Fab Five ... Week ending March 14, 2009

Short & sweet this week ...

1. protein shakes that are not as bad as we had expected!
2. fat cats ~ literally, very fat cats not the boss-type people
3. Word Challenge Pro
4. "Pilgrim's Progress" ~ I'm re-reading this and wow!
5. good friends ~ the kind who let you be flawed and love you anyway

Fab Five ... Week ending March 21, 2009

Well, considering the past week has been consumed with surgery preparations for Scott's WLS, it seems only fitting that I celebrate the things related to that ...

1. Scott ... my most amazing husband who is the most steadfast & godly person I have ever known. I pray daily that my child will marry someone as authentic & faithful as my Scott. I love you, honey!!

2. Casiday Hope ... what a trouper! This kid has been through so much ... I cannot imagine how confusing life is sometimes for her with a dad who has a very serious chronic medical condition. Yet she is so full of life and grace and has no fear about the future. She amazes me with how easily she handles the ups & downs of Scott's health and I am so thankful that God has blessed me with this amazing person. I am incredibly proud of her!!

3. Successful surgery! Scott's surgery went beautifully and the dr. was very pleased with everything.

4. A praying family ... both Scott's & my families are such prayer warriors for us and so very supportive. I am grateful beyond words to be a part of such faithful & godly families. We are richly blessed! Oh & thanks to Dawn & Mama Raye for giving up their husbands for the weekend! Having Greg, Papa & Bauer here was such a blessing!

5. Friends ... the really good kind who love me even when I'm in a bad mood and accept me with all my faults and baggage and junk! This week I am especially thankful for Karen (love you BFF!), Valerie (who handled my child for me when I couldn't), Alycia (that phone call made everything better!), Holly (who isn't on FB but is a blessing beyond words!) and Carrie (who is one of the most beautiful people I know - inside & out). Oh! and I cannot leave out my sweet friend Christina ~ we've never met but she is a true friend and prayer warrior.

There are just so many more things I could list and people I could name ... I hope no one feels slighted! We have been blessed beyond comprehension by the love and care and encouragement of so many people. I have been overwhelmed by the texts, FB comments & messages, phone calls, and prayers. Wow! This week could have been the Fab Five Thousand!! So, to all of you ~ THANK YOU! You are loved and appreciated and prayed for.

Fab Five ... Week ending March 7, 2009

After a few weeks of more serious lists, I think it's time to reflect on the lighter side of life. So...here's to the frivolous!!

1. Samoa Ice Cream ... Yep! Ice cream with chunks of my favorite Girl Scout cookies in it. YUMMY!!!
2. "Brothers & Sisters" ... I have loved Calista Flockheart since Ali McBeal and any show with her, Rob Lowe and Sally Field ~ well, I'm all in. This season has been amazing!
3. My Auburn blanket ... Aunt Norma got me the best blanket for Christmas. It's big enough to really snuggle up in and it's warm and soft. It makes my early morninings so nice!
4. Lemon Pound cake from Starbucks ... The best pound cake ever! I love this stuff. $1.95 a slice seems a very small price to pay.
5. Natalie Grant ... I am loving every song I hear of hers these days. Old ones, new ones ~ doesn't matter.

It's been a great week! Life is so good and I am seriously the most blessed person I know. My family is amazing, my husband is INCREDIBLE!! and I cannot think of even one thing I would change right now.

Fab Five ... Week ending February 28, 2009

This past week has been really good and also very challenging. We are in the midst of a ten-day revival of prayer and fasting at our church. Participating in this has been such an awesome experience and has opened my eyes to so many of the ways God works in my life ~ ways I often do not acknowledge.

1. My church! I am incredibly thankful for my church. "We are all messed up!" but there is a love and sense of community in our church that never ceases to amaze me. When God moved us to "the foreign mission field" here in south Georigia eight years ago, I never dreamed how wonderful this experience would be.

2. Obedience. This week I determined that I was not going to make excuses for my disobedience and try to find "loopholes" to following God's specific direction in my life. As a result of that, God has richly blessed me and I am so thankful for the answers to prayer in my life.

