30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 30

As I wrap up my posts for 30 Days of Thanksgiving, today I am thankful for the Word of God... also known as the Bible.   I've heard it said that it stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth... and how true that is!  I choose to stand on the Word of God!

"Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments."  Psalm 119: 104-106

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 29

Today, I am thankful for flip flops and summer-time shoes.  And, I am really missing wearing them everyday!  Since I am a teacher, I am on my feet most of the day and this week my feet have really been hurting!  It's probably mostly due to the fact that they need to readjust to standing all day... I was tracked out for 3 weeks and then had 2 short weeks, so this is the first full week of school since 6 weeks ago.  I know people think I am crazy, but my most comfortable pair of shoes are really a pair of crocs flip flops.  I have worn them to such places that require a lot of walking such as the NC Zoo and State Fair and my feet never bothered me once.  I wish I could wear flipflops in the winter too!  (I know that technically I could, but my feet would probably be really cold... although I do have a few pairs of socks with toes...haha :) ) 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 28

Today I am thankful for the power of prayer!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Days 25-27

Day 25: I am thankful for good sleep!

Day 26:  I am thankful for ice cream!  Chocolate.  With Peanut-butter.  Nuff said!

Day 27:  I am thankful for my senses, particularly smell. I love it when I smell something that carries me off to a happy place. Right now, I am loving a warm baked goods scented candle.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 24

Today I am thankful for pajamas and gas logs!  I know that sounds a little silly, but I do love my pj's and have been obsessed with the gas logs ever since we finally got gas to run them.  Tonight as it has been so cold, it has been nice to just put on my pj's and wrap up on the couch and enjoy a warm fire in the fireplace. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 23

Today I am thankful for vacation days from school/work.  I am very thankful and fortunate to have a job, but I really enjoy the days off... especially when Tim and I are both off and are able to spend the day together. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 22

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today, I am thankful for the most wonderful gift of all... Salvation! 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 16-21

Oops, I got behind on the blog again, but here is what I have been thankful for....

Day 16: The Beach!  I LOVE the beach... it is a place I can go to relax and reflect on the awe inspiring beauty of all that the Lord has created.  (And, I wish I was there now!)

Day 17:  Food.  By looking at me, that is probably pretty obvious.... yes, I enjoy food.  One of my favorite meals is Crazy Fire Mongolian Grill, where Tim and I ate dinner this night.   I am very thankful the Lord provides so well! 

Day 18:  Cable TV.  I am thankful to be able to afford this luxury.  I love it when I can spend a Saturday watching Hallmark movies... especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Day 19:  Pillows!  I am thankful to have a soft place to rest...especially on a cold Sunday afternoon when I need a nap... :)

Day 20:  Laughter.  My favorite tv show of all-time is The Cosby Show and one of my favorite shows to watch lately has been reruns of Friends.   These shows make me laugh so much... and laughing makes me feel so good.  I am grateful that God created us with the ability to experience laughter.. He surely knew what He was doing!

Day 21:  Childhood Memories.  With Thanksgiving Day coming up tomorrow, I have been thinking about past Thanksgivings and other occasions with my family and friends and all throughout my childhood.  I was blessed with a fantastic childhood and am grateful to be able to experience it again with my memories.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 14

Sometimes there are things I don't really want to do, but feel the Lord tugging at my heart and reluctantly I do them because I feel like I should even though my heart isn't really in it.  Today I am thankful for the unexpected blessings that the Lord provides.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 15

Today I am thankful for my car.  Sometimes I wish I had a brand new car or I get frustrated when some random light comes on or irritated that I have to take the time to have routine maintenance done, but all in all it is a good car and it gets the job done.  I am glad that I have the transportation that I need to get me around from place to place. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 13

Today I am thankful for my education.  I am grateful to my parents for providing me with the encouragement and opportunity to go to college.  They pushed me along in high school knowing that I would not be satisfied without an education.  I believe that college is really one of the most eye-opening experiences that a person can have, both academically and socially.  Without an education, I would not be allowed to do what I have been called to do... teach others. 

They'll never stop asking for money...

And, if I had not gone to NC State, I would not have met my sweet and silly husband...

 

 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Days 7-12

Well, I got behind on my blogging over the last several days, but that doesn't mean I forgot to be thankful.  Here is what I have been thankful for:

Day 7:  Friends, old and new!  I am so blessed to have wonderful friends. 

Day 8:  My Church Family!  I feel blessed that I have had 2 wonderful church families in my life- those from Eller Memorial Baptist Church in Greensboro where I grew up and those at Wildwood Free Will Baptist Church in Garner where Tim and I are now. 

Day 9:  My health!  I am thankful for my health.  About 12 years ago, it was discovered that I have an elevated platelet count, and that it is somehow related to iron deficiency anemia.  For several years I had to be under the care of a hematology oncologist who monitored the situation and finally just determined that this is just the way I am and that it is not attributed to any other type of serious blood disorder or cancer.  It was very scary going into that office and seeing all those people who had cancer and looking around and noticing that I was usually the youngest person there.  It was absolutely heart-breaking.  Fortunately, through God's grace, now I only take iron (lots of it) and my doctor monitors my iron and platelets every few months.  My latest report a few weeks ago was very good! 

Day 10:  Time spent with my family!  I have been blessed over the past few days to spend time with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and niece.  My niece is so very sweet and adorable.  I got to babysit her a while and hold her a good amount during my visit.  She is always so content and peaceful.  Both times I was feeding her a bottle, she quickly went right off to dreamland.  I like to think it is because she was just so happy and relaxed in my arms. :) 

Day 11:  My job!  Like everyone, there are days when I am not so fond of my job... or any job.. because I just don't want to do work.  But, I am grateful that I have a job, especially in these trying times.  I am also thankful that my job is getting to teach children, and if only in a small way, impacting lives.  I truly believe the Lord has called me to this profession and more specifically to teaching science.  I know that sounds a little crazy, given my dislike for science and my love of math, but that is exactly why I believe it is the Lord's will for me to teach science...because it keeps happening, despite my every effort to get away from it (haha!). 

