Who knew when I read One Thousand Gifts for the first time in August of 2011 that it would become a lifestyle for me. Off and on I have counted gifts. Whenever I stop, I seem to start again. I can’t help it. I’m better when I’m counting. This challenge has been eye opening. Count all the ways that God loves me. See all the small things and be thankful. Live a lifestyle of gratitude. There is a real change that happens when I sit down to the count gifts. I try to do it daily, but it doesn’t always happen. When I get that pen in my hand and I start recalling all the good things of the day, I am changed. I am lightened. The burdens that I have been carrying are lifted. I remember that God is good and I am always loved. I am brought low and humbled. Who am I that I should have such blessings poured out on me day after day? Isn’t one enough? And yet, they are countless. My mind honestly can’t perceive them all and my mind cannot remember them all. It’s too overwhelming. Good is so good. It’s amazing the high the comes from this kind of a love. I wonder why I don’t live with my eyes open more. I wonder why I don’t slow down and take it all in. I only have today. Why rush through it? Why scramble and why blur and why hurry? It makes no sense to choose to stress and fear over joy and trust. Gift counting brings joy and builds trust. If God has been good everyday before, why would he stop? Could his love, his gifts really run out? I know the answer is no and yet, I live like it might happen. I wake up and live in fear as if my God isn’t all powerful and able to handle to my life, my problems, my mess. Counting gifts has counteracted this natural desire within me be ungrateful. Who am I to make demands? Why raise my fist and complain when I can give thanks and receive joy. Counting gifts is far better than holding on to my festering bitterness. So again, I continue the count. I reached 5,000 this weekend and I didn’t even blink, I flipped the page and started numbering again. 6000, it’s not that many in the grand scheme of things. I will miss thousands of them daily, but I will look and try to see them all. I will try to name them and give thanks for them. I never thought I would keep going. One thousand seemed so radical at the beginning and now, well, I must be crazy. I think that is what love does to a person. It makes them a little crazy, but in a good way. I will chase after these gifts and count them despite how odd it might seem. The lesson is never learned and easily forgotten, so I keep retraining my heart to live with eyes wide open. I’m retraining my mind to let go and refuse to take on the burden of stress and fear for it leads no where good. I have all that I need in each day to be thankful. Will I choose to see it? Will you?
Spring Has Sprung! April 3, 2013
This year I’ve been really enjoying the transition to spring. Maybe because we didn’t get a lot of snow this winter, which is really the only highlight of winter so without it, I’m ready to move on. Spring is usually a season I breeze through in a hurried like fashion. I don’t pay much attention to it. Fall would be my favorite season followed by summer and then followed by winter (because I get presents in the winter). But spring… it’s never got much attention from me.Until now!
I’m enjoying spring immensely so far! It’s been sunny and I love the sun. My hubby has some lovely and colorful flowers around the yard. The tree in our front yard is in full bloom and I have a vase of tulips on the dining table. I removed the snowflake gel clings on our office window yesterday and I replaced them with a sun and some clouds and birds! Sounds like spring to me!
Jeremy and I have been in recovery mode from our big Easter weekend so we decided to treat ourselves to lunch yesterday at our favorite Chinese restaurant. My fortune cookie told me it’s okay to slow down and smell the roses and that is exactly what I plan on doing… except I have no “roses” to actually smell (minor detail). After a busy couple of weeks with my life feeling like a blur, I’m ready to slow down and take it all in! I’m ready to admire the flowers and I’m ready to enjoy the sunshine and I’m ready for spring! Hurray!
Easter Eggstravaganza 2013 Recap! April 2, 2013
I figured I better write about the big weekend before I completely forget the details. Even now in the tired aftermath, the weekend is starting to blur. First off, let me start by saying it was a BEAUTIFUL day! We couldn’t have asked for better weather considering it was the end of March. I got slightly sunburned, so you know the sun was out and glorious! The weather is a big factor in our attendance and just like years past this day was epic. We added extra parking in our fields so we’re fairly positive we beat last year’s numbers. The guesstimate was that 8,000 people visited the church between both hunts. The number of kids would be around 3,000. It’s not an exact science though… just like we don’t really know that there were 70,000 eggs – could have been plus or minus a couple thousand. No biggie.
The day starts off early for Jeremy and I. We’re the first ones to the church after a stop at McDonald’s. This is the one day a year that I get breakfast there and let me tell you, I love McGriddles. I know that in concept they are gross and terrible for you, but that usually means it’s a food I’ll adore. I enjoyed my special breakfast treat and surprisingly it all settled well on my stomach. I had packed a lunch that ate about 11:30am, but the McGriddle kept me good until then. I guess I could consider that another miracle of the day. It’s nice to be the church before all the crowds and craziness starts. The calm before the storm. I put up a few last minute signs and made sure lights were on and doors unlocked. At 8:00am, we start hiding eggs and by 9:00am we had people arriving. It always amazes me how early people show up for these events. Now that our Easter Eggstravaganza has grown so big, people feel the need to arrive early to get in the lines first and to get the better parking spots.
