Thanksday #19

1. Girlfriends. Nothing beats a good chuckle with a girlfriend...be it from a tweet, a Facebook message or a phone call. I've had all in the last 24 hours, and they made. my. day.

2. Dads. Having so much fun with my dad here for a long visit. And his sense of humor hasn't changed a bit - still the same corny jokes and puns. Just can't help but laugh. And Paxton is definitely calling him "Pee-Paw." It's stuck.

3. Sick Days. Jaana woke up with a little bit of a stuffy nose the other morning, and came and snuggled in bed with us which turned into silly time. I suddenly decided that we needed to have a day of playing hooky she needed to stay home from school. So we ran a few errands, had lunch with Daddy, watched a movie, played Wii -- you know, typical stuff for a skip sick day. (If you won't tell, I won't.) (Plus, she's growing up too fast. Mommy just needed some time with her, you know?) (And, isn't that what childhood memories are made of? Reminiscing about "that one time you let me stay home from school?") (By the by, the excitement wore off when she came home with double the homework.) (I'm done with the parenthetical commentary now. Promise.)

4. Breaking Free. I'm going to include this on my list until it's over, I just can't help myself. It's not just the study itself that I love...it's my small group. Love. Them. To. Pieces. We are having the best time, seriously. They are so amazing, wonderful, sweet, compassionate, honest, open and loving...I leave completely refreshed and encouraged each week. I haven't told them this yet, but it's hands-down, bar-none my favorite small group I've ever been a part of. (No offense to any of you I've been in group with in the past.) So praising Jesus for the work He's doing in this group. Nothing short of miraculous.

5. Easter. Where to start? Greg's parents and my dad were up for the weekend, which was so special. The weather was in a word - perfection. And the best part? The people who received Christ as their Savior between the Good Friday and Easter morning services (and half of them children). Such an amazing thing to witness. Such a special weekend to start life over. Kinda made me jealous, if I'm being honest.

6.  Latest Baby Talk. Paxton's almost ready for college. He's now saying two-word sentences like "Daddy chu-ch" (Daddy's at church) and "Sissa 'cool" (Sissa's at school). Also, when you ask him how old he is, he'll say "annne" and hold up one finger. If you ask his name, he'll say "ack-on." Genius, I tell you. Genius!

7. Peace. Needed some peace that passes understanding this week, and God has given it. Praise His holy name.

8. Peace from the Storms. The mountains were under tornado warnings until around 1:30 am last night. (And by the way, ????) We had to wake up the kids and go back-and-forth into the closet a few times, and poor Jaana was scared to death. Paxton, on the other hand, thought it was all fun and games and provided good comic relief. We were able to put into practice what we preach and talked about how the disciples were scared in a storm but Jesus calmed the storm. So we kept praying with Jaana that Jesus would either calm the storm or calm us. Loved having that opportunity to walk it out with her.

9. You Version App. This is a free Bible app and I just love it. I still use my regular Bible when I'm doing my personal study at home, but at church now and at Bible Study I use this exclusively. It's so fast and so easy to use...and I can compare multiple translations in seconds. And when you're doing a Beth Moore video and she's having you flip back and forth over and over, it's a dream.

10. Evernote. Another favorite app for my computer that syncs flawlessly with Awesome Note on my phone. Awesome Note gives you color-coded file folders so I can keep everything in a visually-appealing format for my organizational purposes. The problem I've noticed, however, is that it doesn't do any good to have all these folders and be organized if you're not going to look at it. Maybe there's another app for procrastination.

It's your turn! What can you be thankful for this very week? Leave a comment or link up below!