A Pile of Praise

It seems I've gotten too busy to blog my Thanks for the last 5 days.
I've stayed in the mind frame, thinking of lots of things I'm really grateful for -- I just didn't get to the keyboard.

Photo Credit

So, here goes some things I've been thinking of:
(Letting them fall as they may, no preplanning)

I'm grateful, as I hear the song playing in my living room right now (one that reminds me of the end of my first pregnancy)...I'm grateful I made it (through a c-section, the wait, and a VBAC) --

• That He gave me the strength to do this: To not crack under the weight of doing what I never wanted to. To face up to fears that should have eaten me alive. That He didn't let me drowned and lose my faith. That he made sure to put me where I had just enough, and just the right, support.
• I'm grateful He moved me to a land I didn't ask to live in, because it is here He heals me.
• I'm grateful a lady named Sheryl lived the life she lived, so I could meet her, and she could give me the chance to birth in the strength He gives. (And that she believes in His Strength too.)
• I'm grateful that He knows where my breaking point is, and that he blessed me insanely with a baby who makes my days bright and puts no added weight on my plate. (I was so scared I wouldn't have it in me to take care of a baby after all the stress of my terrifying-to-me pregnancy.)
• That He really is redeeming things like He said He would, in ways I never saw coming.
• That He proved Himself to me -- even though I don't deserve it.
• That He let me prove myself to myself.
• That sometimes we have to roll down hills to hear "as you wish." 

I'm grateful I have a place to breathe tension out into now.

I'm grateful that when I don't think I can get through my day, somehow the girls both end up taking a nap at the same time, and I actually get something accomplished.

I'm grateful we found a place with a washer and dryer in it -- because my days are so much smoother because of them. I don't know how I would have made it to a laundry mat.

I'm grateful that words mean so much to me now. Random things said to someone, not me, pierce my own heart like fire and I feel confirmation of His love and blessings.

And I'm grateful that some really sweet comments have been felt on this blog -- they mean a lot to me!