Thankful Challenge - Days 9 and 10

Day 9 - I'm thankful for our church family.

I know I've already shared this picture (very recently!) but it's the best representation I have for this item. I cannot emphasize how much we are blessed by our wonderful church family. The nursery, children's ministry, and preschool ministry provide our children the opportunity to be loved and led by wonderful role models. I cannot imagine a better team of women (and men sometimes too!) to care for my kids. Steven and I are blessed by serving in the youth department. The youth are so much fun and they crack me up. I am so impressed by their desire to learn and connect with their faith. An added benefit is that it gives us a great pool of babysitters to choose from! I just realized while writing this that the only people who have watched my kids are church members and family members. Steven and I also have met lots of caring, fun adults at church. It's so great to have this whole community of believers to connect with - something we definitely need in our life!

Day 10 - I'm thankful for my husband's job.

This summer, Steven called me on my way home from playgroup and asked when I would be home. He then told me that my mom was coming over. I got this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and asked what was going on. He told me that he wanted to wait until I was home to tell me. I was so scared that something had happened to someone we loved. Finally, since he knew I was thinking the worst, he told me that he had to find a new job. I was so relieved that it didn't involve a family member, but of course the prospect of finding a new job in this economy is very scary. I knew of people who had been searching for months or even years with no luck. Steven found a position with Liberty Mutual in just 13 days (which, for the record, felt more like 13 months). I am so grateful that Steven found this job and was hired so quickly. I know that he works hard for our family but I also know that a lot of other hard-working people don't have the same luck or timing or whatever it was that made this line up so perfectly. I am also so grateful that that phone call was about something that could be fixed and not the illness or death of a friend or family member. The photo was taken at the Samaritan Inn Gala, which benefits the only homeless shelter in Collin County. It is a fantastic organization. All of the people at the table are Steven's coworkers and their spouses. We had a lot of fun and I enjoyed getting to know them.