Joy Revisited

Some of the responses to my question about joy came from friends who never comment on my blog. They call me or email responses. They respond in a way that allows more two way communication. I used to be one of those people, before I had a blog, and sometimes still respond privately when a friend has so openly revealed a struggle. But, I think the subject deserves revisiting. I think adding to this conversation, between me and you, those of you who only know me here, is important.

CN said, "I don't think you are alone in not knowing exactly what Joy is. I do know that Joy and Happiness are not the same thing. I do believe that you can have Joy and not be happy. I haven't thought about it before, but now that I have, I believe that you can have the joy of the Lord and still be upset and depressed. I don't think it is a feeling. Hmmm, I think I want to study this some more..." and, "something else came to my mind about what I believe Joy is. I believe it is a security. It is a knowing...that when things are going good and even when things are not, there is still that 'security' or 'knowing' that we have promises from our Lord and Savior that we can stand on and hold onto..."

CN added, "Also, it feels to me like someone has been judging you when it comes to joy." That is true. Originally, it was the same people who judged me for not understanding forgiveness. More recently, it is just me. I think that since I have been walking with God for 20 years I should have a clue. My thinking on that isn't right, I know. I am glad CN said that because I don't think I would have realized I am judging myself. God hasn't put this requirement of having it all figured out after 20 years on me, I have. So, I took off that cloak and began to breathe again.

PK said, "Warren Weirsbes definition. joy—that inward peace and sufficiency that is not affected by outward circumstances. (A case in point is Paul’s experience recorded in Phil. 4:10–20.)"

That got me thinking. What if joy is not as closely related to happiness as I have always thought, as the world thinks? What if joy is more closely related to contentment? Because the definition that Warren Weirsbe gave and Paul's experience sound more like contentment than happiness. It sounds more like a choice than an emotion.

What if joy and depression are not even distant cousins? The depression, I know, has a physical component, as does the condition that causes the depression. Something happened in my brain a long time ago in response to trauma and now my brain processes things differently. I can learn to compensate. I can choose to live out the fruits of the Spirit. I cannot change the way my brain is wired. Only God can do that. Maybe one day He will, but if He doesn't I know it is for my best.

For now, I am content to know that maybe I understand joy more than I think, but I will keep studying.

On Tuesday, May 4, I linked up with Bridget Chumbley's One Word Carnival. If you stopped by from there, thanks. :)

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for today?

I am thankful for spring, sunshine, and singing birds.
I am thankful for long walks and wind in my face.
I am thankful that I am healthy enough to enjoy these things.
I am thankful for my girls and the happiness they bring to my life.
I am thankful for forgiveness and grace.
I am thankful for other bloggers and this community where we can connect with people who would otherwise not cross our paths.
I am thankful for books and book clubs. I am thankful for the opportunity to review books.
I am thankful for science projects and science fairs. What a fun way to teach children!
I am thankful for doctors and medicine.
I am thankful for friends.
I am thankful for Goodwill and cheap clothes.
I am thankful for the library and art classes.
I am thankful for museums.

What are you thankful for today?

What Does It Mean To Have Joy?

It is mentioned several times in scripture and yet I never see a clear explanation of what it is.

Here is what I know:

It does not come easy and it is not a natural state of being. It is a gift from God, a fruit that His Spirit living in us produces. It is not something we can create on our own.

Here is what I don't know:

What is it? What does it look like played out in life?

Galatians 5:22 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control." Did I get them all? That was from memory.

Rather than set these gifts on the shelf or expect them to magically become part of the fabric of who I am, I have spent many years choosing to develop and exhibit these characteristics. I am not there, by any means, but I am closer than I was. Joy, however, continues to elude me. I don't even begin to comprehend what it is.

I am well acquainted with sadness and depression. They are so much a part of my life that sometimes I wonder if they are woven into the fabric of my being. I am not sure if joy, unlike happiness, can share space with these things. Fear cannot share space with peace. Anger cannot share space with forgiveness. Bitterness cannot share space with love. So maybe joy cannot share space with depression.

