Be still...

"Do you spend too much time running around and not enough time at home? You cannot grow spiritually, train your children properly or enjoy caring for your home if you are always on the run. Things do not have time to sink in if you are always on the go. Busyness makes us feel rattled, stressed and tired. Maybe it is time to cut back on the play dates, the extra curricular activities or the oodles of trips to the store." - an excerpt from this blog post at GMG. (Emphasis mine, not the author's.)

... wow. As I read these words, I wondered, when was the last time I posted on my blog? Didn't I say, in the last post I made, that I was going to update my list of gratitude everyday? Have I updated it since then? Ummm.... no. (shamefully hanging my head, here, friends.) I think maybe the Lord was speaking right to me this morning, through Jen's words, and telling me to slow down. To be still. In the past week, we have had Kindergarten graduation festivities, a school carnival, chaos at home... all busyness that has definitely made me feel rattled, stressed, tired, and completely unfocused. All the going, going, going and worrying over the small things made me forget for a moment to just. be. still. I need to be still to draw closer to God. As much as I see him in the beauty of His creation, all around me, everyday, I can't truly grow spiritually if "stuff" is always in the way. Putting all the "stuff" aside for a moment to thank him for everything he's blessed me with this week... 

#11. My sweet girl's graduation day - full of parties, friends, family, fun, and smiles... and okay, a few joyful tears, too. 
#12. beautiful, sunny weather for the kids to enjoy the carnival on Tuesday. 
#13. a hot cup of tea in the morning.
#14. GMG and the Proverbs 31 woman, for giving us something to aspire to this summer as we read the word together. 
#15. My sweet Brandi, for being a beautiful Christian woman, for having a giving heart and a sweet spirit. Thank you for going on this journey with me. 

Thursday Thoughts...

... things I'm thankful for today:

#1. beautiful, uplifting music with a message... instant mood lifter!

#2. gorgeous, sunshine-y, 60 degree weather that's perfect for taking a walk around the neighborhood

#3. a warm cup of coffee

#4. Buttercups Cupcakes - this morning, Blueberry Muffin cupcake. Yum! 

#5. a wonderful day with my Jordan yesterday - doctors appointment and all.

#6. the smile on my Maddy's face yesterday when I picked her up from school and asked her how spa day went (nails, hair, lip gloss... every little girl's dream, right?) and... 

#7... her upcoming graduation from kindergarten. monday's the day, y'all. this mama will cry. that's a fact. happy tears, though. happy tears. 

#8. waking up to "spare change" in my bank account from Thirty-One. I mean, I get to earn money for selling cute bags? Really? Awesome. 

#9. the fact that Mandisa is singing to me right now... technically, I'm listening to her on Pandora. But anyway... she's the bombdiggity. Srsly. 

 #10. this blog. everyone who is following me. i am thankful for you. and i am praying God's blessings over you today and everyday. you give me someone to talk to in the quiet moments before laundry, dishes and picking up messes consume my day, so thank you for "listening" to my randomness. 

I'm planning on adding to this list EVERYDAY... if you notice that I haven't updated my list on any given day, feel free to shoot me an email at courtneylfanning@gmail.com and remind me... my mama brain gets scrambled sometimes and I get off track. Keep me accountable, let's be thankful together. :) 

Wishing you all a bright, beautiful, blessed day... unless you are in Seattle or something, in which case I think you are really cool, because I love the rain and the grey and I am a firm believer that you can have a bright, beautiful, blessed grey-ish day just as easily as you can have a bright, beautiful, sunshine-y one. Okay, I'm done rambling. :) 

His beauty surrounds us...

I felt completely surrounded by God's presence yesterday as I took in beautiful works of art and the beauty of nature. A few of my favorite pics from the gardens at the R.W. Norton Art Gallery... 

The main walkway is lined with beautiful magnolia trees. 

One of the ponds in the art gallery's gardens. 

I loved this pretty little water lily! 

