Multitude Monday - 1000 Gifts ~

With no "ado," here's this week's gratitude list...

must make the most of my time with these kiddos these next two weeks!

#901 heart to heart talks stop the enemy in his tracks and set things back on the right path again

#902 down time with my biggers

#903 a little reprieve from the hot that had moved in the week before

#904 thinking about my parents celebrating my Pop-pop's 88th birthday with him... and knowing my heart is there with them, too

#905 Tim laughing, groaning and sometimes rolling his eyes... but still praying with me when there are problems in my life that are typically of my own making 

#906 reading this (although I can't figure out now where I actually found it):  "I learned to search for His presence in the midst of seeming disaster.  I would just live hour to hour, staying near to Him.  Yes, that was my key.  Learning to keep His company, so that whatever happened, whenever it happened, I would still be in his glory. " Wow!

#907 pancakes for breakfast, made by Grandpa Gene!

#908 early morning lap swims

#909 brochettes and fries with friends... even when it didn't work out the way we'd planned

#910 that cake recipe - we've changed and adapted it many ways, many times and it always comes out perfectly, amazingly, delectably

#911 the devotional book Forty Loaves: Breaking Bread with the Father each Day, by CD Baker - and the challenging, stepping-on-my-toes convicting thoughts expressed within

#912 bunches of kids chez nous the first official day of vacation

#913 two sermons, two preachers, two languages, two cultures, two very different topics (welcoming persecution and when to show mercy-when to confront)... one Sunday, one Holy Spirit weaving all those thoughts together in my mind

#914 dry season Bible school graduation coming up

#915 floor about to be poured

#916 meditating on these words:
"Complaining is usually a form of accusation.... If you doubt complaints are accusations, think of a time when someone complained about you and ask yourself how it made you feel. Did you feel accused? ...And remember that the ultimate accuser is Satan. [And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Rev. 12:10]  He works hard keeping the world complaining because it makes it easy to sustain judgmental spirits and critical natures. He wants us to condemn and feel condemned -- the opposite of feeling loved.... Now, if all things were as they should be, we'd be satisfied with whatever God is doing in our lives. We'd be searching for compliments, not complaints. We'd be blessing others, not accusing them. But things aren't even close to what they should be. So it is really hard to avoid a complaining spirit. But there is good news for complainers: God doesn't complain about us because he doesn't accuse us! He has no reason to accuse because he is utterly, totally, 100% satisfied with us. And that's not because of anything we've done or can do but because we are in Christ. God looks at us and sees his son. And Jesus is the son with whom God is well-pleased. Whatever is worth complaining about has been taken care of at the Cross." ~ CD Baker

#917 friends of the littlers over to hang out for the day

#918 ice tea and afternoons at the pool

#919 silly big boys singing with silly little girls in the back of the landcruiser, making the best of those plans that didn't work out - in their initial version... my heart smiles each time I remember...

#920 silly and sweet photos and memories to treasure

#921 the past four weeks we've had to spend with Dad/Grandpa Gene... and the hope that he'll be back again before the end of the year