Thankful Thursday in Photos

James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 

Psalm 118:24

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Dear Lord, thank you for these graces... 

~ A neighborhood to ride bikes in, while some live in slums with streams of trash and sewage running by their front doors.

~ Funds to keep each child in a bicycle helmet. And thank God they're a mainstay at garage sales!

~ A nice Indian pediatrician who has served our family cheerfully for 5.5 years. He allowed us to take a picture for our Divya, a Compassion child we write to who lives near Bangalore, India. The doctor's wife is from Bangalore.

~ Peter taking practice photos of flowers for the library photo contest. He's allowed three entries, any subject. Our camera, inexpensive, will not hold up to others in the contest...so I'm praying. The key to a beautiful photo is a nature close-up taken in late afternoon sun, I suspect. Last year he took a magnificent dragonfly photo that a nature park featured in a photo class.

~ Fun crafts at the rheumatology zoo event. All the children received Go Wild For Rheumatology t-shirts.

~ Having a little one small enough for my arms.

~ Eager children harvesting radishes in our garden--maybe a little too soon. Peter made leaf compost and spread it in the garden this year. Very few weeds--something to say Amen to. I'm proud of his industriousness! Perhaps he'll make enough mulch next year to cover our flower beds?

~ For two smiling daughters I thought I would never have!

~ A yard perfect for lunch picnics, while some have no space to play. We're ministering to a neighborhood girl (to the left of Beth in this picture) who had to move into her grandmother's house after her mother's boyfriend went to jail. The mother is now back with this man, who's abusive and volatile, though the mother, young girl and her brother still reside with the grandparents down our street.

The ten-year-old girl has oppositional defiant disorder along with severe ADHD. There's evidence she's cutting herself. While extremely pushy and stressful to be around, she has a sweet side and the kids tolerate her well and show her love. She possesses a love for creepy crawlers, frogs, and all things nature and outdoorsy, like my Peter and Mary. It's amazing how God sets up ministerial situations...down to the minute details! We can relate to and understand her ADHD side and sympathize with her on a level those who haven't tasted the ugliness of these disorders, could never do.

I've explained that in ministering to someone you don't expect anything back, so if she's irritating--for example, she's a compulsive liar and controls everything--pray to hold your tongue and extend grace. There are times I see her coming down the street and I want to roll my eyes, but then I remember...I was lost and now I'm found...and Jesus wants the same for her. We invited her to Vacation Bible School in July, at which I'm helping with crafts and baking. Her mother tentatively said yes..she can come! Praying for truth to penetrate the whole family...and with that truth...peace. Please pray with us for our friend and her family?

~ A dinnertime picnic at a local nature park.

~ Little Miss Beth fashioning a fishing pole from a stick and coming after Momma repeatedly with a glob of green slime, aka algae. It was so wonderful to see her running again--flare free at last!

~ A son whose heart beats with the sights and sounds of nature. He worships outside, as his father does.

~ The world may be upside down, but it is well with my soul. Thanks be to God.

~ Just Another Morning, a delightful children's book by Linda Ashman about a little boy whose imagination takes the reader on a rhyming zoo trip, via his bedroom and stuffed animals. "Read it again!" said my three year old.

Hannah's Way, a heartwarming tale by Linda Glaser about a young Jewish girl who, lonely in a new town, can't go to her new class picnic because it's a two-mile drive away on a Saturday. Driving in a car on a Saturday is something her orthodox Jewish faith prohibits, because of the Sabbath rest. The solution that she and her classmates comes up with is truly beautiful in its portrayal of love and friendship. I didn't just get teary-eyed at the last page--I bawled! 

What are you thankful for today?