Friday Thankfuls

My Friday Thankful this week may seem kinda strange to some. I am most thankful for my home. Although from time to time I do complain about the distance I have to drive to get to town. I prayed before we moved out here for the Lord to give us a house that we could share with others and use it to honor Him. Even though we made some mistakes as far as the planning of the house goes (not enough closet space for example), we have such a place.

We were fortunate enough to be able to live on part of Frank's parents farm. Which is a dream for me in many ways. One is that surrounding our house is about 55 acres of land on which we have both horses and cows. Haven't always had the cows, but we do now and my kids love to see them and feed them. Lots of little calves running around out there too. My horses are right outside my door when I take Jack to meet the bus in the mornings and anytime I want to say "hey" to them (yes I do talk to them like they are babies), they are only a few steps away!

Another thing is that my in-laws live right next door. Now, when I say next door, they are about 500 yards away so we can't wave at each other or anything. But, my kids get to see their grandparents whenever they want to. Lots of times, WF (that's Frank's dad) will come over on one of the tractors and take the boys off. (Mal hasn't been old enough until now) Most of the time I don't know where they are going, how long they will be gone, or what they will be doing while they are gone. All I do know is when they get back... they are usually covered from head to toe in dirt and sweat. Sometimes, when Jack is out of school, he will call his GranGran and ask him if he has any "work" for him to do. WF comes and gets Jack, and he will be gone ALL day long. If I lived anywhere else, these kinds of things wouldn't happen very often. My kids will have very special memories with their grandparents.

Our house sits on about 3 of the 55 acres. Having this large of a yard allows us to have some big parties out here. We are having one tomorrow night for the college and career kids from church. They are some crazy, fun, God-lovin' kids! There will be about 40 people here and we will make them play some cheesy games (like sack races, 3 legged race) and football and we will have a big bonfire too. They plan on making smores around the fire. I plan on it being a late night!! Next week, we will have another party out here. Every year, we host the Fall Social for our Sunday school class. Including the children, there will be about 100 people out here! I KNOW!! This will be the 4th year we have done it. So, we have it down to a science by now...

These are just a FEW of the reasons that I am thankful for my home. I have traded the convenience factor of living in town and my kids don't have a neighborhood to play in or ride their bikes in or have a neighbor-friend come over to play... But what I have gained is worth faaarrr more than I could have ever asked for!