ST PATRICK'S DAY FAVES

 

What a crazy, busy week minus Tuesday when New York was in a state of emergency and we had everything shut down for the huge storm that didn't really happen too badly, at least not in my neck of the woods. It snowed from about 1 AM Tuesday morning and all day but by noon we only had 5 inches on the deck and after that the snow was melting before it hit the ground.  I'm thankful for that. 

I'm also thankful for several other blessings that came throughout the week.  And I'm here to share FIVE of my FAVE ones.  I do this with others in the blogging community and then we all link up at Susanne's site.  Thanks, Susanne, for hosting a gratitude meme and for reminding us that everything good  in our lives comes from God. 

Fresh ground for a gold filter Guatemalan coffee.....
.......2nd best after Ethiopian coffee! 

beautiful handmade blanket
by a woman in Guatemala

• GIFTS FROM GUATEMALA:  Dave made it home safely around 3 AM last Saturday morning after a long delay in the Atlanta airport.  I was thrilled to have him back and very thankful that our oldest daughter and her friend Nathanael were still up doing their gaming night at Courtney's apartment and volunteered to go pick him up at the airport.  In the morning, he gave me two beautiful  gifts:  the green blanket (we have an identical one in blue in the family room) and 2 pounds of delicious, fragrant fresh roasted coffee.  He bought Claire a blanket in purples and his mom one in pink/black.  We love and are thankful for good quality handmade items that help to support the local women in that part of Guatemala.  I'm so thankful Dave is home safe, too! He reports that it was a very successful Missions Trip and that many families/children were served. 

• GOD MOMENT:  At church on Sunday, I ran into my friend Darlene in the lobby and invited her to sit with Dave and I as her husband was out of town. After the sermon, we were talking about the above book I just finished.  You can read the review here.  I was sharing with Dar how this is just such an important book for those of us who are Christ followers.  It's now my fave non-fiction Christian book after What's So Amazing About Grace and Sacred Pathways.   A woman in a wheelchair rolled up to us and asked us what book we were talking about.  Neither one of us had ever met this woman before so we introduced ourselves and began telling her about the book.  She asked us if we would  pray for her.  Now, I'm not an intercessor. I do pray for people but not usually right then and there.  But...that book!!  I knew right then that this was a God moment that the book was talking about a bit.  So we laid hands on her and prayed for her back as she was having a lot of pain and I told her I could relate to that!  We prayed, believing the pain would be lifted in God's time.  When we were done, she thanked us and said she felt a bit stronger and it was less painful!  Glory to God! I'm thankful we made ourselves available for this woman because it was only her 2nd time to visit our church!

• LOCAL HIKE:  Sunday afternoon was just gorgeous.  Blue sky, sunshine and temps about 44 degrees F.  My friend Gerri and I kind of spontaneously decided to go for an easy hike at this place which is about half way between our 2 homes.  Boy was it muddy!!  We had no snow on the ground.  In fact, the entire island was snow-free and only a little bit piled up in the parking lot where the plow from the week before had pushed the 5 inches our area received. We were so busy walking, admiring the rivers and chatting that I neglected to take photos! I'm thankful for the hour of fellowship I had because Dave was napping and it freed me up to get some much needed exercise outdoors. 

SNOW DAY!
Tuesday afternoon 

• SNOW DAY! Our governor called Tuesday a "state of emergency" and thankfully in my town/neighborhood we did NOT get the 17 inches of snow predicted.  Across the Hudson River was vastly different.  Every one of my work colleagues who lives over there (there are 4 of them plus most of our students) had no power most of Tuesday and received 15-20 inches of snow depending on where in the county they lived.  We just got 5 according to our yardstick on the deck and that was nearly what our youngest daughter predicted.  I figured we would get about 9".  I'm so very thankful we didn't have to count our snow day as a snow day (because it was a state of emergency) and now we will have a longer Memorial Day weekend AND I'm thankful that although the snow is very pretty and we need the water due to such a dry January and February, that we didn't get a whole lot AND that it is melting quickly now that the temps are in the 40s again. 

Living room Coffee Table

• NEW TABLE:  My new coffee table was on sale and quite affordable.  It goes so well with my living room furniture. The living room is "my" room.  It's where I work on my laptop typically and it's where I like to read in the evenings, especially if Dave is watching a movie or something on our Apple TV in the family room. Since we got rid of cable in 2011, I have done a lot more reading in the evenings, especially in the winter/colder months. I'm so thankful the table came in quickly and was easy to put together. 

BONUS FAVE:  After work yesterday, I went for a 1.3 mile power walk and actually was too warm with my fleece workout jacket on!  That's one fave more:  warmer sunshine and temps of 50!  AND after my walk, I was making my way across the yard and saw one of our yellow crocuses is up!  I neglected to take a photo as I didn't have my phone on me.......but it was so pretty...the bright yellow against the old  mulch and mud.   SPRING IS COMING!!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, doing the things you love with the people you love. 

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY 

TO ALL MY IRISH READERS!

Blessings,