I was thinking about how some of the hard things I’ve gone through in my life taught me exactly what I needed to learn.
So can’t I trust God to also teach my loved ones exactly what they need to learn without help from me?
I’m thankful for our local Christian radio station. This morning I made a list of some new songs that really encouraged me. I think I’m going to buy some CDs.
Sometimes, we need truth to be affirmed. There’s no better way to do that than through song. It gets those truths past your head and into your heart.
I love it that I literally live in a spacious place. I can go for a walk around my lake, and it’s… spacious.
Just like the verse:
“He brought me out into a spacious place.
He rescued me because he delighted in me.”
I’m on the ballot to be on the 2019 Newbery Committee!
And you know what? However it turns out, that’s a very cool thing!
I was on the ballot three years ago, and missed the cut-off by 15 votes. But I’m glad now that I’ve tried again.
I was thinking of things in my life that I didn’t get the first time I tried. It took me three tries to get accepted to the William Morris Book Evaluation Seminar in 2012. It took me three tries to get to be a Cybils judge. And I applied for a job I didn’t get before I got chosen to work for Fairfax County Public Library.
I really hope it won’t take me three tries to get on the Newbery committee. I hope it will only take two tries.
But I’m happy about the possibility. And I’m happy that I tried for it again.
And honestly? This is a better time in my life. Being on the Newbery Committee, when you really need to spend every spare minute reading — for a year — would make having an Empty Nest an asset rather than something to be sad about. (Though I for one won’t mind if Murphy’s Law kicks in and I meet someone first. But if I don’t, my life will be easier.)
And did I mention I’m happy for the possibility? It just cheers me up if I start feeling down… for any reason at all.
I am thankful for this every year, but this year I almost didn’t get one. We got just enough snow to make for a lovely walk. And I stayed home and enjoyed it. And it was glorious.
Crazy 8s Math Club went great again today.
I love watching young children learning math concepts while having fun! It just makes me happy.
This is an easy one on a Sunday. I’m so thankful that my small group can meet at my house. And that I have no doubt in my mind that they love me and care about me. And they, in turn, mean so much to me.
Today, at the Family Math Games program I hosted at the library, some two-year-olds were present, and started playing together with some plastic cars while their mothers watched. I heard the moms introduce themselves to each other. One mother was from Morocco and the other from Korea. I loved that they got to meet at the library.
I’ve gotten out of the habit of posting these and am trying to start up again. It always makes it hard to restart, because I feel like the next blessing has to be something momentous. So I will just take the small blessing that just happened.
Because of a couple different conversations (both bad and good), I was reminded of Patricia Evans’ book, Victory Over Verbal Abuse. I took it out and was reviewing the concepts. I’d completely forgotten about the affirmations in the back. But tonight I started in on them again — and they are healing!
I’ve come a long way, I feel very healed, very transformed. But the affirmations are still such nice reminders! The first one is, “I am self-defining.” No one else has the right to tell me who I am. How lovely that I’m now in a place where few even try. And I get to define myself and listen to what God says about me, His loved child.