ALWAYS GIVE THANKS FOR EVERYTHING...

"Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph. 5:20

Hi Friends,

While homeschooling today, this was our memory verse. It hit me that it's often easier to be thankful when life seems to be going your way. It can be more challenging to be thankful when life seems difficult at best! But this is God's Word and it seems to me that the two important words are -- ALWAYS and EVERYTHING! So, I do thank God for everything always whether it seems good or bad to me. Because as we established yesterday -- I'm just a silly little sheep who often doesn't know the whole plan!

So, the kids and I made lists of some things we're thankful for today. Thought you might like it if I shared:

Molly: "my friends, my family, myself, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, my pets, Barbie dolls, reading, horseback riding, drawing, the rain, and spring...."

Nate: "my pets, my family, my friends, our house, the land, my cozy bed, the world, my MP3, my PS2, my Xbox, the Wii..."

Isaac: "my mom, my dad, Itty Bitty Kitty, BoBo, my bed, Bingo, my house, my Jesus, my friend, my laptop..."

Michele: "sleep and being able to wake up early this morning; housecleaners who not only clean my messy house, but pray for me when I'm in the hospital; Isaac snuggling under his blankie holding Snuggles his bear; warm blankets fresh from the dryer; Molly's beautiful braided hair and the sound of her reading out loud; Itty Bitty Kitty snuggling under the covers with me; Bo Bo trapped in my closet and meowing for release; a mountain man for a husband; Nate's chocolate face after eating donuts that Bill brought home; a nice,knowledgable new Home Healthcare Nurse arriving today; and Finally -- We're all home together and safe for the weekend with a soft rain falling outside!!!"

So, it's only 4:30 and I already have so much to be thankful for. It's an interesting exercise in perspective. Focus on the good and be thankful for everything -- even the bad. It's God's plan, not mine...thank goodness, 'cause I'd likely mess it up :-0

I was up early this morning -- still not getting much sleep. Cameron is awfully surprised to see me each morning at 6:45 when he gets up. In the past, I would have still been sleeping. Today the cleaners came at 9:30 a.m., and they were so glad to see me. We have a slight communication barrier (English-Spanish), but Molly told me last week they asked about me, and then stopped to pray together for my health before starting to clean.

I took advantage of my early morning energy by homeschooling. With Bill's help (it was his day off), we were done by 1 p.m. At that point, my new nurse came by and stayed for about an hour getting my history and doing intake. She's great and will be a good match for me with previous experience in neurology and pain management. She'll be back on Monday to change my PICC line dressing and draw blood, so that the doctors have it by Wednesday when they need to make their "Grand Plans" for me. Other than that, no interesting news. My vitals were OK, not great -- but OK. Still having problems with my lungs -- very decreased on the left side especially. Oh well, who really needs 2 lungs? I'm sure they'll figure something out!

Bill had a doctor's appointment today, and they upped his meds for his Parkinson's. We're quite a pair! After that he picked up Cam from school and they stopped at SpudNuts and brought us all donuts home for an after-school snack. The weather is rainy outside right now! And I guess traffic was crazy here in the usually sunny California!

I'm just laying here in my pjs and resting in bed. I have no other plans for the night. More tomorrow...

Much Love,
Michele