This is a repost--and I do not have the author's name...but I think this is beautiful and wanted to share....

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38 

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.

Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air. 

 They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy; they didn't know what to say. 

 They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse. 

 "This is heaven" declared a small boy. "We're spending Christmas at God's house".

When what to their wondering eyes did appear, 

but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same. 

 Then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

And in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring.

Those children all flew into the arms of their King 

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace, 

one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

And as if He could read all the questions she had, 

He gently whispered to her "I'll take care of mom and dad".

Then He looked down on earth, the world far below

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow and woe.

Then He closed His eyes and he outstretched His hand, 

"Let my power and presence re-enter this land!"

"May this country be delivered from the hands of fools. 

 I'm taking back my nation, I'm taking back my schools!"

Then He and the children stood up without a sound. 

 "Come now my children let me show you around."

Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran. 

 All displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

And I hear Him proclaim as He walked out of sight, 

"In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Was I Thankful...?

I was so excited about doing the Thankfulness Challenge in November.  I thought that it would be so easy to come up with something every day that I was grateful for.  

Instead, I bailed.

There is a reason for this, but it's not a good excuse.  You see, we were approved foster/adoptive parents with a private agency until this past September.  On September 5th, we were contacted by my husband's cousin because she wanted us to foster her son.  She does not have housing and was being told by CYS that she would have to surrender her son to care.  We agreed, and were contacted the next day by CYS to take part in a "safety plan" that would allow us to take him in without legal rights.  We turned down the safety plan, but told the social worker that we would take the child if he entered into care.

We found out days later through family that the child had entered into care.  We began calling CYS, but it was over a week before we spoke to anyone.  Nearly 2 weeks later, we were told that we must sever ties with our current agency and be approved with Chester County to provide kinship foster care.  We have spent the past 2 months going through the approval process.

We feel that he have been up against resistance from the start.  We were granted weekly visitation, but no one has been able to schedule more than an hour at a time—approximately every other week.  We have no idea when (or if) we will be able to become his kinship Caregivers.  On top of that, we haven't been able to take any other children into our home...

However, I realized today that I'm doing it wrong.  I've been looking for reasons to be grateful in spite of what we are going through.  

No. I need to be grateful for the experience.  There is nothing that we face in life without reason.  God may or may not choose to let us in on the reason, but he has the best planned for us.  And I can keep the promise of Psalm 18:6 in my heart:

In my distress I called upon the LORD, 

And cried to my God for help ; 

He heard my voice out of His temple, 

And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

Today I choose to be grateful for my trials.  I choose to be thankful the no matter what I am going through  He hears me when I am crying out.  I have no idea when and how this trial will end, but I can be sure that no matter what, God is listening to me and carrying me throughout.

Some Time Away

Day 9--I am so thankful for my mother and sister!

This morning, Little Miss and I hopped into the car and drove the 5+ hours to Colonial Williamsburg.  We met up with my mother and sister for our annual (ish) girl's weekend.  This year, we are initiating Little Miss to what has become a tradition of laughter, chocolate and relaxation--with plenty of shopping and stops for Punch Royale (not for Little Miss...).

I am so thankful for this weekend with my family. Already, we have spent the night laughing though a delicious dinner and buying dozens of books.  Tomorrow is supposed to be in the high 60s and sunny.  I can't wait to introduce my daughter to my favorite place!!

Where do you go to recharge?  Who do you like to take with you?

Midnight Phone Call

Day 8 of 30 Days of Thankfulness...

I am thankful for the knowledge that if I had a problem in the middle of the night, I could pick up the phone and call someone (more than just one!).  Not only do I know that those friends would drop everything to help me, they would take the time if all I needed was a shoulder to cry on.  I have seen these friends spring into action, whether it is to aid me or another.

Life is hard enough without having someone like that. Someone that you know will answer the phone even though they have things of their own to worry about, someone who stops by your house just to see you, someone who makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world to them. Friends like this are few and far between.  We live in a society that is overly concerned about what life is doing to them, not to others.  The only way to have a Phone-Call  friend like this is to be one yourself!

Who is your Phone-Call friend?  Take the time today to let that person know that you are thankful for them.  That you are there for them.  That you appreciate they blessing they are to you.

30 Days...Late.

It took me a while to catch on.  Doesn't it always?  But my friends on Facebook were all telling me how thankful they were for this thing or that thing.  So today, I decided to look it u.p.  It's part of the "Thirty Days of Thanks".  Basically, every day in November, you are supposed to give thanks for something in your life.
30 Days of Thanks

Right.  I thought, Well, I'm always thankful.  I mean, just today, I gave thanks for ....and...

oh.

So, better late than never, right?  I am going to try (because we all know how good I am at catching up on posts ..) to blog every day about what I am thankful for.


Thus....

Day 7

Today I am thankful for my husband.  When I was worked up and upset over the negativity on my Facebook wall in the aftermath of the election (combined with several more stresses and strains that are working on our family and lives right now...), he sat with me and talked me through my feelings, listened thoughtfully, and gave some excellent suggestions.  Thanks to him, I was able to settle down and get some things accomplished today!

What special thing did someone do for you today?  Be thankful!

I Have A Cold.

Probably one of the worst phrases ever uttered by a human.  Colds are miserable things, aren't they?  You have no idea how long you’ll feel like crap, but people expect you to return to your normal activity level 12 hours after you begin.

One of my least favorite parts of a cold is the mouth breathing.  You know what I’m talking about, the my-nose-is-so-stuffed-up-that-the-only-way-to-get-oxygen-to-my-lungs-is-to-suck-air-in-through-my-mouth look.  There’s something about mouth breathing that gives a person the aura of lower intelligence.  Pair that with the dazed look brought on by the combination of Sudafed and Mucinex, and you look like a total genius. 

That’s sarcasm, folks.

The worst part is, really, the common cold is nothing big.  So I feel like I should be keeping up my normal schedule (except for the exercise.  I can give up the exercise) and cook, clean, shop, work, and blog like I do every day.  Problem is, I don’t stinking feel like it. My head hurts, and my throat hurts, and I have a runny nose. I don't want to work. I want to lie on the couch, wrapped in a cozy blanket, and sleep all day.

But life goes on, so I will too.  With tissues.  And chocolate.

What makes you feel better when you're sick?

Aaaannnndddd…we’re back!

.I have to apologize to the people who have read my blog (I know there are some out there…Hi, Mom) for dropping off the face of the earth.    I have no excuse except that I was feeling incredibly down and the posts that I was writing were well, depressing.   I didn't even realize that I was so down until saw the things I was writing.  Sooooo…I just didn't post for a bit.

Its tough when you are really down to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and give yourself a stern talking-to, but I have been blessed with some friends that did just that for me.  They don’t even realize what they did for me, whether it was to attend my outdoor choir concert in the face of an impending storm, message me from 4 states away just to make sure I know that they are praying for me, or just being there to let me pour it all out. 

Well…friends and a ton of chocolate.

Now, I’m back…with a vengeance. Some of the posts that I have written over the summer will probably find their way here, but I’m glad to say that the old me is back, complete with OCD, sarcasm, and a healthy dose of Wonder Woman. J

How do you get yourself out of that low place?  Who has been there for you?