365 Days of Praise Challenged-Day 198

You would think it was July or something? This heat is not fun. We braved the heat and went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday. I think my brain is still melted from it. I do not do well with hot weather but I made the best of it and just plowed along enjoying those moments that will come but once. My son had a momentous occasion and bought his first hunting knife. My daughter's momentous ocassion came while she was eating a vanilla shake that was topped with chocolate sauce. She blended it in and was making a good mess of it on her face when a Renaissance Festival character walked by and said "are you eating mudd?" Her face was just classic. Another personal highlight of the day for me was the wild animal show. This year they brought out a white tiger that was only 8 months old. Mind you at 8 months, they look full grown but he acted like a cub with a very playful nature. It was quite the site to see the tiger giving the trainer a playful hug. Tigers are my favorite animal in all of God's kingdom so when I saw a drawing at a booth of a tiger and his reflection in water, I knew I had to get it. It reminds me of how we are always casting a reflection. Whether we see it in a mirror, water or not at all; it is there. We constantly are reflecting what is in our hearts and minds. I have to be more aware of how I am reflecting my thoughts and feelings. Is the love of Christ being reflected or is it my own frustrations of life? More often it is the latter but I am praying that there will come a time when I will be reflecting my love of Jesus more than anything else.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 124

To celebrate Faith's birthday, we planned a day of surprises. Traditionally, we have gone out for breakfast to IHop but she was introduced to Mimi's Cafe this year and we decided we needed to go and try breakfast there. That was a good decision. They have the best breakfast and she got a chocoloate muffin for her birthday which never happens at IHop. Next, we took a long drive up Northeast of Denver to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. She got really excited once we pulled up and she realized where we were. As we were getting out of the car, she asked whose idea was this and I said it was mine and she rushed over to me once out of the car and gave me the best hug ever saying 'thank you, thank you, thank you'. This animal sanctuary is unique in that they have built a walkway above the animal enclosures so you can see down on out over the huge areas without any fencing in the way. I think the black leapords, the African serviles and my personal favorite the white tiger were the favorites. The best part was her picking out a huge stuffed cheetah in the gift shop spending her own birthday money. Our next surprise took us over to the Parkmeadows Mall and the American Girl store. Ugh. It's almost painful to see the prices of these dolls and accesories but that store was packed with people. Faith ended up spending the rest of her birthday money along with some extra from us as our birthday gift to her. She walked away with a few more stuffed animals and some things to go with them. She was a very happy girl with her big cheetah and American Girl stuff. And to top it all off, she finally got the coveted Webkin and of all things it was a white tiger. Purrrrrfect! Our day full of suprises ended up being a wonderful day for her. There are always suprises in our lives, some good ones like what Faith had and some not so good nor expected ones like 'sorry you no longer have a job today' but in the end no matter what our reactions to the suprises may be, he will make it a good thing. The next time a suprise hits you, stop and just praise God that he will take it and make it a good thing and let that thought make it a good thing for you.
Job 12:9-10 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.