Thankful Day Five

Today was an awesome day! I'm thankful for my church, specifically my Elder team. My church is run a little differently from other churches. We have an Elder team of approx 5 men who shepherd the church. Three of the current team are our pastors or have been. Two of the Elder team answered God's call of missions and they are currently serving in Central Asia with their families.

Today, our lead pastor (Elder) is serving in India on a mission trip and another member of the Elder team was preaching in his place. Jeff became ill during the night and couldn't preach this morning. We currently have two campuses and Steve (campus pastor and Elder team member) was preaching on his campus. He stepped up and offered to preach at both campuses. God had an awesome message to share through him today. 

Steve traveled to both campuses, preached 5 services, and didn't get one speeding ticket traveling between campuses. :) Our worship and media teams were completely flexible and changed up each service and led wonderful worship times. If we hadn't been telling the congregations what was going on, they would have never known at times we were going with the flow! 

I proudly serve on the media team. God has totally blessed me to be able to serve my church with the gifts He has given me with computers and I am totally in awe of how He uses us. It was awesome to be a part of the prayer teams this morning and to see God answer those prayers. Today God really let us depend on Him and it reminds me I can be thankful for my dependence on Him every day!

Have a blessed day,
Tracy

Thankful Day Four

I am thankful that I have company when I come home. These two are constant entertainment.

Puff is quite the lounger, she does not like to cuddle or keep you company. But she must be in the same room, she is very nosy. Asher loves to sit in your lap and watch what you are doing. He started this after Sam (mom's Rat Terrier) passed away. Sam was very much the lap dog.

 

Every evening they do the equivalent of the Basset 500, racing through the house chasing each other. They roughhouse and tumble and you often hear Puff squeal Uncle when Asher has her pinned down. He is very serious about winning.

Right now, there is a bird in the crepe myrtle bush outside the dining room window. Puff is on the attack and very seriously stalking the bird from window to window. Always something going on and I'm thankful for the company. Single life can feel very lonely sometimes.

Have a blessed day,

Tracy

Thankful Day Three

Today, I'm thankful for a warm home. It has turned chilly here in Tennessee. I have the heat on, but I leave it low at night and during the work day. I came home today and was quite chilled. But I know I'm very lucky to be able to turn my thermostat up or pull on extra clothes or crawl under a quilt.

I follow several Compassion bloggers (Kelly Stamps - Kelly's Corner, Amanda Jones - Baby Bangs, and Shaun Groves - The NEW Shaun Groves). I started following them as individuals and then they went on a trip to Guatemala for Compassion. Guatemala has had my heart since my first trip in 1995 and it is where my Compassion child lives. On this trip they are headed to Ecuador.

They will be touring the country and several of them will have the opportunity to meet their sponsored child. Many of these children would not have a warm home, food, shelter and other things if it weren't for Compassion and people like you and me who sponsor them.

So for this I'm thankful for a warm home, not only mine but theirs and Juana's.

Have a blessed day,

Tracy

Thankful Day Two

I'm thankful for the technology that keeps us communicating.  This week I've had friends posting picture of their sweet babies. They are far away in miles but not from our hearts and prayers. We've been praying for these sweet babies for months and they've arrived, been healthier than expected and some have already gone home.

Others friends are using technology to keep us up to date on prayer requests and travels. It amazes me how we are able to keep in contact with friends around the world. Some I feel like I may know more about than those who work down the hall from me or live down the street.

I'm able to enjoy and keep friendships going and growing even though I'm separated by distance. With that said, I'll quit typing here and go text a friend I've not heard from in weeks.

Have a blessed day,

Tracy 

November Thankful Posts

I'm such a horrible blogger. I only journal on mission trips and I don't know why I thought I'd be good at keeping up with a blog. They say that doing something for 21 days instills a habit and with that in mind I'm going to use this month's holiday to force myself to write once a day.

I've already missed day one. But that is ok. 

I'm thankful for family. My sister is one of the most important people in my life. I love her dearly and we don't get to spend a lot of time together because of work schedules and life styles. We are both busy women and we like it that way. But it does prevent us from getting together often.

Two weeks ago, sister decided to add to our family and she got married. Welcome Jay to the family! This is a picture of us on their wedding day. I won't post other pictures without their permission but I'm very happy for them.

After the wedding, I was able to visit with another sweet family member and her family. I love my cousin Sandi and just don't get to spend enough time with her and her sweet mom and daughter.

Many of our family members are spread far and wide. Closest blood relatives (mom did love genealogy) are in Indiana and one may be moving back to the Nashville area. But again, busy schedules keep us from seeing one another.

That is one reason I like technology. We can communicate without breaking the bank.  Tomorrow I'll post again. I already have a topic in mind!

Have a blessed day,

Tracy

Fall Break

This week is a week of rest! I'm planning on stitching and reading. I've loaded my iPad with lots of ebooks from the library. I have plenty to stitch and way too many things started. None are in the near finish stage but I am picking up me needle and hopefully making progress.

My stitching companion is waiting.

Welcome Fall Break

I realize no one is ready my blog, but that is ok! I don't have but a few sweet followers and friends who check the blog out when I post to Facebook.

I'm am welcoming a break in the school calendar. The students and faculties are so ready! This year feels stressful for many of my educator friends in Tennessee. The new evaluation system seems to have so many stressed and ready to give up on educating our future. I hope they can work their way through this latest attack on our profession.

I'm planning on spending my break quilting, stitching and doing needlework on my sweet friend Keisha's bridal veil.  She is getting married next weekend and I'm so excited for her and her fiance. I don't know how my friend Cindy (her mom) has made it through this year, all four children have added spouses!

I've also jumped off the deep end in a new area of my life. I've become a Scentsy consultant. I have a long background in retail and I love sales. I saw the warmer on Plumstreet Samplers and knew it was something I'd love to have in my home. I had my first party this week!  Big shout out to my friend Leigh who hosted for me. We had a lot of fun and sniffed a lot of fragrances. If you want to try it out, check out my Scentsy page.

Last, please pray for my worship leader Jimmy and his sweet wife Kim. They are expecting little Ruthie in the next few days and we are asking God to work miracles in Ruthie's life. She has a health issue and as a result is being born at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. God has worked major miracles in her life already and we know He has more planned!

In His hands,

Tracy