Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, friends! I'm here for another installment of the Thankful Thursday link party. I hope you'll join me and link back here! I usually do this along with Rebecca Jo, but she's on a blogging break at the moment. I know most of the ones who link up for this come from her, so maybe this will find its way to them. 

I have so much to be thankful for this week, starting with the RAIN we got yesterday! We're in a major drought and have had little to no rain for the last month. Everything is parched here and it's been so hot that we desperately need several good days of a steady, soaking rain. It wasn't a lot of rain that we got, but a little is better than none, so I'll be grateful for that.

I am thankful that the terrible chigger bites that my husband got last weekend are starting to be less miserable. He spent an hour and a half painting them all with my fingernail polish a couple nights ago and I had to help him for the ones in the back that he couldn't see. Bless it! He was bitten by these on Saturday while he was doing something with the sheriff's department. I know he's glad they're finally subsiding. He took two expired Benadryl Monday night and it knocked him out! We laughed afterward, because he went to bed at eight that night. Imagine if they'd not been expired! I advised him to take just one the next time. 

I'm thankful for the joy our dogs bring to us. Oakley is growing up!

I am so glad I was able to help Drew out some this week. He never asks for ANYTHING, so it was a joy to go see him at his new house, to take him lunch and to give him most of mine because he's always hungry, to offer to help him get settled, even if he refused help, to buy him a lamp and to send him home with bags of groceries that I bought him at Aldi's. It's not much, but I'm so thankful I was able to be there for him in that way.

I'm so thankful that Graham and his girlfriend Jessi like hanging out here. I've gotten to know her more this week and she is a delight. She asked me to run an errand with her on Sunday after church and it meant the world to me that she asked to spend quality time with me, something we discovered we both love and thrive on. I love that Graham invites us into his life and pray that it always lasts. I think there's a good chance that it will, because that's how we raised our sons—to know that family means the world and to share in life with them.

I'm so thankful that Noah got a job! He starts his new job at Auto Zone on Tuesday. This is a long story, but the short version is that the Lord answered a prayer of mine and he will begin working once again. His best friend Jacob was also offered a job at the same place and he starts next week as well. I'm so glad they have each other as friends! They've basically lived at his house or ours together all summer, but they're definitely the friends that are closer than brothers. All their little lives, I prayed for at least one GREAT friend for each of our sons and the Lord has been faithful to answer that. Everyone needs at least one friend at every stage of life.

I love that Jonah called me yesterday afternoon asking me to get dinner started for him. I keep pizzas in the freezer and he asked if I would preheat the oven and get it started while he was on his way home, because he was starving. (His words.) Right as he walked in, I was turning the oven off. I'm always glad to do things like this and he thanked me profusely for it afterward. 

I'm thankful for the days I've had at home to clean and organize. I love being productive!

I'm thankful for a good book to read. I'm reading an author that's new to me—Courtney Walsh. I like her writing! My only complaint is that the story is taking a long time. I'm used to a faster paced book, so I don't know if I'll keep reading her books, but while this one has been like that, it's also been good and wholesome. I always appreciate that.

I'm thankful for fun things to look forward to and I've got something pretty monumental coming up, but I'll share more about that when it gets closer to time.

I'm thankful for conversations with our parents and siblings. I've had lots of that this week! 

It's your turn—what's one thing you're thankful for this week? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. 

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