Appreciation

I have helped our local Pathfinder club with a program called Pathfinder Bible Achievement (PBA) for the last few years. PBA is a Bible Bowl type program with four levels where teams advance with a First place when they get within 90% of the top score at any event. I started helping because a few years ago Travis was on the team and no one seemed to be doing anything to help the team get ready for the first event. I found I liked making practice questions, so I have helped the team study the last three years. Last year Travis was too old to participate, Pathfinders can only participate when they are in grades 5-10, but I still helped the team study. I enjoy interacting with the Pathfinders and I like the feeling that I am helping them in some small way get a blessing from the PBA program. At the end of the Pathfinder year, I received a plaque in recognition for my help with the PBA team. I appreciated the plaque when I got it, but I appreciated it even more after Nancy told me that the plaque was the idea of one of the Pathfinders who had wanted to do something for a long time to thank me for my efforts to help them study. It meant a lot to know that it came from a Pathfinder and not just the adults. I am thankful that I received this plaque. It means a lot to me and encourages me to continue to try to help the Pathfinders on the PBA team study and learn meaningful lessons from the portion of scripture they are studying. Some of the adults associated with the PBA program do not appreciate my efforts (a long story with a lot of misunderstandings involved), so it is especially encouraging to know that a Pathfinder not only appreciated my efforts, but wanted to thank me enough that they took the time and effort to badger the Pathfinder leader into doing something to publicly recognize my efforts. I am thankful that I was appreciated.

Snow is White

Winter is on the way. While I don't like many aspects of winter in Tennessee, I am thankful when we have snow. A six or seven inch snow is a good snow for around here. I don't remember ever seeing a snow of more than eight inches, and that was several years ago when we lived in Dickson, Tennessee. A seven inch snow is the most I can remember us having here in Westmoreland. Three or four inches is pretty exciting for me. When it snows that much, I enjoy walking around in it and seeing how clean and fresh the normally drab earth looks. Feeling the fluffy puffs of water falling on my face as I saunter through a few inches of new snow is both exciting and peaceful for me. My family will tell on me if asked. I also have been known to rush outside every thirty minutes or so to measure the snow depth while the snow is falling, hoping to see a truly good snow pile up. Maybe someday ten inches will fall or maybe even a foot of snow will cover the ground around me. A foot of snow, now that would be a snow! Anyone from places where it really snows, like Soda Springs California, can just laugh at me. A foot of snow will be my dream until I see it, though I'd just as soon pass on driving in that much snow.

Procrastination

I know it seems like it has been a long time since I last posted that I am thankful about something. I've had good intentions, I have meant to make an entry many times about various things that I was thankful for, but I kept telling myself I would do it when I "got home from work" or "in the morning" and you see the results of that thinking. Well, today I have solved that problem. I am thankful that I am no longer procrastinating on updating my thankfulness blog, I have made an entry.

June 19, 2009

Today is my anniversary. I am grateful and thankful that I have such a beautiful and gracious wife. All who know us would agree that I am a better man because of the influence of Nancy. I have hopefully matured some over the years, and she has been used by God to help in that process. While my faults are many and the journey of this life may have potholes and bumps, I am glad that there is a person who truly cares for me along beside me, giving encouragement and assisting in the living of life. She adds a pleasantness to the trip that would be missing were I alone or with a less kinder partner. Thanks Nancy for 26 good years.

Happiness

Small things can make us happy. For some reason, when more than 10 people view my weather blog on a given day I feel happy about it. This is a puzzle to me since I mainly do the blog because I figure I can read it in the future easier than I can read my scribbles about the weather on a calendar where I also record my home weather. It shouldn't matter how many people look at the blog, but it seems to matter to me. (By the way, I am aware my weather blog is not exactly interesting reading. I would say it is the most boring blog in the world, but then I read some teenagers blogs where they go into excruciating detail about the relationships among their friends.)

Thankfulness?

I see I haven't been very thankful lately. Actually I have been thankful for many blessings, I just have been lazy and haven't recorded them here. Today is a new day that the Lord has given me, I will attempt to listen to His voice and learn His lessons. There are many distractions and I am not noted for my focus, so God's Spirit will need to give me the ability to concentrate on Him and His voice.

5 things God has done for me lately -

1. Gave me a Sunday at home to do yard work.
2. Increased my memorization abilities as I try to memorize portions of Jeremiah.
3. Helped me maintain my patience as work gets insane at times.
4. Filled our fruit trees with fruit.
5. Rained peaceful rains and not severe storms on our spot of land.

Limited damage

Another line of strong thunderstorms crossed Tennessee yesterday. We were hit around 7:15 and didn't have much damage, for which I am thankful. From the local newspaper lack of coverage, it doesn't look like there was any significant damage or injuries in this area, for which I am also thankful. We are used to these lines of storms doing some damage and occasionally spawning damaging tornadoes, so it is always good when no one loses their life, health, or home.