tagging along...

I was tagged by my dear friend, Stephanie, to post my 7th picture from my 7th folder. I only have pictures from the past year loaded on my computer, so chances of my getting a picture of the kids was a good one. I was so happy that it was a picture of all three of them. As I opened the picture, a smile spread across my face and into my heart. My sweet and sassy Izzy, my heart, who is most like me (oh, my heart...). Shy, loving, curious and sly Nicky, my soul. Becca, my spirit, who is fiercely independent and spunky. My three babies. My precious ones. My little blessings.

As I go into this holiday, I am trying to focus on my many, many blessings. Preparing for Thanksgiving by preparing my heart with gratitude and praise for the God that has blessed me in so many ways. I shared my homework from No Other Gods with my sweet and honest friend, Suzanne. It asked us to list the promises we seek from God and the obstacles that we need to overcome. I listed God's promises as freedom, abundant life, peace and joy. I listed my obstacles as...me. Me and me alone. Only my worries and fear separate me from now and God's full promises and blessings. When I shared my frustration with myself and the scriptures I was claiming to fight the battle within myself, my friend all but yelled at me. No, actually, I believe she yelled. But, with love. One of the very few people that could yell at me with love. She said..."God is speaking to you. He is giving you scriptures that speak to your heart when you read His word. You are communing and communicating with the LORD. Do you know how lucky you are? (voice pitch rising...). How many people long for that? (voice pitch rising a little more...). You keep waiting for the promises when the blessings are staring at you in the face!" Or something like that.

Wow. I ended up thanking her before she left that night. Again, God was reminding me that it was choice. It wasn't going to be easy to overcome years and years of flawed thinking, but it starts with now. It starts with a choice. And it never ends. And somewhere in the middle is patience and gentleness with myself and thankfulness for His faithfulness through the growth in the journey that God has me on. I want His will...not my own. I want to be obedient. I want to praise Him through the whole journey...with a grateful heart. When I look at this picture of my three beautiful children and I think of my wonderful husband and I think of my friends...tried and true few friends that love me no matter what...I am so thankful. And I give all the glory to God for taking this seriously flawed woman and loving her enough to take her on a journey of transformation and tiny little blessings...that I just need to take the time to look for and stop to remember from Whom they come.

I tag my oldest and dear friends, Kris and Jackie...post your 8th picture from your 8th folder. And have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!