Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for the laughter that fills my home. I've had an extra 2 kids all day, and it has been a blast. Listening to the imagination and creativity with 2 two year olds and 2 four year olds playing is something to experience. A lot of the laughter has been mine; but much has been the kids. It is truly a joy to be able to be a part of this day to day interaction as my kids grow older, and to share it with a friend's children as well. My house is more vibrant because of it, and my heart smiles as my children learn to share, interact and compromise...or at least take turns. What a joy to get a little peak into a child's mind, to overhear them set the stage for the "kitty doctor" and watch them pretend the way I remember pretending as a child...the fact that I remember trying to drink milk and eat out of a bowl like a cat is maybe more than I should share; but I do remember it and to see Lucy begin to explore the world in new ways makes me thankful and brings me joy.

I am also thankful for this verse today: "I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

A dear friend of ours lost her granddaughter this morning, a youth in our high school group lost her big sister. A tragedy, she was a young girl in her early twenties. They are doing an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death, but believe it is related to her awful disease of bulemia. What sadness my heart felt today alongside the joy of watching my own children. Sadness for a grandmother, grandfather, a father, two younger sisters, a mother, and aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. The only thing one can be thankful for in a moment like this is the peace and comfort that the knowledge that this is not it, this is not the end. She is no longer in pain, she no longer sees her body through the eyes of sin and sadness, but now sees herself in the true perfection she was created in. Created in God's image, and now she is able to see her true beauty with God. I pray for the loss her loved ones feel by a life cut short; so many things they will not be able to share with her as they continue on with their lives; but we rejoice that Christ has overcome the world! This is not it, there is more than the oppression of this world!