pretty and the blooms are glorious... 

what a precious gift from a little one!

So, what are you thankful for?  Where can you practice Eucharisteo in your life?  

Praying you have many blessings and much joy!

Kristen

What I Wore Wednesday - And a Proverb to Clothe Yourself In

Linking up again with Lindsay, from The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday.  Each week this post is to encourage you to take a few minutes and dress yourself up a bit.  A pretty outfit and an accessory or two.  You are worth it!  And, so is your family.  It doesn't cost a lot... for the summer. I only bought new shorts since my old ones no longer fit :) .  Other than that, I am shopping my closet, mixing and matching... trying new things.  Try it... I promise you will be glad you did!

Here are some outfits from the week...

everything here is from my closet except a new fun bracelet and shorts...

I searched high and low for nice shorts that were reasonably priced

 and long enough but not frumpy - finally found them at Wal-Mart

thrifted dress... what a difference a week makes -

 one week ago, I was in tights, boots, a dress, and warm sweater

this week it was a sundress and flip flops for this girl

my youngest loves to do hair and makeup on her sister and I ... 

very fun for me since I grew up with all brothers.  

feeling a bit tired this day... yep, the end of the school year flurry is in full-force!

another pair of new shorts from Wal-Mart...

 I love the color... oh, that coral makes me smile... every time!

And, since true beauty come from deep inside our hearts and souls, here is a Proverb to clothe yourself in:

"My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline,

and don't be upset when He corrects you.

For the Lord corrects those He loves,

just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights"

Proverbs 3:11-12

~powerful stuff

So, clothe yourself first in Him, and then take a few minutes each day to put yourself together.  Experiment a little.  I promise you will feel good because you did.  You are beautiful!

Praying you have many blessings and much joy!

Kristen