Thankful Thursday

I hope you're not tired of these. I have ambitions to pull some pictures off our camera soon, but it's not going to happen today. So, on with the main attraction.

I am thankful for...

1. A much needed three day weekend. This will be my last Friday off for a while. Summer is almost over.
   
2. The strength to make it to Friday! September is going to be LONG; good, but very long.
   
3. Panera Bread's broccoli cheddar soup and fresh lemonade. Yum!
4. A good night's rest. I missed a few of those recently, and the last night I slept incredibly well was truly a sweet gift!
5. The energy and life the college students are bringing back to campus and our neighborhood as they return. I'm sure this will become annoying quite quickly (when the loud music and frat parties keep us awake), but I really do love this time when they start trickling back and stopping by to say hi. Can you believe classes don't start here until the 8th?!
6. The times my husband picks up his guitar and just plays and sings around the house for no other reason than because he loves to play.
7. These 30 days of Ramadan in which I can join with many others around the globe to pray for God to reveal Himself anew to our beloved Muslim friends.
   

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

1. A safe trip last weekend to visit Drew & Carrie, Greg's parents, Scott & Robin, and Paul & Sheila. (Greg was able to visit some of his college friends as well -- Bryan, Elizabeth, and Huang.)
   
2. Being able to pray in person with Paul & Shelia and Scott & Robin. How encouraging and life-giving that was!
   
3. Greg's willingness to drive the more difficult portions of the trip; that 13.5 hours coming home was sooooo long!
4. Clean clothes! Thanks, Drew & Carrie and Mike & Mary for letting us make ourselves at home with your washers and dryers.
   
5. Other brothers and sisters in Christ who stand beside us and pray in faith for us when we are lacking the faith to go it alone.
6. The White Mountains. Greg and I are hoping to squeeze in a day trip this weekend for some beautiful hiking and cooler temperatures! They're not the Rockie's, but they're still beautiful.
7. A wonderful window A/C unit which has been well worth the expense on the unbearably hot days earlier this week.
   

I know I need to add some pictures, but that's more than I can handle right now, AND I forgot our camera on our trip! Ah!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

1. My husband's amazing homemade smoothies. I admit they're much better for me than the chocolate malts I like to make. (But they're not quite Jamba Juice.)
   
2. A job that is cyclical. I love change, so having work responsibilities completely change every couple months is refreshing!
3. Hope that is ever constant, never failing -- grounded in the promises of my God and fulfilled through my Lord, Jesus Christ.
4. Healthy plants that truly brighten a room.
5. A few minutes to chat on the phone this afternoon with my friend Jennifer in Turkey.
6. Friends at work who make my 9-5 just that much better.
7. A car that, though it is old ('96), will (hopefully) take us to Erie, PA; Novi, MI; and Ann Arbor, MI this weekend.

(Apparently, you're supposed to write seven, not ten. ;)

Draw Me Nearer

I've recently been finding much meaning in this song by Meredith Andrews. I couldn't find it on youtube, so for now, I'll just share the lyrics.

For your nearness Lord I hunger
For your nearness Lord I wait
Hold me ever closer Father
Such a love I can’t escape

For your nearness I am hoping
For your nearness Lord I long
Have no need of any other
I have found where I belong
Yes, I have found where I belong

So draw me nearer Lord
Never let me go
Closer to your heart
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer Lord

In your nearness there is healing
What was broken now made whole
Restoration in its fullness
Lasting hope for all who come

In your nearness I take shelter
Where you are is where I’m home
I have need of only one thing
To be here before your throne
To be here before your throne

So draw me nearer Lord
Never let me go
Closer to your heart
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer Lord

And keep me here, keep me here
There’s nowhere else I'd rather be
So keep me here, keep me here
There’s nowhere else I'd rather be
There’s nowhere else I'd rather be

So draw me nearer Lord
Never let me go
Closer to your heart
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer my Lord

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

1. Drinkable tap water (after a little filtering).
2. An employer within a few minutes walk from home. I love having the ability to go home for lunch!
   
3. My husband who gets excited with me about starting a family one day. This has been long coming, but Greg diligently sought the Lord and is now excited to some day be a daddy.
4. Incredible health care and access to some of the best specialists in the world.
5. Friends and family who are joining us in asking the Lord for a child.
6. Fresh fruit, especially strawberries and pineapples and grapes as of late.
7. Nick & Deb who live around the corner from us.
8. Seasons. Or rather, I'm thankful that winter does not last forever.
   
9. Access to the ocean. We don't get there as often as I would hope, but just having that sea air waft our way is wonderful.
   
10. A great bike path near our house which just happens to go right by my favorite pizza place.
    

Tribute to Steve

Three of my co-workers at the 2008 Tufts Career Fair
Debbie, Steve, & Janine

Today is my teammate's last day at work. He will be greatly missed, more than he can probably imagine. He's been an incredible teammate, always full of creative ideas and more than willing to do what it takes to implement them. I will miss him for all that he has taught me, from the little things like specific html coding (aw, Frontpage) and online tools (*wink*), to the big things like showing me by example how to strengthen our client relationships with a unique balance of professionalism and friendliness. I will miss him for the laughter he brings to our office, the jokes and sarcasm and smiles that are often abundant. And I will miss him for the many deeper conversations that were peppered over the past two years, about our spiritual beliefs and questions, our families, our ideals, our hopes.

Steve, if you're reading this, know that I'm excited for this next step for you. I have no doubt it has all come about by the hand of God, and I have no doubt He will use you to change lives in this next job (including yours). You are missed already.

My prayer for you, brother --

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the believers, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:14-20