Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I am so excited about this day, but I'll tell you why in another post.  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals for this post.

This will be a short post, since we had a low key week around here.

One.

Last Friday night goes first on my list of favorites from this week.  I loved being able to hear my favorite author speak, and the worship was so sweet that we started out with.  Going with these ladies made it even better.  It was such a fun night, and let's face it~I love me a good girls night out.  It's not something I do that often, and when I do, I always come back home feeling refreshed and recharged and ready to tackle the days ahead.

Two.

Going to my mom's and stepdad's house out in the country is one of my very favorite things to do.  It's so nice to not have to worry about what's for dinner on that night each week, and I even love the drive out there.  If it's warm enough out, we like to roll down all the windows, open the sun roof and crank up the radio.  Sometimes Alex goes with us, but last week it was just my boys.  Usually it ends up being just the boys and me, since that is the one night each weekend that my husband is guaranteed a shift with the sheriff's department.

Also, Big Daddy can cook.  Last week's dinner was amazing and Jonah's favorite.  I love when it starts to warm up enough that they go outside again.  They love driving his tractor, and he always lets them.  On this night, they had taken a Frisbee out with them and Big Daddy threw it around with them.  On a side note, is anyone else crazy impressed with how well boys can throw and catch a Frisbee?  That is something I have never been able to do.

And y'all.  I love my mom so much.  Sometimes a girl just needs her mama.  There is nobody that loves on me like she does, and she knows what I need without me saying one single word.  She gives the greatest hugs and back rubs and she is the sweetest thing ever to live.  I thank God for ALL of our sweet parents!  I love this stage of life, when I feel like I can honor them the way that God tells us to in His word.  Respecting them now looks different from when I was a kid at home, but I still certainly show them the respect and honor they are do.  I thank God for them.

Three.

If you are a mom, then you know how this feels.  There is nothing that pleases a parent so much as seeing your kids get something they want really bad.  As much as I used to love receiving a gift when I was young (and still do, if I'm honest), I love even more being the giver of the gifts to my boys.

It is my favorite feeling ever and I love seeing the joy on their faces when they're so happy that they might burst.  It doesn't matter if it's a birthday gift, a Christmas gift or a vehicle when they're old enough to drive~I love seeing them receive tangible gifts of love.

You know I always have to bring it back to God, and this is no exception.  I love all of this above, because it reminds me of how my Father loves me.  I am certainly not saying that He gives us every possession that we want, but to me, what we have now (our health, our home, our vehicles) are gifts from Him to us.  His word even says that in James 1:17.

"Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning."

God is the Provider for all of our needs.  Needs, not wants.  When we think there is no possible way that the money will come through, He provides a way.  He gives us our health so that we can work and provide for our family.  He is the giver of all good things.  There is not one thing that we have that I don't thank Him for.

Four.

One of my favorite pictures from years gone by~shouldn't they still be this little?  I'd love to recreate this.

I am so grateful to God for this family He has given me, and for the work He has done on all of our hearts.  I thank Him for the wisdom He gives us in parenting all the teenaged boys and for the ways that He has protected them and us.  I try to look for Him in all the little details of our lives, and in so doing and writing them down in my journal, I have seen His hand on our lives time and time again.

He is so good.

Well, I have laundry calling, my friends.  Thanks for reading my ramblings.  Love to all.