Colorful and Well-Loved

I found this picture on another blog and just had to share it with you all. This is EXACTLY what I want my bible to look like... colorful and well-loved. What does your bible look like? Are the pages marked up and dog-eared and decorated with notes in every blank space? Or do you use a notebook or a journal for bible study? What are the methods you use to study your bible?

By the way, that blog I found this picture on... delightful. :) 

Getting "Carried" Away...

... literally. I'm loving this track from Carrie Underwood's newest cd "Blown Away." It's called "Thank God for Hometowns." Random, I know, but just thought I'd share.

Mama...

... you have given me so much. I remember a childhood full of happy memories in that little house on Clarke Blvd. I remember bookshelves full of stories, and days spent swinging and sliding in the yard. I remember you bandaging skinned knees, drying salty tears, and kissing away the hurt when I fell down. I remember walking to the corner store and buying candy that costs twice as much now as it did then. I remember catching fireflies and lizards and making mud pies and experimenting with an Easy-Bake Oven.  I remember every school play you attended, every honor roll certificate you kept, every Girl Scout meeting you led. I remember trips to the lake and to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream to the park to play. I remember seeing you take in stray animals and give them a home, I remember you being friends with all kinds of people, of all shapes, sizes, skin-colors and genders, and I learned how to love well and fully. I remember being happy and feeling loved and thinking that life was perfect. I learned that it wasn't...

 I remember being heart-broken when you and daddy divorced, when I knew we were leaving that little house and never going back. I also remember how much grace you gave me in the years to follow, the hard years, when I rebelled against you and told you I hated you. I never hated you.  I remember how hard you worked to take care of us, to give me the things that I wanted that you really couldn't afford. I remember us living in a one-bedroom apartment, and not having a car for awhile. I remember wondering how you did it all, how you worked so hard and paid the bills and paid for pep squad and clothes with labels and prom dresses and class rings and how you put up with me. I look back at those days and I am thankful, thankful that you loved this lost little girl through the hard places and taught her to be strong. You taught me to be strong because you were strong. Again, I remember you drying salty tears and kissing away the hurt, even though this time, you were bandaging my broken heart. I remember you holding me when I cried over the latest break-up, over something a mean girl said, over something we'd fought about. Boy, did we fight. I look back now and I realize we fought because you fought for me. You looked at me and still saw the little girl who lived in that house on Clarke Blvd. You never forgot who I was or who you'd taught me to be, even when I'd forgotten.

I remember being 19 and pregnant and scared, ashamed because I was sure I'd disappointed you. You just loved me through it, and when I was determined to do it on my own, helped me move into my own little one-bedroom apartment, and cried with me on the phone every night for a month because I was homesick, even though I was only a few miles south of home. You were by my side when I brought that boy into this world, when I brought him home, when my heart broke over his father... you were always by my side. I remember being 26 and repeating the cycle... I thought I'd finally found "the one" and when I found myself alone again, you were there. There for another pregnancy, another c-section, another homecoming. This time, a beautiful little girl. I remember feeling like I'd let you down, because I couldn't manage to do things the right way... I had no husband, I had two children, I had bills to pay and mouths to feed and could never seem to get it right, and yet again, you loved me through the struggle. You loved me through broken relationships, single-motherhood, and irresponsibility. You never gave up on me, you never let me down.

Now I am 32, finally happy, secure, free... The lost little girl, finally found. Found by a savior who I believe held us in His arms through all of our struggles, found by a man who adores me and who I truly believe will never walk away... I have two beautiful children and 4 beautiful step-children and the family I always wanted. I wake up every morning and realize how blessed I am and try hard to be better than I was the day before, and I think of you and how much you've given me and can only hope that my children will one day be able to say the same thing about me. I am so blessed to call you mama...

I love you bigger than the sky.

(Linking up to Mother Letters today... click on over and read more about this beautiful collection of thoughts and stories about motherhood.)

It's a good morning!

I wake up to this song every morning when my alarm goes off. You can't possibly wake up on the wrong side of the bed when this is the first thing you hear! I hope you all have a happy Monday and a good morning! :)