New Things

Another insanely busy week.

But it had some great moments.....some God moments.

And I can find 5 favorites from the week.....blessings, actually........some are trivial and a couple are on a deeper, more meaningful level. I savored each one and thanked God for each one.

Join in with sharing 5 things that God brought to your week and link up with us at Susanne's site.

In everything give thanks............

FIVE FAVES

image taken from forum xcite fun website

• A LISTENING COLLEAGUE Last Friday was a really tough day at work. There was a  situation involving the little boy I work 1:1 with that needed some attention. A couple of other people weren't in agreement about it. I felt caught in the middle, trying to please 2 people with strong opinions and yes I sided with one of the people as I believed she was correct. The classroom teacher I work with spent time with me at the end of the day listening to my frustrations about special education and some of the decisions that have been made regarding some of the students. This is new for me as usually I am the one who does the listening and advising! I totally appreciated her time and efforts to make me feel better about the situation. She is one awesome teacher and friend. I am blessed with some good work friends who take the time to listen and offer wisdom.

•  A NEW (to me)BREAKFAST CEREAL!  Yup..this makes my fave list. It was on sale at this place and it reminds me of summer. As soon as I had my first bowl, I immediately thought of summer breakfasts on the deck! I don't know what it is!!  It has quinoa, rice, corn, flax, buckwheat, and amaranth in it. It's USDA organic, gluten-free and no trans fats!! It has about 15 grams of whole grains in it. It's a perfect, tasty, more healthful cereal. I love it and the blessing is that I'm the only one who really likes it so it'll last a bit! I've been wanting to add more whole grains to my diet and this is the perfect fit!

image taken from celebration center website

• A HELPING FRIEND!  This is new to me....the request I had to make of a friend.  I couldn't hold my small group gathering at my house as our family room was "under construction" for most of the week.  And I didn't want to cancel our meeting!  So, I reached out and asked my good friend Carla, who is also in the group, if we could possibly meet at her house.  I HATE asking people for stuff like this but I know that I need to start doing more of this.......and she said YES! She enjoyed hosting and I was thankful that all of the moms in the group could make it! We are a small group now but an intimate one. And that's the goal of small groups at our church....doing life together, sharing deeply, and coming alongside one another on the journey.  The blessing is the progress I've made with reaching out and asking for help. I've always been a "take charge I'll do it my self kind of person". It's kinda nice to have friends I can rely on!

Family Room Before

Family Room  NOW!

• NEW FLOORING!  After waiting about 10 years for new flooring in the family room, we finally have bamboo! We hired a contractor we know from our church and he arrived on Monday with a new deck door and popped that in and began removing the old (original from when we first built in 1994!) carpeting.  OH.MY.GOODNESS. It only took him 3 days to complete this project! We are thrilled with the results. That mud stain you see on the "before" picture arrived last year and I had treated it with all different kinds of products, including hiring a steam cleaner company.  The pretty colonial blue was faded and matted down. The new deck door has UVA protection glass and we can count it as a tax benefit as it's an energy star product! AND because of the UVA protection, we won't have faded rugs, etc.  In the picture showing what the room looks like now, you are seeing the couch and coffee table on the wall that connects to the kitchen. The couch is actually now against the wall that FACES the deck door with the coffee table in front of the couch.  And on the wall pictured above will be the rocking chair set at an angle near the little bookshelf and an end table that matches the coffee table. Next to the end table is an over-sized floor pillow where teens like to crash for a movie. I will finish the accessories tonight. Come spring, I will be painting the room some kind of khaki shade. I can't wait until this room is totally complete! The blessing is that the contractor is a fellow church member and someone we trust! AND he did a very thorough job of  cleaning up and communicating exactly what he did. 

• TRUSTED LEADERSHIP  I don't typically ask church leadership for prayer, advice, or counsel. There are reasons for this that stem from past events in other places.  However, in the last year, I have often emailed my pastor's wife, met with her, shared some very personal things with her, and  have asked her to pray for situations or people close to me. And I trust her. This is actually a new feeling for me. And I like it. The cool thing is that on my way to work yesterday I noticed on the billboard next to our church that our sermon topic for the week is going to be on Trust. Oh boy...this should be a good one!! The blessing is that this past Sunday, we chatted because it had been a LONG time (since before the holidays) that we connected. I realized while we were talking that I finally trust someone in leadership again. It's a good feeling. I can be my self with her and I don't feel judged or misunderstood. My pastor and his wife are leaders who represent Jesus well and totally understand and extend the concepts of mercy and grace. It's a huge blessing.

There were other blessings too this week....like a phone call from my oldest daughter, hugs from my youngest, chats with my husband, steaming mugs of coffee first thing in the morning......smiles and hugs from special little people at work and sunshine. 

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

BONUS FAVE! A Snow Day for much of the Eastern NY area and New England...a blizzard is supposed to hit the Boston area where my oldest goes to college and here in the Albany, NY area we are supposed to get 9 inches of the white stuff. I'm just thankful to have a long weekend :)