Thankful Thursday: August (Part 1)

(For an explanation of Thankful Thursday, go here.)

1076) Lovely dinner at Chesters with lovely women.

1077) The joy of making people laugh.

1078) Finally putting on my big-girl-pants and getting my house refinanced. Reading through all those documents and realizing somewhere over the course of the past 5 years, I started understanding some of this stuff.

1079) Getting an awesomely helpful loan officer.

1080)My dear father who takes time out of his busy work day to talk through finances with me and that I can trust him to hep me make decisions.

1081) The girls on the Hem/Onc/BMT Practice Committee. I love that group. So fun.

1082) The joy I find in telling stories and making people laugh.

1083) Taking to Rebecca about church at Calvary - an invite for lunch after church next Sunday - seeing God's hand in the development of that relationship as I think about transitioning to a church in town.

1084) The breathtaking sunset.

1085) My sweet surgical patient who was so grateful despite her situation - kept exclaiming what a great day it had been and how Jesus had blessed her in so many ways - having the opportunity to talk about my faith with her.

1086) Friends who drive all the way down from the cities to visit - means so much to me.

1087) Sweet conversations with Julie at my kitchen table.

1088) Communicating clearly and directly at the Kenya meeting - not hiding how I feel.

1089) Dinner and a movie with my roommie. Relaxing evening. I love going to the theater and I adore my roommie.

1090) God's grace, sufficient for the day.

1091) Driving to LP and back with Chinwe. Love spending concentrated time with her.

1092) Good convos in the truck - the opportunity for me to process some things out loud and to listen & get to know her better.

1093) Chinwe's laugh.

1094) Mark and Emily got engaged!!! So happy for them! Love listening to them tell the story. Love Em's constant smile.

1096) Listening to the operatic song intro at church - makes my heart rejoice in such a unique way.

1097) Painful yet beautiful tears of worship.

1098) Serving a God who relentlessly pursues me.

1099) Good conversation with Jamie - honest communication and an opportunity to know her better.

1100) Grandpa's laugh.

1101) Finding out I get to stay on the Hem/Onc/BMT Practice Committee when I take over as chair for the Float Practice Committee. So happy....I love those meetings!!

1102) Confident communication with my manager.

1103) Three absolutely delightful patients.

1104) Having the BMT nurse manager tell me that the email I sent the PA supervisor regarding a staff member's poor communication was very well written and greatly appreciated.

1105) The opportunity to pick up overtime.

1106) A lovely conversation with my manicurist about her life in a refugee camp in Cambodia, immigrating to Rochester in the 80s, her new grandson, Cambodian culture, etc.

1107) Laying in the park with Penny, reading magazines.

1108) Sitting on the porch with Jill and Kristy, eating rum cake and talking about life.

1109) Dinner with Chinwe - laughing until I feel like I can't breathe, appreciating her honesty, striking yoga poses and praying with her.

1110) Our faithful God who causes the same sun to rise on the good days and the bad. Love his constancy.

1111) A patient, gracious God who welcomes us back even after we've gone whoring after idols.

1112) He rejoices over me with gladness, he quiets me by his love, he exults over me with loud singing.

1113) A covenant-keeping God who has proven his faithfulness all the way back to the days of Abraham.

1114) Receiving a sweet letter from Grandpa saying he loves me, he is proud of me, that he prays I will love and serve God with all my heart and that he looks forward to the day when he and Grandma greet me in heaven.

1115) An extremely generous and highly unexpected gift enclosed with the letter.

1116) Having the chance to work with Kristy - what a delight!

1117) Talking to Grandpa on my dinner break - so hard to know how to thank him for his generous gift. So good to cry tears of joy and gratitude with him.

1118) Telling my mom about the letters - neither one of us being able to talk because we're both crying so hard - being reminded how much I love being cut from the same cloth as her.

1119) Hearing Mom say that her "big gift" is getting to spend so much of her time with three of Grandpa's grandchildren.

1120) Breakfast with Annie & Chinwe - lovely to spend time with those women.

1121) Having time to read. How relaxing.

1122) The beautiful gift of Buechner's writing. It's amazing what he can do with words!!

1123) Afternoon naps.

1124) Finally watching Singing in the Rain with my roommie - what a delightful movie!

1125) Rest.

1126) Meeting amazing girls at church - getting invited out to lunch and talking about the sermon, the role of preaching in the church, the significance of the local church, traveling, missions, etc. - pretty much everything that makes me tick. :-) So good to have God repeatedly confirm his place for me at Calvary!

1127) Talking to every member of my family and my Grandpa (twice) this weekend - I love them all so very much and am so blessed to call them my own!!

1128) Laying in the park for hours reading with my dog at my side and the sun on my legs.

1129) Catching up with Josh - love the way he encourages me with the Word and sharpens my eye to look at things from a biblical perspective. Also love having friendships that run deep enough to withstand long periods of non-maintenance.

1130) Late night chats with Linds about church, relationships, sin, faith, futures and just about everything in between. Love. That. Girl.

1131) Oostra's 2nd year anniversary. Thankful to have both of them in my life.

1132) Lunch with Brenna's at BWW. Love. That. Couple.

1133) Being able to trust that certain friends always want to hear the long version.

1134) Getting a "random" call from Ray asking if I wanted to get more deeply involved in SNL - something that's been on my mind a lot in the last month. I love how God prepares our hearts for the ministries he has prepared for us.

1135) High-energy days.