In EVERYTHING give thanks!!

We finally have the school year up and running and I thought I would stop by and write something on my blog.  I have a bit of a head cold today and need to finish some lesson plans for next week.  This will be a spattering of the wandering I have done lately... 

Since my last post in August, I kept sane while preparing for a busy school year by reading five Jan Karon Mitford books that were given to me by a volunteer who came down in July.  I was able to finish them just as our school year opened in September.  What a GREAT author.  I truly recommend them to anyone who likes to read stories of every day life.  Father Tim is a GREAT character and somehow you feel like you might know him...The one pictured below was the last book and my ultimate favorite...It is an encouragement to keep pressing on in prayer and in "doing good" to ultimately only see the results our lives make in the future.

 Next I would like to finish the next book that I can get through a digital library...I started it last Spring but know it will make a lot more sense now that I have read the whole Mitford series.  "In the Company of Others"

 
The last book I want to share is one I have been reading this month given to me by one of our short term workers, Laura.  It is called "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  It is teaching me to be a more thankful person.  I am not done with this one yet, but highly recommend it.  
And I am learning to be more thankful for the gifts that God gives...for the 80 little children I teach English to here in Ecuador Monday to Friday morning.
  This has been an unexpected gift with the exit of a volunteer teacher who was to teach these classes this year.  But, a gift none the less.  Also very thankful for my two boys and special moments they gift to me like the time last week my 5 year old came out of his room saying "Look mommy, I am a duck!!" with his duck costume on...or the way our 7 year old quotes from the movie "Rio" that they want to watch over and over and does the exact faces of the cartoon characters.  The gift of watching our seven year old learn to ride a bike last week and our five year old improve his handwriting through daily practice...It is definitely a challenge to look for these gifts daily and take the time to treasure them!  Hope you will also be able to see the gifts you have been given today and will stop and also say thank you.