THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE

I've been feeling a little down in the dumps lately and God seems to have decided to send some little rays of sunshine my way over the last several days.

Monday - I had an opportunity to earn some money, which is a blessing with a summer void of subbing jobs looming ahead of us.

A friend arrived in the States, along with her husband and some of their kids, to deal with the unexpected death of their son/brother. That, obviously, isn't a happy thing. However, they were able to fly in from another country because our circle of friends raised $12,000 in about 24 hours, bought their tickets, dealt with problems caused by red tape, and provided little silver linings for them in this difficult ordeal. So thankful to be part of that group!

Tuesday - Devon's school had a concert on Tuesday and two volunteers were honored at the end. Those two ladies, Sheila and Kelly, are responsible for creating a library at the school and this is their last year there, hence the recognition via a plaque with their name on it to be hung in the library. I've had the privilege of working with them as a library volunteer during the year and was thrilled to see them acknowledged. However, I was totally surprised to hear my name listed with the names of some other people who volunteered their time to the library and who were acknowledged on a second plaque. I'm pretty sure my name in a list on a plaque in a school library makes me famous. Want my autograph?

We got to watch Devon perform in the concert, including one song where he did some drumming.

We were able to share some of our bamboo with Diana, who needed some for a gardening project.

We delivered roses from our yard to Sara and Karen.

Wednesday - We had our last library check-in day, so I went in to help get all the books back on the shelf. Sheila and Kelly surprised Tawana, the other volunteer who will be taking over as the volunteer librarian, and I with some gifts. They gave me a sweet card, a plant in an awesome plant stand, a journal, and a bookmark. I love it all! They even confessed to doing a little online sleuthing to make sure I was in a house, not an apartment, and would have a place to put a plant. As many of you  know, I love online sleuthing, which sounds better than "non-creepy internet stalking", and it cracked me up that they hunted me down online to help choose a gift. Judging by how much I loved their gifts, I think I need to visit the store they discovered and did their shopping at. Garden Gallery Iron Works. Have any of my local friends been there?

I also received a bouquet from one of the teachers (as I write this I'm wondering if it was from her personally or from the school and she was just the deliverer) as I left the school that afternoon as a thank you gift for volunteering in the library. So pretty!

Naomi and I were able to deliver roses from our yard to Wendie.

I was able to deliver cookies to Devon's school for the staff to snack on.

Thursday - All 6 Ws were able to go do some work for Dave and Sheri. It was nice to be able to pay some kindness forward and be outside at the same time.

I got to send cookies to school with Tim for the staff at the school he was subbing at.

Friday - I was able to help with the last library day of the year, working with two classes as they did their end of the year project.

My dad called and we got to chat for half an hour.

We had a mellow night at home and I enjoyed staying up late with the little Ws.

Saturday - Wendi gave me two pumpkin starts from her garden. Considering that I'm having the worst gardening luck ever and mourning the awesome garden we used to have in Beaverton, I'm super thankful for her starts. Becca had been weeding out at Wendi's, so she delivered the starts and stayed to chat for a while.

Sunday -Kit handed me a big gift bag after church, an early birthday gift. I opened it up to find a beautiful prayer shawl that she had made, along with a thoughtful note. I can't wait to wrap up in it on a day that's not topping out around 80 degrees.  Thick, made with love, and in my favorite colors ... blue and green, I love it!

I recently asked if anyone had a wagon they were done with, as Silas is having a hard time carrying all the papers for his route. I really wanted one of the deep ones, but any type would have been great. A few days later Rachel asked if we still needed one and offered us the one she was done with. It's perfect! I'm thankful, but not nearly as thankful as Silas is going to be on the next delivery day!

Not only that, but she also gave me one of her shovels. With a blue handle, just to make it even better! We used to have a shovel, then my dad gave us one with some yard stuff he was getting rid of. I gave one away, as we didn't need two, then ours got accidentally gathered up with someone else's stuff and we've never been able to get it back. I borrowed a shovel from a friend last weekend and got a ton of work done, but now I have my own shovel again!!! My wind-blown hair and I tried to snuggle the shovel for the picture, but Silas, who was my photographer, thought that was a little weird. Ha! He just doesn't understand my excitement.

Then, just because she was evidently on a roll, she shoved a treat in my hands. I don't think she even knows my birthday is this week, so I think it's funny that the flavor of the candy bar is "Birthday Cake Batter".

I'm so thankful for these demonstrations of kindness that have been showed toward me, the opportunities we've had to bless other people, and the fun things that have happened over the last week. Just writing them all out in one place helps me not to wallow in the things I'm not happy about. It's all about perspective, right? I just need to keep a healthy one, spending more time focusing on the positive things and less on the negative ones.