Also, please don't tell me it is a choice. I can choose joy all day every day and yet not know what it is or what it looks like. Then what have I chosen but obedience? I still don't have understanding. So, in effect, I have told God that I want what He offers, but I don't know how to get it. I can choose to not be depressed, but that in no way guarantees that the depression will go away.

When I first gave my heart to Christ, people told me to "just forgive" all of the many people who had hurt me. I didn't know what forgiveness was, what it looked like, or how to give it. I had never experienced it except for the moment Jesus forgave me. I just knew what it wasn't. It wasn't anger or bitterness. It was closer to love and granting it was somehow tied to gaining peace. Those same people told me depression was a result of my sin, my unforgiveness.

I think figuring out what joy is will be much the same as learning about forgiveness. I expect none of you will be able to answer my question and I will spend the next portion of my life seeking an answer from the only One who can. That is OK, just please don't expect me to live like I have it figured out.

The OATH

Diedra originally posted this in the fall, back when I was sick and it took me months to catch up on reading everyone's blogs. So, when I finally got around to catching up on what was going on in her life, I knew this OATH was for me. They were finishing up and I was just beginning. I felt a bit like the new kid at school who was expected to do a project that all the other kids had started weeks before. I committed to doing it, but I knew I would be going it alone. Somehow that was OK because I knew how much I needed to take this OATH.

Simply stated, the OATH is using/saying/thinking Only Adjectives That Help or Heal. About yourself. About others. About everything. Yourself first because the way you talk about yourself spills over into the rest of your life and relationships. Diedra reposted this today.

I would like to encourage each of you to stop by her blog, check out the OATH from her explanation and jump in. I am sure it will change your life because it changed mine. What are you waiting for?

Just Enough Rain

Just enough rain. Plants cannot thrive or even survive without rain. But too much rain is bad for them as well.

Just enough rain. That is a different kind of thought. In life, we often compare troubles to rain. And yet, troubles are something we would prefer to avoid altogether.

Just enough rain. Just enough troubles to make us strong. Just enough pain to keep us reliant upon Jesus. Just enough heartache to teach us compassion.

Just enough rain. I never really thought of it that way before. Thank God for the rain that He allows into my life. My prayer for each of you is that you will recieve just enough rain.

Does This Make Me A Freak*?

I remember the first time I knew I was a freak. It was the summer I was 14 and I was on a youth trip. My Grandmother had been hesitant to send me, but I pleaded incessantly and promised her I would be OK. As always happens with events involving youth, we were running late. We had left home that morning on time, but when we arrived in the city where we were staying, it was after midnight. Rather than call the families that were supposed to be hosting us, it was decided we would sleep at the church. When we walked into the building and turned the light on, roaches were everywhere. They were scurrying and trying to scatter, but there were so many of them that they kept running into each other and changing directions. I started to scream and couldn't stop. It wasn't about the moment. It was that the roaches brought to the forefront of my mind a different moment. A moment from when I was 11 or 12. I had not faced that memory since forming it. Nothing could convince my mind or my body that I was 14 and safe. A boy that was new to the youth group kept telling me to focus on him and kept reminding me that I was safe and it was just bugs. His parents were foster parents and he had seen them calm children down in the same way for most of his life. Even when I was able to stop screaming, I couldn't speak or even move. I was frozen to the spot. Someone laid out my sleeping bag and walked me over to it. I just sat there, not moving, but watching everything. When everyone was asleep, I tiptoed to the bathroom and locked the door. I sat in there all night with the light on just staring at the door. Since then, I have learned to handle better those moments when I am bombarded with the past. Most of the time, I am able to stay focused on the moment that is now. I seldom scream or freeze. Most people who know me now don't even know. Now, I am only a freak on the inside.

*Freak = having PTSD & DID. I just didn't know it at the time. Not sure knowing it now helps, but I guess it is better than thinking of myself as a freak.

