Thankful

McDonald's Happy Meals always make me think about God's grace. If I take the kids to McDonald's I usually get them a 10 piece chicken nugget entree to split plus one small order of fries. It's much less expensive than the Happy Meal.

But sometimes, just because I want to surprise them, I'll buy the kids their own Happy Meal. I love to see how excited they get about the new toy and their own order of fries.

But it never fails that they never finish their fries and, after about 15 minutes of playing with the toy, they never play with it again.

Now, let me be clear. I'm not comparing the number of times I give my kids Happy Meals to the number of times God gives us grace. Because God's grace is an every day, twenty-four seven, kind of thing. We wake up because of God's grace. Everything we have is because of God's grace.

But what I am comparing is the way my kids react to Happy Meals to the way I act to God's grace. And that's with a forgetful heart. A heart that just wants the next thing instead of being full of joy in the present. A heart that is focused on me instead of the giver of the grace.

I've been reflecting today on the little ways God has revealed his love for me and the grace that only He can give me:

1. Yesterday, Landon was crying of an earache. That's not like him so I immediately called the pediatrician's office. Sure enough, he has a double ear infection. But while we were in the waiting room, I noticed Connor's ear leaking. The pediatrician checked his ears and they were also infected. Both of them. It was 4:20pm and God allowed Connor's ears to leak in the waiting room so I only needed to make one trip to the doctor. Otherwise, I would have been back first thing this morning. God's grace was all over that.

2. I have been a stay-at-home mother for almost two years now. I knew that when my third child was born, I wanted to take a couple of years to be away from my full-time job as an elementary school teacher. I love staying home with them. But I have so missed teaching a room full of 6 and 7-year olds. This past summer, I got a phone call from the children's director at church asking me to be a Sunday School teacher for the 2nd and 3rd grade girls. So, since September, I've been able to teach 10 girls about Jesus. And I absolutely love it. My co-teacher, Susan, a dear friend of mine, teaches with me. It's a blessing. Again, more of God's grace.

3. The weather is gorgeous today. Just absolutely gorgeous. And today is Tuesday, and Jennifer is off work on Tuesdays. So, her two youngest got to meet my two youngest for a playdate at the park. And Jennifer and I got to chat on a bench for 45 uninterrupted minutes. Grace, grace, and more grace.

4. I have really weak ankles. I've sprained them plenty. If you have weak ankles, you know what I mean when I say there's just a "feeling" about a millisecond before you sprain an ankle where you know it's about to happen. You step the wrong way. You walk down the stairs a little too quickly. It doesn't have to be much. But you know when it's coming. Today, I took an aerobics class and, as I stepped down the wrong way, I got that "feeling". But then my ankle didn't sprain. I could not believe it. Nothing happened. I finished the class. That may seem small to you, but to me, that was a big deal. And to all the weak ankle people out there, you're smiling, aren't you? 'Cause that was just more grace. My ankles are not strong enough on their own to not sprain after the way I landed. But God is.

5. My husband still loves me. Grace. And I love him back. Grace.

Thanking God today for his grace. For giving me stuff I don't deserve. Like everything. And for reminding me of that today.