Day 12:  Our House!  Tim and I have a beautiful house.  Really, it is more than we need but it is a place that we hope that we can one day soon raise a family.  More importantly we are grateful that we have a place to lay our heads and provide shelter from the elements because unfortunately, in this day in time there are many people who don't have anywhere to keep them safe and call home. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 6

Today I am thankful that I am an American.  I am blessed to be free!  I am grateful to those who have fought, some who even lost their lives, and continue to fight to defend that freedom. 

And, in case you have never seen it, I highly recommend that you check out the movie Monumental done by Kirk Cameron.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 5

Today I am thankful for our dog, Bowen.  He is a part of our family and we love him dearly. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4

Today I am thankful for my in-laws and extended family, even those who are no longer with us, but have left a mark on my life and in my heart.  I am very blessed to have had close relationships with  my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I am also grateful that Tim's family has embraced me and taken me in and allowed me to build close relationships with them.   

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 3

Today I am thankful for my immediate family- Daddy, Mother, Tim, Gerry, Elaine, and Ali.  My parents are the absolute best parents in the world!  Words cannot describe the joy I feel in my heart when I think of what my parents mean to me.  I am so blessed to have been raised in such a loving, Christian home.  I hope that one day, Tim and I are able to follow their example with a family of our own.  I am also blessed to have a great brother, who even though we didn't always get along, stood up for me when I was a kid.  He has always supported me in whatever I did and I am glad that today I can call him my friend.  He married a terrific lady, who I am so happy to call my sister and friend.  Recently, they have made me a very proud aunt of my adorable niece, Ali.   

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;   Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.   Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.   For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.   Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.   Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;   That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,   That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.   For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:   For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”  Ephesians 5:20-31  

Today I am thankful for my husband, Tim.  It has been almost exactly 13 years since we met (it was sometime between Thanksgiving and end-of-semester final exams in 1999, but I don't remember the exact date.)  I cannot believe it has been that long!  We have been together for 11 years and married 7 1/2 years.  I knew early on that Tim was the man I was meant to marry and spend the rest of my life with, although it took a little longer for him to realize that (haha).  Over these past 13 years, I have watched this man grow and change in so many ways.  Most importantly, I have seen him grow in Christ!  I am so proud of this man that I have married, and so thankful for his love for Christ and then for me.

sometime in 2000

during our engagement 2004-2005

 

2006

2012

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 1

Over the past few weeks, I have heard several people refer to Thursday as "Thankful Thursday."  The first time I heard it, I stopped for a minute and thought that's pretty cool... but we need to be thankful more often.  Of course, life continued to happen and it slipped my mind until the next Thursday when I heard it again.  I thought I really need to make more of an effort to be thankful, but once again life took over.  So now, it is Thursday again and while I haven't heard anyone say "Thankful Thursday" today, I have seen several friends on Facebook posting about 30 Days of Thanksgiving.  So, I have decided that I am going to jump on the bandwagon... because I feel the Lord has been speaking to me, reminding me to be Thankful for the many blessings in my life. 

Today I am Thankful for my faith in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Ephesians 2:8 (KJV) 

Check out the video/song "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless. 

  

Ministry

"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
                                                                Matthew 28:16-20 

I have Jesus Christ, a REAL and LIVING SAVIOR. And over the past 2 years, the Lord has really been working in mine and Tim's lives.   I learn more and more each day how truly blessed I am to be married to Tim, a man who is God-fearing with a servant's heart.  Back in August, Tim answered the calling to preach.  He has since become a Licensed Preacher by our church through the Western Conference of the Original Free Will Baptists.  Our families, church family, and friends have been so supportive and encouraging to both of us and we ask that you all please continue to remember us in prayer.  We are thankful for the opportunities God has already provided and look forward to seeing what else He has in store!

In case anyone is wondering- Tim is still working for the City of Raleigh.  He is currently taking classes at Carolina Bible Institute & Seminary.  He still has several hours of courses to take before he can be ordained (it will take a few years).  Who knows where the Lord will lead...       

Cookin'

Most people who know me, know that I am not a "cook."  It seems that every year around this time, I get this hankerin' to want to start cooking and I get ambitious.  This year is no exception, although I have made simplicity my goal this time around.  My most recent adventure was yesterday when I made chicken pastry, following instructions given to me by a good friend.  It was great!  And, I think it was even better tonight when we had it as leftovers, although Tim said he liked it the first time around better.  Anyway, it was a super easy "recipe" and one I will surely use again!  Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, no, I did not actually make the pastry strips from scratch (why mess up what Anne makes so well!)  Tomorrow I plan to try a Tortilla Soup recipe that I found here. 

I'm an Aunt

And Tim is an uncle!  My brother and sister-in-law welcomed my beautiful niece Francisca Alicia Hornaday (Ali) into the world on October 18, 2012 at 7:10pm.  Unfortunately, I was not able to be there (in Maryland) when she was born, but I did get to go see her a few days later.  She's so cute and tiny!  I love her so much already and am so excited to get to be a part of her life!  I can't wait to see her again... I really wish they lived closer!

Bloggin' Again

Well, hello there!  I have decided to try blogging again... not that I think people are all that eager to read about what is going on in our lives, but maybe there is someone out there who is interested.  And if not, that's ok too... it will be a nice little journal for me.  So, here we go again...