Never Let You Go by Erin Healy

Never Let You Go is a work of fiction that pulls you into the story from the first page. It is intriguing and exciting. The main character is a young mother who has suffered many tragedies in her life. She made some mistakes when she was younger, but has spent seven years turning her life around. Then several shady characters from her past converge on her life at the same time. She is presented with some difficult choices that could have dire consequences. She and the other characters grapple with some hard concepts including the battle between good and evil. I didn't want to put the book down. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys fiction with a bit of suspense.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com http://BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Snapshot Saturday

June 2009

We were camping and took a family shot before going to sleep. It took forever to get a shot with all of us in the frame. The girls wer laughing so hard.

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for today?

My Bible, singing birds, books to read, my car, my computer, doctors, friends, a home, Internet, homemade lotion, memories, money in the bank, science projects, sunshine, and telephones.

What are you thankful for today?

Which Is Better?

Today, my friend Autumn did a post titled God and Adoption that she wrote in response to a post a friend of hers wrote yesterday titled the same. Those two posts prompted this one. I hope you stop by and read their posts. If you can only read one, read this one. It is worth your time. My post is not a post on adoption. I don't feel I have the right to write that post because I was not adopted and I do not have adoptive children, nor did I give my children up for adoption. But this is my post; this is my response to their posts.

Plan A vs. Plan B: Which is Better?

First we will look at my life, my childhood. I am not going to go into details here.

Plan A would be for me to have been born into a loving, stable family. I didn't get Plan A.

Instead, I was born into the home of a self-focused adult survivor of abuse who chose to use drugs and continue the cycle of abuse. I bounced from her home to foster care to the home of my Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle, lovingly called Grandma and Grandpa.

Plan B could have been for the state to sever the rights of my mother. It would have been better for me to grow up in a group home than to grow up like I did.

An alternate Plan B could have been for the foster parents who loved me when I was 6 to have been allowed to adopt me. They would have. I know they would have because they had several former foster children who had become forever theirs.

Another Plan B could have been for my Grandparents to do what it took to make the temporary custody they had become permanent. For them to keep me from year to year instead of sending me back.

There is nothing you could say to convince me that the horrors I experienced as a child are anywhere related to God's desire for my life. That is not to say that I do not believe God used what I went through to make me who I am today. I believe He did and I believe I will never fully comprehend the horrors I did not suffer because He was protecting me even before I knew Him personally. But the life I lived was not Plan A and any one of the Plan B's out there would have been better.

For my kids, Plan A is again for them to be born into a loving, stable family. My kids didn't get Plan A, either.

Don't get me wrong, I am a good mom and I know that. I love my kids and would do anything for them. But Plan A is for them to have a loving, stable family. I was not able to give them stability for a long time. The only part of their life that was stable was that we were together.

Plan B would have been for me to give them up for adoption. I didn't and I am glad I didn't.

They only have one parent; one loving parent, but still only one. Two is better.

From my sketchy description of my childhood, it could easily be assumed that I had some learning to do on what it means to be a good parent and how to get there. Who do you think suffered the consequences of my mistakes?

We do without a lot of things. This is not all bad. Sometimes, it is. My kids don't remember, but they have been homeless. That is bad for kids. Again, they don't remember, but there have been many times I was not sure I could feed them. God always provided, but that is still not good, not Plan A.

We have moved a lot. We moved more than most military families I know. This is not good for kids.

I guess we are living in between Plan A and Plan B. Maybe my grandchildren will get Plan A.

So, which is better?

In my case, Plan B, hands down. Some people just shouldn't be parents. My mother is one of those people.

In my girls' case, this place we are living, inching closer to Plan A every day, is best. But it takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of support from people around me. It takes friends stepping up to remind me I am a good mom. It takes people being willing to give me a day off from the pressures of being everything to my kids all the time. It takes a good church. It takes financial support, more than I can muster on my own, sometimes from the government, sometimes from the church, sometimes from individuals. It takes faith. But most of all, it takes commitment from me to do the right thing, to not only be a mother, but a good mom.

Plan A is usually better, except for when it is completely unattainable. Adoption is the best Plan B there is. It provides children with what they don't get when their Plan A fails. There. That's my ambiguous answer.