3. My sister-in-law, Beth. I always wanted a sister ... someone who would laugh at me and with me, someone who would listen even when I was exhausting her, someone who would just share life with me. And I am so thankful for my brother's wife. We haven't always been this close but over the past few months, God has really brought us together. Beth is much more than that crazy homeschooling mom of seven (LOL!) ~ she is my sister, my friend. And my life is so much better with her in it.

4. SKYPE! I am so thankful for Skype. Now I get to SEE my mom and dad when I talk to them. I love it. We had the best visit a couple of weeks ago and I miss them both terribly. But Friday night I got to talk to them and see them and it was just a great thing.

5. Sunrises. I've been getting up really early, especially for a SAHM whose only child goes to school. :) But since I have been getting up I have gotten to see the sun rise through the pine trees in my back yard. It is absolutely beauitful. When I get up it is still dark and I have begun sitting in my dining room to read my Bible and pray so I can see out the back doors and watch as the sky changes from black to shades of blue then finally with the pinks and oranges that mark the rising of the sun. Every single morning I am amazed at this ... that once again God has literally given such beauty for us to behold. It also makes me aware of how often I fail to recognize His hand in my life. Sunrises are becoming so special to me ... fresh start every day, new opportunity to know Him more, to live a more fully surrendered life, to take time to love others and show my genuine affection for them, to cherish the life I have.

And so I sit here, computer in hand, watching the sky change minute by minute and wondering what sort of great things this day and the week ahead will hold.

Fab Five ... Week ending February 21, 2009

Okay, the Casiday's birthday edition is here ... indulge my absolute love for my sweet girl!!

1. The girl is SOOO funny!! She has the best sense of humor and can do "dead on" impressions of so many people. (Of course, she is so shy that she won't do them for anyone but me or her Daddy!)

2. My child has the most fun sense of style! Check out the fashion show pics if you are doubting me in this!

3. Casiday is loyal ... once you are her friend, you are always her friend. And she loves completely and totally. No in between with her ... such a precious gift to be loved so fully by someone.

4. Watching my girl dance is one of the greatest joys of my life.

5. And most importantly, my child is a lover of God ... from the moment she asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior she has been changed! Truly an example of the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17.

If you don't know her ... you should! And if you do ... you are blessed beyond measure!! This kid is amazing!! I am incredibly thankful that God chose to allow me to be her mommy.

Fab Five ... Week Ending February 14, 2009

So, in honor of Valentine's Day my Fab Five will be a VERY abridged list of things that I love about my precious husband. 1. Scott is strong & steady. He is always level-headed and never rushes to judgment - about people or siutations. He is the epitome of steadfast and is most certainly my rock. I tend to be driven by my emotions and he keeps me grounded.2. No one loves me like he does. "Warts and all" Scott accepts me and yet just being with him drives me to be a better person. He knows my heart, my mind, my dreams ... what I love, what I hate ...he knows me ... who I am on the inside. And even with my craziness, he loves me. 3. My husband is truly the most godly person I have ever known. I have never met anyone with such a deep, abiding faith in the Lord. He is consistent and faithful. Scott loves and lives according to 1 Corinthians 13. He is patient and he is kind. He doesn't envy or boast. He doesn't keep score. 4. I don't know a man who values his family - Casiday & me, his family, my family - more. He is generous and accepting. He esteems all of us and treats us with great respect. He never speaks ill of his family or mine and he is more than willing to sacrifice his personal desires or preferences when necessary to spend time with and investing in family.5. My husband is my very best friend. No one can make me laugh harder! There is no one I would rather spend time with. My desire for my daughter is that she have a marriage like we have - that she marry her best friend and that he adores her. I am so thankful to have a husband who likes me and wants nothing more than to just be together. I always heard people say that marriage gets better as the years go by .... after 13-1/2 years I am finding this to be very true. My heart still stops when he walks the room, he still takes my breath away. I know it's him on the phone before I ever look at the caller ID. I can't imagine my life without Scott - don't even want to think about it. I had to face that possibility a couple of years ago when he was in ICU and all I could think of was that the very best of me is my relationship with him and I would be just a hollow shell without him. I am thankful every day that God spared his life and that God has blessed me with the life we share. I <3>

Oops ... got behind here ....

Well, I've been doing my Fab Five on FB and not cross posting them here. So this morning, before I write last week's FF, I am going to add the ones that are missing to my blog. :)