PanaMOM

I pray that everyone is having an amazing day of gratitude!!

My day started out with a trip to the gym- trying to get this body back in shape!  While I was fighting against the treadmill, I pondered thankfulness.  What am I most thankful for this holiday season?  Hmm...

Yesterday, I had the privilege to share at the Christian school's chapel.  I get to do this about twice a month, and it is the highlight of the week for me.  Yesterday, we talked about giving thanks in *all* things. (I Thess 5:18) Both the good things and the bad should lead us to gratitude.  I told the kids that thankfulness can come from the realization that all things work together for our good.  (Romans 8:28)

Still on the treadmill, I pondered that truth.  All things work together for our good.  Even the bad things.  What am I thankful for?  Hmm...

12 years ago, we told our families that we were expecting our first baby.  Baby Chloe was just a few gestational weeks old, but we were already so thankful for her …

My computer's hard drive crashed, and then, the internet went out.  I haven't been blogging, because I couldn't!  Woohoo!!  Not my fault!!  ;)

Coralynn, after seeing her old infant carrier carseat in my closet:  Momma, dat my seat por bee-bees?
Me:  Yes.  You are Momma's baby, and that was your seat.
Bits:  I not tur bee-bee.  I da big durl.
Me:  Okay.  Your Momma's big girl.
Bits:  I put my bee-bees in it?
Me:  Nope.  It's not a toy.


*I go back to getting ready for the day.*

Bits:  Momma, I get married, and den I put my bee-bees in it?
Me:  Sure, Baby.  You can put your babies in it.

Sweet Jesus, thank you for this precious big girl!  Keep her close to You, and grow her into a Momma that loves You!

As anyone who spends anytime on social media knows, November is the month of giving daily thanks.  I sit down to facebook and read all that people are thankful for each day.  At first glance, I love this "tradition."  We all need to spend more time in gratitude.  But as I read the lists of praises, I begin to question whether this exercise in thankfulness has become an opportunity to one-up each other.  Not unlike some people's Christmas letters feel like an attempt to prove that one's life is more blessed, more significant, more more than someone else's life, are these praises really just about making us feeling better about ourselves?  I'm confident that most people truly are simply thankful and want to share in this month of thanks, but everyone?  I don't know.  Does it matter?  I don't know that one, either.

I do know, however, that I want to be part of praising the Lord.  Not because of a trend or a tradition.  Not because of what He's given …

It is the first Saturday in November, and I'm still trying to get caught up on life in October!  I promised myself that we were not going to be as busy this year as we were last year, but apparently that was just wishful thinking!

Between the cruise, Tony's birthday, a youth retreat and normal life, the blog has fallen by the wayside.  Again.  But, November we're going to refocus on keeping the blog updated because so much is happening!  Please join us in praying about what the Lord would have us do after we finish our time in Panama.  There have been so many twists and turns in that journey that we certainly appreciate prayers for straight paths!!

One "new" thing we started this fall was giving the kids an allowance.  I've always been opposed to allowances for a myriad of reasons, but, for a different myriad of reasons, we decided it was time for them to start managing their own money.  Allowances began in September, and I have been mostly pleased with the d…