Father's Day thanks...

At our house, the Hubs is out the door on Sunday mornings well before sunrise.

(So, there's no Father's Day breakfast in bed for him.)

He likes to get to the church several hours before everyone else so he can pray, 

worship and go over his notes for the message one more time.

Mother's Day and Father's Day can be a bit iffy on who will be at church 

and who will be gone spending time with their mom or dad.

Today the attendance wasn't half bad, and no matter what anyone tells you, no matter how spiritual it sounds to not care, it is way easier to preach to a full house than to empty seats.

Worship was especially sweet today, powerful words of truth set to music-

you could almost feel the words penetrating hearts, lifting heaviness, restoring hope.

The Hubs shared a few words about his own dad,

how his father came from unsaved parents,

how his choice to serve Jesus has affected the generations following him.

He followed with his message, which really blessed me today.

Yes, I sit there, Bible open, taking notes, expecting that God can speak to me, 

through the man I share my life with every day.

And He does.

After church, we met our three daughters, two sons-in-law and four grand babies at a park 

near the church that oldest daughter and her husband planted two years ago.

Their church was having a Father's Day barbecue.

We got there a bit late, so there was slim pickin's on the food.

We stayed and visited for a while, then let the Hubs choose where to go for a bite to eat.

There's a famous place in southeast Portland called Ottos's Sausage Kitchen.

It's been featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.

You know it's good when there's always a line down the block for their specialty sausage dogs.

Later in the afternoon, the Hubs and a group of the men from the church left for the Oregon Coast, 

to spend the night, wake up at the crack of dawn and go deep sea fishing.

I'm excited for the guys and their Father's Day adventure together.

So, many things to thank the Lord for, in just the few paragraphs above...

(so I'm doing things the opposite this week, and posting today's thanks first. ) 

                                                                 *****************

In 2012 I followed the prompts in Ann Voskamp's Joy Dare in counting my thanks.

In 2013 I'm going back to the way I did it in the beginning,

just noticing and recording the many extraordinary blessings in my ordinary life.

And so I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my little black journal.

(and capturing some of them via my camera or iPhone)

#3429-#3453

6-16-13-

-a Hubs who prays, studies, and seeks God's face for his messages

-our hard working, God seeking, all volunteer worship team

-my father-in-law who started the generational blessings we are walking in

-my girls, sons-in-law, grand babies

-Father's Day lunch at Otto's

-the men in our church going fishing together

-my mama, (today would have been her 88th birthday)

6-15-13-

-sun through the window waking me up

-walking to Dairy Queen with the two youngest grands

-the Hubs helping me with the vacuuming

6-14-13-

-flag day!

-Friday date day-the Hubs driving clear across town to take me to one of my favorite shops

-lamb kabobs, tabouli, hot from the oven pita bread and hummus at one of our favorite places

-library books

6-13-13-

-time to get some to-dos done

-a great evening of prayer and worship

-fiery orange sunset on the drive home from the church

6-12-13-

-our oldest granddaughter's tenth birthday

-my sister's birthday too!

-a fun afternoon shopping for clothes with our granddaughter

6-11-13-

-an encouraging lunch with a friend from church

-oldest granddaughter teasing Papa back and forth via text

-making her birthday cake

6-10-13-

-a nice long phone call with my friend

-the God who judges fairly

-delicious Oregon strawberries and a grocery cart full of fresh fruit and veggies

gratefully yours,