The Sunday Showcase: Story Boxes

So I've really been inspired by Story Boxes lately and have been wanting to make one for Sweet P & Sprout. These 2 Story Boxes from last week may have been just what I needed to motivate me to make one this week. Both are made from recycled materials and both are just perfect for little hands!

The Good Long Road shared her Story Box for Where is Baby's Pumpkin? by Karen Katz. I just loved that her little boy was involved in the creation and construction of the box and the simplicity of the materials.

One Perfect Day's Story Box was for the book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers and isn't it just adorable!? I think that little guy looks like Where's Waldo and love it! Hers is also constructed from various recycled materials. SO fun, simple and inexpensive!

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21 Days of Gratitude: Day 2 - My Marriage Rocks

I got this Union28 shirt at the MOPS conference in August. Yep, the MOPS conference I said I'd blog about and never did. I'll just say it was AMAZING and my measly words will never do it justice. Can we leave it at that for now?

I wanted a souvenir from the trip and looked and looked for a shirt to take home. My eyes finally settled on the message of this shirt. In a society that seems to cross their fingers when saying their vows, this shirt speaks volumes. Wanna know something? I was nervous about wearing it at first. Isn't that silly? I worried it might seem braggy, like "My marriage rocks, nah nah neh nah nah." But then I thought, "Ya know, marriage gets such negative publicity that it's time we start remembering the positive."

And my marriage DOES rock. And I hope yours does, too. 

God created a helpmate for me like no other and He knew who it'd be the minute I was born. When I think about our story and how we came to be husband and wife, I see the hand of God orchestrating every minute. All the way up to the moment The Farmer said, "Will you marry me?" 

I'm not going to type out the details of our meeting, friendship, courtship and engagement, but I will say that there is NO doubt in my mind that God exists because of the events that occurred to get me where I was when I met The Farmer. 

So today I'm grateful for my marriage and husband. My helpmate, my lover, my best friend, my confidant, my partner, my strength, my role model, my sound board, my biggest fan and often times my therapist! 

Have you joined the 21 Days of Gratitude Challenge hosted by Inspired by Family and many other fabulous bloggers? Join us and take time to count your blessings!

21 Days of Gratitude: Day 1 - Mornings with God

Every night before I go to bed I set my alarm and tell myself (and God), "ok, I'm going to get up tomorrow and take time to talk to God." I put my alarm clock (my phone) under my pillow (or across the room if it's charging) with every intention of jumping out of bed, ready to spend time with the Big Fella when it goes off.

And 6 mornings out of 7 (okay, if I'm being honest it's more like 7 out of 7), I hit snooze, roll over and go back to sleep. I wake up an hour (or more) later to the sound of a talking (or fussing) Sprout and say, "Argh, oh well, I'll do better tomorrow." But I don't.

So after oh, I don't know, like 20 years of doing this, I woke up Tuesday morning (an hour after the alarm) and had a thought.

What if I treated God like I'd treat a friend? Not just any friend. A BEST friend.

Better yet, what if I treated my best friend the way I've been treating God every morning? What if I made plans to meet my friend for coffee every morning and confirmed those plans each night before I went to bed? How long would my friend tolerate a text from me every morning to say "Sorry, can't make it, too tired"?

I thought about it long and hard, and decided I could probably get away with it for two days in a row before my friend began to rethink our plans. I mean sure, she'd probably agree with my excuses for awhile..."The baby was up a lot last night so I'm reeeeally tired today" or "I went to bed too late last night, sorry." But even if she tolerated my excuses, they are still exactly that. Excuses.

At first, she'd likely be understanding. She might ask if I needed a phone call in the morning or if everything was alright. Pretty soon, she'd text or call and say, "Dude, what's your deal?" or "Look, if you're not committed to getting up and having coffee, then just forget it." or maybe something worse like, "Geez, who stands their friend up EVERY SINGLE MORNING? What kind of friend are you?!?"

Then it hit me. I wouldn't do that to a friend. I wouldn't even do that to a stranger. So WHY oh WHY do I do it to my God? And what made me feel even worse was that He wouldn't call me a flake or tell me I was a terrible friend. He'd keep agreeing to meet me for coffee each morning. Over and over and over again. Each morning hoping I'd be there, even when He already knew how it would turn out.

So Tuesday night when I went to bed, I set my alarm and told God, "See you in the morning." And you know what? I got up as soon as my alarm went off.

I've actually dragged myself out of bed before to meet with God, but yesterday was different. Usually I do it because I feel like that's what I'm supposed to do. But yesterday, I got up excited to meet with my dear old friend over coffee (except I had ginger tea because my throat was froggy).

And I had an awesome time with Him. For the first time in my life I talked to God like I would a friend over coffee and told Him about what was going on, asked Him for advice and listened. Ok, I sorta listened. I'm not very good at that. I'm working on it. And He knows that.

And while I'd like to credit myself for coming up with the whole friend analogy, I'm pretty sure God had a lot to do with it.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek with all your heart. ~Jeremiah 29:13

And all of God's people said, Amen.

Day 1 of the 21 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Today I am grateful for a merciful God.