Thankful Thursday: Seeing God In Everything

Seeing God in everything is truly easy if you have a thankful heart. My arrows remind me constantly and on a daily basis that God is in every detail. So, this Thursday I am thankful that God is in everything...even dirty underwear. Let me explain:

Zack is the potty king now. He has been trained for weeks now and no longer requires nakedness (I will miss those days!). He is now sporting his little undies around the house and when we go out. He hasn't had in accident in 3 weeks!! However, last night I noticed that as he got undressed to put his pajamas on he had done something that I must make sure to not allow to become a habit. (I want my future DIL to know I raised him right.) Zack had left his dirty underwear on the floor! My first thought was, "There are 2 hampers on either side of the armoire, but still he chose to leave his dirty underwear on the floor." Then I stopped and really looked at them. I saw victory in those little 3t undies. This beautiful arrow that God so graciously added to our quiver is now a big boy, using the potty on his own and what a blessing that is. I saw that God was even in this moment. Zack's act of carelessness, by leaving his dirty drawers on the floor, was bringing me to a moment of such thankfulness to my Father in Heaven for blessing me with this beautiful, smart, and funny little boy. That he is growing in the knowledge of Jesus and that I am the one so privileged to be his Mommy. So, of course I couldn't help but document and capture a close up of those little briefs to remind me how blessed I truly am.

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The other night I was not feeling so hot. I usually start to go downhill at 32 weeks, and this pregnancy is no different. I had been having Braxton-Hicks..or as Tim likes to call them, Toni-Taylor's, for over 3 hours. I would walk, stand, lay down, etc, but they kept coming...and strong! Walker was concerned and went to pick some flowers for me. I am thankful that God has given my son a heart that is so grateful and that he sees the beauty in all...even this tall weed he picked for me, that he called the "prettiest flower out there, Mom." I am so thankful that he was thinking of me. Wanting to 'cheer' me up. That he has a servant's heart. He even went and had someone grab a vase for the 'flower'. It is still sitting on my nightstand and makes my heart skip a beat each time I catch a glimpse of it.
God was in that moment as I thanked him for this considerate and loving son. It overwhelms me how God uses them, all of them, in my everyday life to bring me joy, comfort, remembrance, conviction, knowledge, and especially a heart of thankfulness.

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I am so thankful that God's protective hand is over my boys up on this mountain. Sunday, after church, we came back home and I took a nap. When I awoke I was told about how Zack was a hero and had saved his big brothers from a rattlesnake. WHAT?!? I was told how Zack had spotted a baby rattler, not even 20 feet from our front door and yellled out, "Snake!" and the boys took him inside to let Daddy know. Miguel, our other hero, grabbed the ax and killed it. I am so thankful that Zack was smart enough to know that snakes are "Danjowus!" When, I declared this 2 year old a hero, he said, "I'm not a hero...I'm a pirate!!"

Look at what we found in our local paper the very next morning:

Rattler's reputation takes a toxic turn for the worse
Experts suspect species is becoming deadlier
By Scott LaFee (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
With warming weather comes the return of rattlesnakes and renewed reports that one species of the slithering reptile may be biting more people and becoming more dangerous.

In recent years, some doctors and toxicologists in Southern California and across the Southwest have reported anecdotal evidence of an increase in snakebite cases, with more patients suffering extreme – sometimes fatal – consequences.

God was in those details, protecting Walker, Christian, and our little pirate. Praise you, Lord!

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OH, how I wished I had taken a picture of Miguel working SO HARD out in the yard yesterday. He really has a heart to protect us, his family, and I know someday I will have to give him up to the military, or school, or a job, or a wife...hope he will consider living near by! He wanted to make sure to weed whack everything in sight so that the snakes don't have a place to hide. The weed whacker has a mind of its own and it took him 25-30mins just to get it turned on, but he never gave up, or complained, or whined. I saw God in that. I saw patience and servitude. It was very moving as a mother to see my son, all grown up and doing the things that his Dad can't do due to his spinal cord injury. I love how God has filled in all the gaps and used my children in such amazing ways to do so.

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Finally, I am thankful for what must be the cutest little exterminator. He comes to your house dressed only in a baseball cap, tank top, and undies, but he gets the job done!!!Even if he has to climb on top of his sister to get that enormous mosquito away from his Mama that was now hiding under the covers."Have no fear...The exterminating pirate is HERE!"