Thankful Thursday: June

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

836) Feeling healthy. Thinking clearly. Getting pieces of myself back.

837) Being able to leave the comfort and care of a grieving friend in the capable hands of her good God who lovingly cares for her.
838) Listening to the church sing.
839) The sweet experience of long-term friends who have loved you through every season of life.
840) Hearing my grandpa talk about his week and hearing him get choked up as I tell him I love him and he says goodbye.
841) Penny's excited little run to the stairs every morning and the way she crawls the last few feet to me on her belly.
842) Being called an "angel of mercy" by a patient.
843) Getting to practice small talk with patients when I am the Resource Nurse.
844) Relaxing walks with Penny when she follows the whole time right at my heel.
845) Reading through my gratitude list - seeing how faithful God has been to me through some dark months.
846) Convicting warnings from Proverbs regarding the folly of pursuing sin and idols - oh, how he cares for our souls!
847) The delight I find in making snapfish photo books. Working on Linds' birthday present right now - might be my new favorite gift idea!
848) Air conditioning on days when the heat index is over 100.
849) Chocolate zucchini bread.
850) Penny's cute little stretch.
851) Pedicures & manicures.
852) Purging possessions! Got rid of two garbage bags full of clothes and returned $200 worth of purchases. Yay!
853) 6 second hugs from Kristy. :-)
854) Sitting on the couch between two dear women watching So You Think You Can Dance with my dog in my lap. Love.
855) Sunlight at 9pm.
856) Breakfast, tears and prayer with my roommie. Love her.
857) Running into my neighbor on my walk with Penny and "chatting" for 30 minutes.
858) Realizing I like being neighborly and I might actually be good at it.
859) Precepting - realizing how much I know and how efficiently I work.
860) How excited Penny gets when we're training.
861) New mercies every. single. morning.
862) Things Penny teaches me about the kind of mother I might be someday and the encouragement/excitement that stirs up in me.
863)Things Penny teaches me about the kind of mother I might be someday and the time I have now to work on changing some of those things.
864) The joy of childhood - having fun playing with kids on the pediatric floor.
865) The end of 4-day work weeks.
866) Pho Tai with Brennas & friends - lots of good laughter (including Chris' impression of Ron).
867) Relaxing afternoons with my roommie - So You Think You Can Dance, dinner and nice conversation.
868) Random people in the gas station asking how I do my hair because they want to try to make theirs look like mine.
869) Game night at Emily B's - laughing until my stomach hurts and I have a headache.
870) Rhubarb cheesecake.
871) Beautiful imagery set to music used to describe the vast love of God - still not an adequate image, but helps us grasp just a glimpse of his love for us: "Could we with ink the oceans fill/And were the skies of parchment made/Were every stalk on earth a quill/And every man a scribe by trade/To write the love of God above/would drain the ocean dry/Nor could the scroll contain the whole/though stretched from sky to sky."
872) Good convos with Jill in the car as she rode to the cities with me. Love that girl.
873) Trusting that God has been holding my roommie these last two months and trusting that he can and will continue to do so.
874) Sitting with friends/community during church at Bethlehem.
875) Bando, Brenda and kids - love that family. Love how glad they always are to see us. Love how fun they are to be around. Love are great the kids are. Love them.
876) The opportunity to pick up overtime so I can go on trips next year and see people and experience the world.
877) Grateful patients.
878) Being able to speak with confidence on practice issues in the hospital - realizing that after five years I am really beginning to feel like a nurse.
879) Conan's humor (Dartmouth speech).
880) Waking up at 5:15 and realizing it's already light out - beautiful sunrise.
881) Beautiful summer days for long walks by the river with Penny (who gets compliments from every. single. person. we see).
882) Afternoon naps laying in a sun spot on the couch with my dog.
883) Sweet talks with the Bible study girls - what a blessing they are to me!
884) Enjoying days spent almost entirely alone. Feeling refreshed.
885) Laying on the living room rug cuddling with Penny while chatting with Emily on the phone about wedding plans. Fun to hear my dear friend so excited.
886) AMAKA MATCHED!!!!!! Answered prayer! Continuing to trust God's care and timing for that family.
887) Neighborliness - nice chats with Lora, her willingness to help with Penny and small ways I can help her, too.
888) Enjoying my roommate so much that I truly miss her when she's traveling.
889) The beautiful reflection off a full moon shining through a small break in wispy clouds - eerily beautiful.
890) The introvert articles that Laura has been tweeting - seeing strengths in my personality and being reminded that I am not the only one who sees the world this way.

