Thankful Thursday

1. Proving yourself wrong

I just love it when I prove myself wrong - ok, let me explain with an example. My Mom grew up on a dairy farm and helped her Dad with the planting of the crops and loved to watch them grow. She naturally has a green thumb (or learned it over the years) and is very good at planting, growing and taking care of flowers/vegetables/grass/etc. She just knows what to do to make things grow, to keep the animals away, how much to water and when.

I, on the other hand, would forget to water any of my mere houseplants if I didn't put "water plants" in my planner every single week! It just doesn't come naturally to me to think of these things. I have managed to somewhat master the indoor houseplant now, and since I'm a homeowner, I have ventured OUTside.

So far, I have planted flowers in my big pot in the backyard, hung 2 hanging flowers/plants, and kept many shrubs and monkey grass alive and well for 2 years now. How's that for a start on the outdoor stuff?? Well, now I can add another accomplishment that I never thought I would figure out (for some odd reason....it's not like this stuff is rocket science): GRASS SEED!

About 1/3 of my front yard just had no grass - it got worse since I moved in, so this spring I knew I needed to deal with it. I bought one of those manual tillers and dug up all the top soil (which in Texas, it's clay - aka: hard-as-a-rock clay), put down fertilizer and grass seed and then watered the heck out of it for days and days. A couple weeks later....I have a beautiful carpet of green grass that is alive and well! I shock myself sometimes! I might have a green thumb yet!

2. Going to sleep during a thunderstorm

This is the time of year when thunderstorms are common, I thought I would give them a shout-out. While I never am happy when someone has damage that was caused by one, at the same time they are FREAKING AWESOME.

The sheer power that you feel when everything shakes from the thunder - amazing! And falling asleep to that hard rain and thunder rumbling - PRICELESS.

3. Being at peace with a decision you made

Recently, I ended a 9-month relationship that I was in and while it hurt and I really struggled with it, I knew it was the right decision. He was and is a great guy and has a whole slew of wonderful qualities, but I know that he and I are not a good match long-term. Our hobbies, ideas on how a relationship should be, parenting styles, etc. are very different and so I didn't see our lives going in the same direction.

So while my heart hurts and I miss him, and am sad that it didn't work out for us as a couple, I am at peace with the decision. I guess that's my consolation prize.

4. Bold, bright flowers

I don't know if there's something chemical that happens in my brain, but I just find so much joy in REALLY bright, bold-colored flowers! They are just gorgeous to me and I am drawn to them.

I have never really been a pastel person....I am much more drawn to jewel tones and BOLD colors. The picture above is one I took in Florida a couple weeks ago at Universal Studios. It was just mesmorizing to me!

5. Knowing God's in control of my life's course and I'm along for the ride

Being a control freak and Type-A personality, you would think that I would hate to hand over the reigns to God or anyone else. You would be right. But time and time again, I am reminded that I do not know more than God and I do not always make the right decisions on my own.

Through the last 10 years or so, a lot has changed in my life - good and bad. God has gotten me through all of it and put me in the right place with the right people at the right time....EVERY time. I have been learning lately that I should just go to Him FIRST and trust that He knows best and has a plan, instead of trying my own plans and then wondering why they don't work. It's a process, but I'm trying to hand over the reigns of control to God - little by little....