Thankful Sunday

It's been...yikes...almost 5 months since my Thankful Thursday, so even though it's not Thursday, I am very thankful and in the mood to write. I also have plenty of time to write tonight since I loaded my Crockpot up with delicious goodness (intended for lunches this week) around 4:00...then set it on low. I looked at the recipe again around 7:30 and realized it was SIX hours on low and FOUR hours for high. Bless it. This is why I can't have nice things. Since I'm sitting up waiting on that to get finished, I felt like writing something. Thus...Thankful Sunday.

Today I am thankful for...

• the wonderful and growing relationship I have with God and my awesome Jesus...we've gone on a wild ride together this past year, and I'm praying that it'll never stop!
• my sweet family and friends and the way they love me
• the feeling of being truly known and loved and thought of and prayed for...gives a girl the warm fuzzies fo sho!
• hard times, because that makes the sweet times even sweeter :)
• Angie and the way she just "gets" me...God knew what He was doing when He brought that precious little goober into my life!
• a great walk and chat with Byrne earlier this week
• my incredible church and the amazing way my life has changed since I started going there
• God's plan for my life, and reminders to trust in that COMPLETELY...sometimes very hard since the sweet little plan I've always had for myself was clearly mine and not God's :) I've gotten a lot of encouragement in this area lately and I appreciate it more than I can put into words!
• 21 Days of Prayer...it's tough to be up and at 'em and at church for a prayer meeting at 6 AM but what an unbelievably awesome way to start the day
• a great reminder at the prayer meeting yesterday to pray relentlessly and shamelessly...I was inspired to put a couple of things I had given up on back on my prayer list
• all the new friends I've made since this time last year...an answered prayer for sure 
• a precious, happy-tear-inducing message from Audry the other day...Audry, I don't know if you'll ever know how much that meant to me!
• a very productive Science planning meeting after school on Friday...yes, we stayed until after 5:00, but we have a KILLER two weeks of Science planned. Thanks for leading us, Dedra! And Melynda, I can't wait to watch you dissect that cow eyeball ;)
• my much-loved, helpful, hard-working coworkers, from one end of the (very, very long) hallway to the other
• a roof over my head, shoes on my feet, clothes in my closet, electricity, clean running water, food in my fridge, enough money to cover my needs, all my appliances and gadgets and doodads
• my job and the opportunity to be a great role model/influence to my students
• the fact that I'm only teaching Math, Science, and Social Studies this year...LOVE! That has made such a huge difference in my emotional well-being :)
• getting to serve with the awesome Hospitality team a few times each month
• adding another item to my "30 by 30" list...I'm praying that 29 is going to be my best year yet!
• this message and this one...I promise you won't regret making some time to watch them!
• this song...great reminder of how I want to live my life
• some exciting opportunities coming up to step out of my comfort zone...praying for bravery!
• my simple little life

HAPPY NEW WEEK, yall! Find something that you can make better, and get after it!