891) Making patients laugh.

892) The things I learn from precepting new orientees - realizing how efficient I have become, how many decisions I can make with confidence, how well I interact with patients & staff, how much I now know instinctively, how much of the big picture I see, etc.

893) Seeing patients that I cared for the previous evening, asking how they're doing and getting the enthusiastic response, "Good, thanks to you!"

894) Ending my shift with a rough man saying, "You did good, kiddo." :-)

895) Nyquil.

896) My first IBM experience! Realizing that I love the physical nature of my job and all of the unique interactions it brings.

897) Casual convos with Chinwe as we roam (what felt like) the bowels of IBM. Man, I'm gonna miss that girl!

898) The joy I find in spending an afternoon in my kitchen making food for my friends.

899) Hearing the chatter of a house full of friends - I know some amazing people and I love them dearly.

900) Having my kitchen completely clean when people leave because my friends are so thoughtful and servant-hearted.

901) The joy I find in listening to someone speak with an African accent for an hour. Lovely and refreshing.

902) Opportunities falling into my lap to see my passions meet - so excited about Kenya.

903) Having the opportunity to deliver a meal to the Crowsers while Caleb is in the hospital. My placement in Rochester and familiar comfort with the hospital setting puts me in a unique situation to be able to encourage people during difficult times.

904) Hannah. Happy birthday, dear sister!

905) Angela. I. love. my. sisters.

906) First Baptist Church in Long Prairie. Love listening to Dave Ruby honor Grandpa - love being in a small community where people know each other's stories and are able to point to God's goodness and faithfulness in one another's lives.

907) Long walks with Penny by open fields on country roads at dusk. I love the country.

908) The dear man that I have the deep privilege of calling Father. Happy Father's Day Daddio!

909) The legacy of faith, hope and love that Grandpa has left for our family.

910) The opportunity to honor Grandpa at camp - seeing how thrilled he was to have the whole family there.

911) Grandpa's sweet tears anytime he tries to tell anyone he loves them.

912) Sweet convo with Teri Anderson after church - feeling like God gave me words of encouragement for her and encouraged me in the process.

913) Extended family - sweet convos with Susan and Faith during the weekend.

914) Jeed - being blessed by her eloquent tribute to Grandpa - seeing her deep love for our family - excited about the potential opportunity to travel to Thailand with her in the future.

915) Hotdogs, wine and pudgie pies around a fire with friends in Oostra's backyard on a cool summer night. LOVE.

916) Long, beautiful, honest conversation with Jules @ Common Root and walking around the park with Penny. Love listening to her process. Love processing with her.

917) Long, beautiful, honest conversation with Linds on the drive home. Love listening to her process. Love processing with her.

918) Long, beautiful, honest conversation with Chinwe over dinner. Love listening to her process. Love processing with her.

919) Being able to trust that God can care for his hurting children better than I ever could.

920) Chatting with Amaka - being able to tell her how genuinely excited I am that she matched.

921) A sweet patient with Parkinson's whose movements reminded me of my sweet grandma. Love her. Miss her.

922) An opportunity to talk to my orientee about missions.

923) My generous, helpful, servant-hearted mother who offers so much of her time, knowledge and energy to help me plan a weekend at the cabin. She's even offering to buy food to feed my friends. So ridiculous. So generous. So loving.

924) Watching my orientee learn things.

925) Re-discovering old poems that help me see how faithful God has been in my life. Oh, how he cares for me!

926) The cabin!!!

927) A FULL cabin - full of friends, laughter, conversation and fellowship.

928) Long conversations tangled in the hammock with Jill.

929) Mom driving my friends around the lake in the pontoon - so fun to cruise around with her.

930) Campfires.

931) Good follow-up conversations with friends who shared things with me months ago - not being afraid to ask tough questions.

932) Standing up for myself in a very difficult situation at work and later having the Nursing Supervisor tell me I did the right thing & that she was glad I knew what to do in the situation.

933) Having confidence that I made the right decision.

934) Penny got her hair cut and she's NOT ugly! Woo hoo!

935) A lazy night with Mom at the cabin.

937) Penny's pink bows - they crack me up every time I see them!

938) Cards with the Karlsgodts.

939) Sunny, lazy cabin days.

940) Picnic and cards on the pontoon. So fun.

941) Terry's humor and his self-satisfied smirks. He makes me laugh.