Thursday, March 24, 2011

This is the stuff I love...

I like Francesca Battistelli's new song,"This is the stuff."  It opens with this line, "I lost my keys in the great unknown, and call me, please, 'cause I can't find my phone..."  I laugh because that sounds just like me!  It seems like every day my phone goes missing and my keys disappear regularly (at times carried off by our dog, and once actually hidden in a shoe by little Jed), usually when we are hurrying out the door.  The song continues,


"This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use"

It's so true that I can get caught up in the stuff that "drives me crazy" instead of focusing on "how big I'm blessed," especially as we blaze through life at breakneck speeds.  Yes, God uses these things to draw us closer to Him as we lean on Him.  I laugh along with this song and the things of life that can make me crazy, but it gets me thinking about all the blessings in my life.  How blessed I am, how loved by God!  These are in no particular order...

So here is a list of *some* of the "stuff I love," or "how big I'm blessed":
I love my little 18-month-old Jedidiah's little kisses.  He smacks me right on the lips and even makes the smoochie noise!

I love watching my children play together as they create a new game, collaborate on a song to sing, jump on the trampoline, build a fort, go on a hike on our property...

I love living on this little farm.  In the mornings, I hear birds singing, chickens cackling, our little miniature donkeys greeting me with their calls, the horses' whinnies...

I love homeschooling my children and getting to spend so much time with them building into their lives.  

I love watching Tehillah Grace (6) hug a miniature donkey around the neck.

I love seeing my children playing in the haystack (jump!).
I love seeing my 13-year-old daughter swinging on the swing hung from a large oak tree near our house. 

I love hearing my husband wrestling with the children upstairs.

I love that after 16 years of marriage (and 8 children), my dear husband and I still feel like newlyweds.

I love watching my 10-year-old son play soccer, which is his favorite thing to do...

I love looking out my kitchen window and seeing my 12-year-old girl riding a horse in my own backyard.

I love it when my little donkeys come up to the glass door on the back porch, looking in as if to say, "May I come in and be with you?"

I love taking a walk down our long driveway to get the mail with the little children.

I love baking with my 9-year-old little girl.  She is an amazing little baker already!  

I love candles burning all around the downstairs of our little house, making me feel warm inside.

I love waking up early, reading/studying my Bible, and drinking my coffee all alone with God... my quiet times so important to me.

I love a good cup of tea in the afternoon (or lately a smoothie).

I love it when my sweet 3-year-old boy comes into my bed in the middle of the night to snuggle with us and "snore in my ear."

I love seeing Enoch, my 7-year-old boy, tenderly holding his bunny or his mouse, or gently kissing his baby brother on the head at night before bed.  He has a sweet, tender heart that I love.

I love watching Simeon, the 3-year-old boy, riding his little green tractor behind daddy's big green tractor, or seeing him go on a tractor ride with daddy.  Jedidiah has joined in on this lately (so sweet!).

I love that we live in a free country where we can worship God freely and teach our children about Him.

As I write, more and more sweet images keep coming to mind, but I must go get started on the day with the children.

How blessed we are to know God!  How blessed we are in so many ways.  I pray today that I would focus less on the "stuff that drives me crazy" and focus on those things that I love! 


                                                    Like father like son...


                                            Tehillah Grace with Dusty the mini donkey

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