Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you've been having a great week! Mine has been, albeit busy as well, but I have lots to be thankful for this week. Thanks for linking up with me today, if you're choosing to do that! I always appreciate that each week and hope that being intentionally grateful has been a blessing for you, as much as it has for me. 

I am thankful for birthday celebrations and a table full of people! Particularly these people; they're the grandparents. What a blessing it was to have them all in our house this week as we celebrated. I don't say this lightly, friends!

I am thankful for friends who love my sons like they're their own. This is my dear, lifelong friend Marcia, and she sent me this picture on Monday night, when she and her family ran into Graham playing pickleball on the court next to theirs. Marcia and her husband Brad are those friends that I called "lifelong", because it doesn't matter that we rarely see each other, I know that they're there and that if we ever needed anything, they would jump at the chance to help us. Our kids are all around the same ages, and we used to spend nights on the weekends with them playing cards while our kids all ran around upstairs. When Todd and I traveled to Iceland one summer, we made them our "just in case" people to finish raising our boys, if anything happened to us. There's nothing that will give you a lifelong bond like writing that in a will. 

Needless to say, I cherish this picture, because it represents friendship and love to me. And look at my Graham's bright smile! I love this picture of them both. 

I am so thankful for this dear friend Christa! She and I met up for dinner on Tuesday and had a great time eating delicious food and catching up with one another. It's been a few months since the last time I saw her, so this time was good for us both. 

I'm thankful that I got to have my hair done this week. That may sound silly to someone, but it's the truth! It's a treat to be able to do that, one that I only started doing when I turned 40, and I will never get over it.

I am thankful for my dear friend Mandy at work, and how I've had the opportunity to get to know her since I started back in August. I don't think she'll live here forever, because her heart is in East Tennessee, but I will cherish the time that I have with her in the present. If you think of her, will you pray for her? She's coming up on the one year anniversary of her mom dying, and she is struggling this week. I cried with her yesterday as we talked. Would it even be a week in the bookstore if I didn't shed tears? I think not.

I'm thankful for the amazing weather we've been having! I think it's getting cool again today, so I'll miss the warm temps and the sunshine. 

I'm (mostly) thankful for the antics of these pups. They make us laugh and bring us all kinds of joy, and sometimes frustration. The good definitely outweighs the bad! If you're not a regular, left to right are Oakley (our son's dog), Chip, Crash, Chloe (another son's dog), and Callie. 

Other things I am thankful for this week include being able to unwind at night with a funny show that Todd and I watch, a good book to read, writing inspiration, videos on YouTube from authors who encourage, podcasts by excellent Bible teachers, the living and active word of God, phone calls with my mom, and fun days at work. 

What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

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