The Tree

The other day, I read a post on another blog about climbing trees. She shared a memory filled with happiness and security which made me think of my own childhood experiences with climbing trees. If you want to read about a happy memory, I suggest you read her story, not mine. This post is more graphic than most. Seriously, you might not want to read it.

When I was 11, there was a tree I liked to climb. It grew in the trailer park we lived in. I would run out of the house early in the morning, before anyone was awake, and climb that tree. I would climb so high and nestle myself within the branches so well that no one would know I was there even if they were standing under the tree looking up.

I felt safe there.

No one could touch me.

No one could find me.

I could see my house and all of the neighbors. I could hear when Dino or Mother would call my name. I knew when she left for work and when he began to be angry that I was not coming home. I knew when all of the neighbors came and went and when they went to bed. I knew if they yelled at their kids, and often what they had for dinner. None of that mattered when I was in the tree.

I was protected.

I was hidden.

I was safe.

I was untouchable.

I would stay in the tree well into the night, past the time that Mother came home from work, past the time that they and all the neighbors went to bed. It didn't matter that I was hungry. Nothing mattered except the feeling of security and control I had while I sat in the tree.

No one could find me.

No one could touch me.

No one could hurt me.

My life when I wasn't in the tree was hell. Dino would torment me in many ways. He would withhold food and water. He would beat me, sometimes until I was unconscious. He would dictate what I could or could not wear. He was the one who decided when I was allowed to go to the bathroom. He controlled who I saw and what I did with them when I saw them. He would rape me, repeatedly and force me to seduce him. He would say vile and cruel things to me. He was a monster. The tree was my refuge.

I was hidden.

I was safe.
I was protected.

No one could touch me.
No one could find me.

No one could hurt me.

Beginning To Live Again

FigNewTon started life as a timid child. She clung to my legs if she wasn't in my arms. She was somewhat scared of her own shadow. In fact, her nickname as a toddler was Piglet.

At about the age of seven, she began to show a little courage. She began to try new things and experiment. She began to relax a little. She stopped viewing the world as such a dangerous place and began to see the possibilities in life. She even climbed a tree, once.

Then at age eight, she got sick. She stayed that way for four years. Her life was ruled by doctors, medicine, and illness. It was somewhat ruled by fear. We had to avoid situations that could make her sicker. We had lots of "what ifs" to contemplate. It was also ruled by courage. A child, a family, cannot face those things and not show courage. She didn't recognize it as courage and truthfully, neither did I. We both just saw it as surviving.

Almost two years ago, she got better. Just like that. Almost overnight. We thought she was going to die and then we were all amazed that she was not only still alive, but thriving. Almost a year ago, this began to sink in for me. She is thriving.

I think she gets it now. Saturday, we were visiting a friend and she asked to climb a tree. It is a good thing she asked my friend as I was sitting there amazed that she even asked. I don't think I could have answered. I was seeing everything she went through and thankful that she was not only alive, but beginning to live again.

Yes, my sweet little angel, you can climb a tree!

Leo Tolstoy

"Happy families are all alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Snapshot Saturday

March 21, 2010

FigNewTon was performing an ASL Solo at church. She signed Love in Any Language by Sandi Patty. She was in a Fine Arts Festival the following weekend. She has been invited to attend the National competition.

If you would like to join me and do a Snapshot Saturday of your own, just paste the link below somewhere in your post and let me know in the comments so I can stop by your blog to see it, please. :)

<a href="http://abitmorethanajournal.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" style="WIDTH: 225px; HEIGHT: 195px" alt="Snaphot Saturday" width="317" src="http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww238/stephifr/color.jpg" height="213" /></a>

Helen Keller

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it."

Thursurdays

FigNewTon coined a phrase for days like yesterday, which seem to only happen on Thursdays around here. She said, "I don't like Thursurdays." That is the term for Thursdays when we have to do all of the Thursday things like go to the city for appointments, have Girl Scouts, and do school as well as Saturday things like clean the church and run errands in the city. I don't much like Thursurdays, either, but I love the Saturdays that follow them when the responsibilities are few and the chance to relax is greatly appreciated. :)

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for today?

