Easter Gratitude

Here are some things I'm thankful for today:

1. Cute little girls in cute little Easter dresses.
2. Being able to fit into my Easter dress.
3. Doting relatives that made Easter at our house look like Christmas. Not only were my parents here, but they brought gifts from other people who love my girls like grandparents too. Thanks Aunt Lala & Sue Sue!
4. HAM. You remember the dad on A Christmas Story? That's me with a honeybaked ham. I love animals, but I'm pretty sure I would shoot the Bumpus hounds. Sophie got the evil eye tonight when she got too close to my leftovers. That's another reason I love ham- LOTS of leftovers. Hubby is tired of it after the first day, but I'll eat it until its gone (or in the freezer for beans or soup. yum!)
   
5. Being able to blog again! Fifteen minutes just wasn't enough. There are some entries from the past month that literally took me a week to write. But no more! Now I can be as verbose as I want to be- is that groaning I hear?
   
6. All that I learned from my limited blog/facebook/e-mail lenten experience. I read more, cleaned more, played more, and just tried to be still more. I definitely am less dependent on the computer to occupy my time. It helps that the new Facebook format came about during this endeavor. I haven't had the time to figure it out completely, and that makes wasting time on it a little less appealing.
7. Being able to cook meat again. I was getting a little tired of the same meatless meals over and over again, and I've got some stuff in the freezer I really need to use. Plus, now we can have real SKYLINE...
8. (on the flip side) Having more options to eat meatless. We already tried to limit our meat and buy mostly free range, but now that we've had a (mostly) meatless lent we have a few new options. The Morningstar Farms "chicken" strips are actually quite good and cheaper than the chicken I usually buy (Thanks, Penny!). We also discovered that my husband will in fact eat tofu... By the way, I said "mostly meatless" because I didn't cook meals with meat, but when Big Sister & I ate by ourselves or when we were out to eat, Hubs was on his own.
9. Electricity! We were without power for eight hours or more on Friday, and then again for a few hours this morning. It's amazing the things you can't do when the power is out. I'm also thankful that we didn't have any tree or roof damage with all of the storms. A lot of people around here weren't so fortunate.
10. Relatively healthy kids. Our family is dealing with the pollen and the weird weather changes- we all have stuffy noses and scratchy throats. Big Sister has started with a cough, and I didn't take Little Sister to the nursery yesterday because I didn't want to be that mom who shares her kid's gunk with the rest of the church. But when I read blogs like Bring the Rain or my charming kids I am overwhelmed by the blessing of my two healthy children. I've been learning a lot about this lately. Expect a lengthy post about it soon.
11. A small bit of grace. March was a rough month for my organization skills- I missed paying a few bills on time, including our credit card. This resulted in a $39 late fee!!! I know, I know. All of you Dave Ramsey nazis out there are judging me for even having a credit card. But we pay it off every month and try to just use it for gas, groceries, or things Hubby will have reimbursed from the church. We get great rewards points and hope to go to Disney with them when both girls can enjoy it. So there. Stop making me feel so defensive! Anyway, I remember reading that if you always pay your bill on time you can ask the company to forgive your late payment. Apparently a lot of times they do, because they would have to spend a lot more to find a customer to replace you than they would to just keep you happy. So today I called the credit card company. Not only did they take away the late fee, but I had the most pleasant conversation with the lady helping me. Small stuff, I know, but it made my day a lot brighter!
12. BIG grace. Citibank forgave us $39, but God has forgiven me for things that make me shudder when I remember them. Citibank forgave me because they wanted to keep me as a customer. They love my money. God forgives because He wants me; He loves me. Forgiving me $39 will barely cost a thing to a multimillion dollar company like Citigroup. Forgiving me cost Jesus everything. Citibank charged me the fee and reluctantly offered me forgiveness only when I researched, called and asked for it. God made a way for us to be forgiven and delights when we accept it. Citibank will probably not forgive me a second time, but because of the death of Jesus, every awful thing I did or will do is forgiven. Because of the love of Jesus, I am inspired to love more & try harder. And because of the resurrection of Jesus, I'm certain that His promise of abundant life, both in this world & the next, is true. I'm so thankful for the story of Easter.