I thought I would take this Thanksgiving to show thanks for all of the things we have been grateful for the last seven years in Houston. As our time here is ending, I am remembering all of the amazing people, places and gifts we have been privileged to experience.
1. I have loved my job at UBC weekday ministries. I have loved the women I have worked with and each child that has crossed my path. I love sharing Jesus with little ones, leading them in songs, praying with teachers, and giving parents opportunities to share Jesus with their children at home. I have loved rocking babies, even the crying ones. And I have made sweet friends who love doing all those things with me.
2. We have raised three boys here, one of which was born at the local hospital. And we have made great friends as they have grown up playing sports in this community. We have loved spending hours upon hours (upon hours) at NASA Area Little League, Falcon football games, a few years of soccer, Upward and CLBB basketball. There were some down times where things weren't the most fun (losing is never fun) but the friends we grew with made up for those times. My boys have learned so much about working together, how to win and lose graciously, how to listen to their coaches (even their daddy coach), how to encourage their teammates and how to work hard. And we made some great memories with our All Star teams at the end of each season. So much fun!
3. On that same note, we are especially thankful for the JETS select baseball teams our older two have played on the past few years. We are thankful for so many supportive parents and coaches who have helped us on Sunday mornings getting the boys where they needed to be when we were at church and cheering for the boys when we couldn't be there. We made some great friends spending so much time together! And we have some amazing memories of some awesome wins! Lots of trophies on my boys' shelves to carry with us. We are praying we can find some teams for them in MS that might somehow measure up to the JETS.
4. I have loved and will terribly miss VBS every June. I will probably go into withdrawals starting in Feb. when its time to start planning preschool VBS and I'm not there. I have loved leading such a great team of people who want to give up time and lots of energy to serve and love on preschoolers for a week and build a foundation of love for Christ. And I will miss working with such a great team of ladies, laughing, digging stuff out of closets, hanging decorations, eating way too many sweets the week of. I will make some brownies next June the week of VBS and eat them while I pray for those sweet preschoolers and volunteers.
5. I have loved my house. We have a contract on it now, and I am so thankful for that. But its sad to leave it. I told Jason its more than it just being a house. We have made it a home and I know we will make another home somewhere else. But I so wish we could pick up our house and move it to MS. Plenty of room for growing boys!
6. We have been so grateful for great schools for our boys. We are in our 7th year at Ward Elementary and we have made so many friends over the years there. And I am so thankful that all three boys have had the same wonderful, patient, amazing teacher for kindergarten. She has had that special moment of teaching them all to read. And that is a gift I can not say thank you enough for. Lots of other teachers have had a great impact on our boys and they have learned and grown so much, mentally, emotionally, academically and physically while there. So many teachers have told me the last few weeks how sad they are we are leaving because they love our boys so much. And that means the world to a momma. I am so thankful that Cooper has gotten at least one semester in the WAVE program at Westbrook. He has learned a lot of skills that will help him in the future and I am grateful for that.
7. I am thankful that astronauts are not celebrities to me anymore. I am honored to call some friends and know they are men of God who want to explore His creation. They have caused me to see God's world in a different light and recognize even more how small I am and how big our God is. And I am in awe of how many people it takes to get a man into space. So glad I got to see a launch in person! So cool!
8. I am thankful for great friends who will meet me for coffee or watch my kids or give me a hug and pray for us. Grateful for friends who won't say no when I ask them to volunteer for something and will open up their homes to host a TOH party for me. I am going to miss sweet babies being born this spring, but can't wait to see them in pictures. And I am thankful for email, facebook and phones so I will be able to keep up. And love that people are excited to see God moving in our lives.
While I am so amazingly grateful for all of these things, I am even more in awe of all of the things that God will do for us in the future. I know that He is going to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us and to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!
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