• Our car, safe travels to and from everywhere we went today
• My girls, they are cooperative and smart, understanding and obedient
• That we cleaned the church today and don't have to do it this weekend
• Girl scouts
• Craft stores
• Internet and ideas
• Microwave dinners
• Movies
• Friends
• Prayers of God's people

What are you thankful for today?

Russian proverb

"There can be no good without evil."

Francis Bacon

"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present."

Francois de la Roche Foucauld

"The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body. After all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind."

Eleanor Roosevelt

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

Washington Irving

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and of unspeakable love."

Buttons

Yesterday, my friend Stephanie and I worked on creating new buttons for my blog. We created a new button for Butterfly.

There's an explanation for everything that we chose to put on the button from the picture to the caption. Especially if you are new to my blog or don't know exactly what is going on with her, you might want to read them. For the picture, the explanation is in the comments to the post I referenced. Tricia captured both the essence of Butterfly's blogname and what I feel God is doing in terms of her healing in this proverb, "Just when the caterpillar though the world was over, it became a butterfly." Sometimes with Butterfly's TBI, it seems as if the world is over, or at least the world as I expected it to be. Sometimes it seems as if her healing will never come. In her comment, Debbie so eloquently put into words exactly what I feel. I would really appreciate it if you took Butterfly's button back to your blog to remind you and the people who read your blog to pray for her healing.

<a href="http://www.abitmorethanajournal.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img style="WIDTH: 195px; HEIGHT: 195px" height="213" alt="Waiting for a miracle" src="http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww238/stephifr/MJ.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" height="213" /></a>

We also created one for Snapshot Saturday. That one was kind of fun for me to see evolve from a picture that I wasn't pleased with to something I was excited about. Thanks for all your help Stephanie!

Also, I thought it would be nice if I you would click on some of the buttons I have in my sidebar and learn a bit about their struggles as well. Each of these people would covet your prayers for God's healing and provision in their lives.

Thank you. May God bless you and yours.

Snapshot Saturday

February 2010

FigNewTon was frying bacon for the first time by herself. She has always been too scared of the grease popping to try it before now.

If you would like to join me and do a Snapshot Saturday of your own, just paste the link below somewhere in your post and let me know in the comments so I can stop by your blog to see it, please. :)

<a href="http://abitmorethanajournal.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" style="WIDTH: 225px; HEIGHT: 195px" alt="Snaphot Saturday" width="317" src="http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww238/stephifr/color.jpg" height="213" /></a>

Stephen King

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."

Lessons I Learned From The Lion King

Shadows, shadowy places, and shady people should be avoided. God calls us to live in the light. The blessings of God are there for us to be enjoyed.

Our actions affect everyone we come into contact with.

Some of the most memorable lessons a parent can teach a child do not involve anger and punishment, but love and gentle guidance. On that same note, children need to be protected from the evil in this world.

Family has more to do with relationship than it does with birth and blood. Autumn has reinforced this belief many times in many ways over the last seven years.

Sometimes it takes time spent in the desert, separated from others that you rely on, to mature you. God uses this time to prepare you for His plans and purposes. If you want a biblical example of this, consider Moses in the book of Exodus.

Sometimes it takes someone else to show you the truth about who you are. It is easy to get stuck seeing who you were and not see how much you have changed.

The mistakes and heartaches of the past should be learned from but not run from. Neither should you live there. Live in the present. My favorite scene is this one.

Secrets are often uglier than the truth revealed. Things remembered are often clouded by our perceptions, beliefs, and things others have said. There is freedom in revealing the truth.

Some things are worth fighting for.

Some people never need to be trusted or given second chances. This is not to say that you should hold on to anger, hurt, or unforgiveness. Rather that wisdom should be used when deciding whether or not to grant trust and second chances to those who have repeatedly hurt you.

New life can come from ashes and ruins. God is truly in control.

Have you learned any lessons from unlikely places lately?

Cory Doctorow

"All secrets are deep. All secrets become dark. That's in the nature of secrets."

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for today?

