Thankful Thursday

I'm joining in on Thankful Thursday .

1. I'm thankful for cookie recipes. Through blog hopping, family recipes, and new Spanish recipes I have all kinds of recipes I'm dying to trie! (This weekend: sugar cookies (I have powdered sugar now, so the boys can decorate them) and date pinwheel cookies) And now with the care packages from the States we just got, I can actually make them!

2. I'm thankful for that liberating feeling of doing something that scares you, and being successful. For example: driving by myself. I made it (WITHOUT the GPS) from a church member's house to the mall, then back into town, then to the boys' nursery school...and I didn't hit or scratch anything!

3. I'm thankful for Christmas sales! I took a "mental health" day and did some Christmas shopping this morning. I found tricycles on sale buy one get one 70% off! I was trying to figure out how we were going to pay for 2 tricycles for Christmas and God answered my question!!!

4. I'm thankful for potty trained children. I purchased only ONE package of diapers today. (Even though it's still a mad scramble to get the triple locked door open when Bram looks up and says "Mama, I gotta go potty"....but it's still better than changing diapers.)

5. I'm thankful for the sunshine that returned today. It's been chilly, and our little butane heater was doing overtime keeping us warm. We're still adapting to the fact that it's just as cold inside as it is outside. But today the sun is out and it helps warm up our apartment (of course we did go buy another electric heater this morning, just in time :) )

Jesus, take the wheel...

In the states, I drove a maxi-van (12-15 passenger) on a daily basis. I parked it. I passed people in it. I even.....dare, I say it....went OVER the speed limit in it. So why is it, you put me in a new context and I am barely capable of driving a "regular" mini van? (Now, granted these vans are entirely too boxy to be considered a normal van, but it only holds 8 people, thus making it smaller than a maxi-van)

I drove the boys and myself to Eroski (Spain's version of Super-Walmart). As we pulled out of the parking space directly in front of our apartment building, I prayed "Dear Jesus, please guide us there safely and bring us back to a parking space in front again." The GPS loyally guided me to the supermercado. And I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to do something more than walk by the shore or circle the apartment building again.

I was feeling so confident in my driving skills at the moment that I decided we would have McDonald's for lunch. Parking was there once again. We ate, we played in the air conditioning (a luxury), and then we left.

I glanced at my watch, realizing that it is now Spainard lunch time (2:00ish) and we live above a restaurant. I knew my chances for parking were possibly going to be slim. But as we pulled up, there it was: the exact same parking spot I had left 2 hours prior!

Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He's done!

Three good things about the morning so far:
1. It's a cooler day than yesterday.
2. We found a place where Bram can kick and chase after his ball.
3. It's new sheet night. (Carr speak for freshly laundered sheets)