The first hunt was the busiest this year. I’m sure it has to do with the weather. Even though last year was nice, the fog was still starting to wear off at our first hunt which made the second one better attended. This year it was the opposite. The day was clear and the sun was out and the people showed up for the first hunt. The second one was the smaller hunt. It’s funny to me how unpredictable things like that can be. I would have sworn the pattern would hold true and we’d have a small first and a big second. Now I’ll be curious to see what happens next year. Is there any pattern? We’ll find out.
As always the petting zoo was a hit! We had a two week old piglet there that was very vocal and very loved. We had calves that were literally days old. We had chicks and ducks and turkeys. We had goats and lambs. It was a good a showing of cute and cuddly barnyard animals. The pony rides as always had a major line. The poor ponies can’t give rides fast enough. If I was one of those ponies, I would twitch if I saw another kids for a while. They were troopers! Applebees had a table where they did face-painting and they gave away free meal coupons to kids. They also brought the Applebee’s Bee and the Easter Bunny (full size costumes). The bee was especially popular. Oh and we can’t forget the four inflatables! We had a giant slide, two obstacle course and a jungle tunnel. Our coffee cart did great in sales and we sold a ton of cotton candy! We have some cotton candy pros now at our church after doing this for two years. They know their stuff! Walking past that booth always smells so good!
It was a big weekend. I was at the church for about 14 hours that day. We ran home for less than 25 minutes to change and show back up for our evening service. We had a ton of kids at both our children’s church hours. It was great to see many visitors and people who came back because of the egg hunts. After two egg hunts, three weekend services and two family dinners, I will admit that Easter weekend almost did me in! I’m still not really recovered. I took a nice long nap yesterday and today was a quiet day in the office to reclaim our space and clear out the remnants of the weekend. It feels good to have the details in place and behind us. This is a great event and truly a fun weekend. I’m not sure I have the energy to keep up with it, but somehow it works out every year – God’s grace! Below are a few photos from the big day!
Petting Zoo
A beautiful day in the neighborhood!
Going for it!
The hunt!
It’s official! April 1, 2013
Seeing Double!
There are so many things I would love to blog about right now. It seems that once I got the biggest event of our calendar year over with my brain has come back to life with many topics worth writing about. In fact, one of those topics will be a recap of Easter Eggstravaganza and how our ministry filled weekend went. However, I have something else I would like to share with you. Something that I’ve been waiting to share in space for a long time. Blogging is therapy for me and it helps me wrap my mind around my world. Not blogging about this topic for the last two months has been hard, but it’s official – our news is out in the open! Jeremy and I are expecting our first child in October.
We found out on February 1st. I had taken an early results pregnancy test a few days before and it had been negative. I took this next test with a “what the heck” kind of attitude and completely expected it to be negative as well. We had been trying for a while and I was very familiar with sticks with one line. I was totally taken by surprise to find two lines waiting for me. Of course that lead to taking multiple tests over the next couple of days and all of them having the same result with the line getting darker as the days went by. We told our parents right away for prayer support and we’ve spent the last month slowly filling in siblings and close friends. The culmination was this weekend when we told both of our extended families at Easter dinner and finally made the big Facebook post letting the world know. It’s out there now. No longer a secret.
Baby Scott @ 8 weeks!
Here are some answers to commonly asked questions. I am 12 weeks along. I have had two doctors appointments and we had an ultrasound. The baby looked healthy and was active. It had a good strong heartbeat. The due date is October 12th and yes, we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl. We might be able to find out as early as our May appointment, but most likely it will be our June appointment. I have less than two weeks left in my 1st trimester and I’m praying that I start to feel better around that time. I’ve been plagued with “morning” sickness that really happens any time of day – mostly morning or evening. I have to pee about 3 times a night and I’m not getting very solid sleep. I guess my body is training me now for what it will be like to get up multiple times a night with the newborn. The combination of sickness and tired has made me wonder why women rave about being pregnant. So far it hasn’t been that great, but I’m hoping things improve soon.
As with all new adventures I’m cautiously optimistic. I feel slightly guilty that I’m not more “excited”. I guess I’m just taking things one day at a time and trying to figure out all the details as they come. Apart from symptoms, I think my brain is still trying to process that this is really happening. Even after the ultrasound I told Jeremy it didn’t seem real. I’m sure it will sink in eventually. It might be once I know the gender and can start buying things and decorating a nursery. We’ll have to wait and see.
Now don’t worry, this will not become a pregnancy blog. There will be an occasional post now and then, because this is a big part of my life right now, but it’s not the only part of my life. There is still so much to write about and so many thoughts bouncing around in my head. While I am pleased to share this news with you, the baby will not take over my blog, just like I don’t plan on letting it take over my Facebook or anything else. The hardest part of sharing this news with the world is letting people into my private life. There are some things that are just more precious when they are treasured quietly, so don’t expect every detail. I know you are relieved and so am I!
So yes, it’s official. It’s on the internet so it must be true (don’t let this blog being posted on April Fool’s Day throw you off, it is real). We are going to be parents! October is my favorite month of the year, so why not add a little something extra to it? Parenthood, here we come!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 