A break from thankfulness....is that possible?

I figured I'd take an opportunity to share some pictures I've been taking...I'm still thankful, by the way.

Paul and Pawpaw

Vi

Making home made donuts with our wonderful friends!

Sweet Abi...

Dodgeball!!!

More to come!!!

Things about myself I am grateful for

I am laughing...maybe chuckling to myself about this particular post. Maybe chuckling ABOUT myself too. This does sound a bit like a "blow your own horn" type of post, but just go with me here.

Three things about myself that I am grateful for:

#1 My health. In particular, my mental health- Yes, I know many of us should be grateful for our health. A great deal more grateful than we are. There is a great deal of pain and suffering in this world. Much of it caused by a lot of terrible things. I won't go into those details, as this is more about myself. I look at this blog as a way to keep touch with those that I'm not in normal contact with on a regular basis and additionally a but of an online journal for my children to be able to look back on...hopefully with fondness.

A little over a year ago I was struck with the beginnings of a journey into panic and anxiety. I can openly discuss this on this side of it. I have claimed a victory in this area- by the mercies of God. These mercies allowed me to find friends that had similar circumstances- even folks that don't believe the same things that we do- friends that related their experiences- oh, its so good to not be alone in something like that. I recently added some tidbits about panic and anxiety on a previous post- Thankfulness is a cure- it is a real cure:

Phillipians 4:4-7 reminds us:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Rejoicing, Praying (crying out to God), Thanksgiving! Freedom!

I will write more on this PAINFUL topic some other time... if you struggle with this, please contact me and I would love to walk through it with you.
  
#2- My job - 'nuff said, I am so grateful!!

#3- My family - Not just my kids, but my Mom and Dad, my brothers and sister, my aunts and uncles and cousins...they are part of me- I'm so grateful!!! For those of you out there reading this happy little blog- I'm thankful for you- and I love you dearly!

Peter and Grandma

My awesome Dad in his shop fixing my exhaust pipe...

A new generation of cousins dancing at my cousin, Jonathan's wedding...

Grandma and Abigail

Uncle Sean and First Mate James

More to come....

I'm running late...three graces from yesterday...

 Ok, so I'm late- and a little bit broad, here goes-

Suffice to say, baby Paul is a very, consistent and predictable young man.

Consistently awake every 2 hours. I cringe every night as my wife dutifully gets up, nurses the baby, and goes back to sleep.

Last night and the night before, however, Paul was not so consistent.

He was up almost every hour........so much for amber teething necklaces.

The first grace I'd like to put forward is that of my dear wife...I receive grace from her all the time in the parenting of these children. I'm no good at this stuff, but she fills in the gaps- she makes up for everywhere I fall short. Much, much, more than just in the middle of the night nursing category. That burning sensation in my head just reminds me of how much hers must be hurting right now from sleep deprivation... Thank you, Christy, for your continual example to me of self sacrifice and obedience to Jesus...I love you dearly. Let's go get some coffee together later today...

Next come my children...yes, they extend me much grace. I'm not a professionally trained father- of 10. Take a moment to wrap your mind around that one. Add to that my many inconsistencies - so unlike Paul ;-)

Thank you, children, for your obedience and love. You are an example to me that "love covers a multitude of sins".

I'm also thankful for my friends that stick with me through thick and thin...you know who you are. And generally the longer you know me, the more grace that's been applied. I'm not quite sure what you folks see in me- and I'm not fishing, here. Thank you all for encouraging me in the Word, and loving Jesus so much more than I can even imagine.

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend thatsticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

200th post: a muted celebration

Hello, all!

Amy here, I know I haven't been on here in an incredibly long time, but when Daddy asked me if I would "guest post" for the 200th post on this little blog, I simply could not resist!

My dad began this blog with the song after which this blog is named:

On the Verge

Point me in the right direction
Make my compass true and point me straight to you
'cause you've laid out all these steps I've made
Don't let my signal fade, help me find my destination....

What started as a song he wrote back in the good 'oil days when playing with the band "remnantaudio" morphed into a blog, chronicling the days of a burgeoning family of...well, now?

Twelve...

Since December of 2006 we've been posting pictures and celebrating our lives...

This little blog has seen the birth announcements of three of my sweet little siblings:

Violet Noelle

Peter Zachary Titus

Paul Michael Victor

This little blog watched as we all danced to the marshmallow song during tropical storm Fay, witnessed the beginnings of aspiring cake decorators--oh, and the time that James fell asleep in a laundry basket--applauded our hopeful leaf pile, albeit small, gave "Queen Sniffle" the adoration she deserved...

As we grew, for eight years, this little blog sat quietly in the background, enjoying its little opportunities to shine the moments of our lives, the miracles, but mostly just the mundane, everyday life in snapshots.

As I look back on the past eight years, I marvel at God's hand.  The addition of my three beautiful siblings.  So much we have learned.  So many memories we have shared.  So much life.

And it was all small stuff.  Beauty in the smallness, the boringness of life.  Smiling at the little curious conversations I overhear going on in the backseat while I'm driving down the road.  Drinking in the feeling of my sweet Paulie sleeping on my chest as I rock back and forth on the porch swing.  Those memories above--the thrill of finding enough leaves to make even the smallest of piles, making s'mores over a candle because it's pouring rain outside...

It's life.  And it's beautiful.

Thank you, Jesus, for life.

Life, on the verge of eternity.

Let us not grow weary, may we not become faint.

May we not become passive or apathetic to the mundane moments of life.

May we embrace every moment as though it is the moment on the verge...

Of eternity.

"For what is your life? 

It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

~James 4:14b

Day 6 more "girly" writing prompts...

Ok, sometimes a guy has got to do what a guy has to do. When the writing prompts get out of control, I have to put my foot down...we are only six days into this year and I'm ready to write a "dude" version of these prompts... Ok, rant over.

Three things for today...

In your bag...

In your fridge...

In your heart...

In your bag: A couple things to note...I don't carry around a murse. It just doesn't work for me. I really only have a couple bags...one being my laptop bag and it only has a smattering of lint in it.

So, ok, my laptop isn't in my bag, but I'm still thankful for it. I'm actually more thankful for the picture that Emma drew for me and taped to the top of it. I used to travel more than I do now and in the process I'd have to take out the laptop in airport security. In order to not get my computer mixed up with others I would put odd stickers on the cover. Well, Emma perceived the need and created me laptop bling... This is actually laptop bling 2.0, as the original laptop bling died with my last laptop...

In your fridge: argh, really????? Ok, ok...I KNOW there's got to be some bacon in there...somewhere, I hope... Am I allowed to leave it at that?

In your heart...

Seriously...I'm not in a sappy mood tonight, but I can say I am thankful for the love that my children share with one another. I overheard Violet telling her big sissy Abigail today "we're best friends forever!!!!" And this evening I caught this picture of two other sweet girls together... Not posed, just cuddled...I really love finding them close to each other...

I also found this....

Psalm 133:1 says, 1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!