Today I am thankful for distraction, faith, forgiveness, friends, grace, love, mercy, my pastor, spontenaity, sunshine, zoos and zoo passes. I am also thankful that children grow up. ;)

What are you thankful for today?

Mark Twain

"Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one who inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it."

Terry Pratchett

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."

Today

Today I am breathing in and breathing out.
Today I am enjoying the sunshine on my face.
Today I am preparing dinner with Butterfly.
Today I am letting FigNewTon skate even though she threw a fit.
Today I am teaching math and english and science to my girls.
Today I am planting seeds for our garden.
Today I am filling out paperwork that is insanely complicated.
Today I am praying for many of my friends whose lives are overwhelming.
Today I am resting in the promise that God is who He says He is.
Today I am refusing to be consumed with yesterday or tomorrow.

Rose Kennedy

"It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue, and the pain lessens, but it is never gone."

The Map by David Murrow

I have recently agreed to review books for Thomas Nelson publishers. They send me a book for free on the condition that I read it and write a review of it here and at another site. I like the free book part. :)

The Map begins as a work of fiction about a man going on a journey to find a map. The premise that the book is written on is that the men of today are disenchanted with church because it is too feminine. Mixed in with the fiction is instruction on how to counteract this problem. The book states that there are three directions a man must travel in order to become great. The author bases this conclusion on the pattern of Jesus life presented in the book of Matthew.

There is a bit of intrigue and a bit of suspense in the fictional part of the book. Mostly, though, it is just dry. It is as if the author is trying too hard to create the story. The premise that the story is based on is a good one and would have been able to stand on its own without the fiction. As I was reading the first section, I had to force myself to continue because the plot moved too slowly. Once I reached the part of the book that was just the explanation, it was interesting and easy to read. Although it was written for men, the truths presented are applicable to women as well.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com http://BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Dragons

G. K. Chesterton
"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."

No wonder I didn't believe in fairy tales. My dragons could not be defeated.

So Yesterday

This evening, the girls and I were playing TriOminos. I had just had to draw 24 tiles when FigNewTon played a tile that prohibited me from playing my largest tile and I acted hugely offended. She looked stricken, like she wasn't sure if she should take it back so I started saying, "Breathe, breathe, everyone breathe." Butterfly came back with, "Breathing is so yesterday" and we all started laughing so hard we could barely breathe.

So there you have it folks, breathing is so yesterday!

Happy Easter!

Snapshot Saturday

July 2009

FigNewTon had the opportunity to enter a dog show with a friend's dog. They received a second place ribbon for Kelly being "best kisser." We really had no notice that this event was happening and she had no opportunity to work with Kelly prior to the event. She has attempted to train him a bit since then, with little success. She had so much fun that day.

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I have not quite figured out how to make the button work. I think I have the code right, but I am having trouble getting the picture to show up on the button. I will keep working on it.

Hair Dye

Last night, we attempted to dye our hair teal. I have a friend who is fighting ovarian cancer and teal is the color of ovarian cancer awareness. So, as a way to remind her that we are praying for her and as a way to encourage her, we, a rather large group of her friends, decided to dye our hair teal. My family did not participate when the larger group dyed their hair because FigNewTon's hair needed to be a more natural color for her competition. Well, FigNewTon ended up with light green highlights. Butterfly looks a bit like Rainbow Bright with various shades of blonde, pink, red, orange, green, purple, and blue in her hair. I have a very green streak in my hair. Not quite the outcome we were looking for, but it will still be a constant reminder to pray for my friend every time I look at my girls or look in the mirror. In the end, goal accomplished.

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for today?

I am thankful for spring weather. Sunshine. Birds chirping. Warmth. Plants sprouting.

I am thankful for our garden.

I am thankful that FigNewTon gets to go ice skating. I am thankful that someone donated their old dresses to the rink and the rink gave them to her.

I am thankful for our church. I am thankful that she had the opportunity to go to Fine Arts Festival last weekend.

I am thankful for time to spend one on one with Butterfly.

I am thankful for Jesus.

What are you thankful for today?