Item No. 21...

For which I am thankful tonight:
21. Sarah and Philip! After the power went out again this afternoon and Tim and Emily left for a weekend in Memphis, we decided it was time to evacuate, too. Once we decided to leave, Jay and I rushed around the house gathering any leftover food, some clothes, toiletries and a few toys for Eve. We called to see if Sarah and Philip would take in a few weary travelling house guests. Of course they were ready and willing for us to come so we made the trip to Bowling Green in time for a hot meal at Logan's Roadhouse. Just when we thought we couldn't be blessed anymore...

God is Good All the Time!!

We have officially survived the mass power outage that came as a result of the ice storm in Western Kentucky this week!!! There are many things about which I could complain here, but instead (as per my only new year's resolution) I will accentuate the positive. The following is a list of things I am thankful for tonight:
1. Our gas logs, gas stove and gas hot water heater.
2. The sun room -turned- walk in refrigerator.
3. That only two ice-laden limbs that fell in our yard... away from the house and cars.
4. That our power was among the last to go out at 3:15 a.m. Wednesday and was among the first to return tonight at 5:15 p.m.
5. TIM, EMILY and ZAK!!!!!! They have been without power longer and have been staying with us since Tuesday night. You truly don't know how much you love family until you live with them and I am proud to say I love them all dearly!
6. Emily's three suitcases full of food and our hot meals eaten by candle light.
7. Car chargers for DVD players and laptops so the kids could have some Mickey.
8. Grandad's knack for cooking on the grill! Yum!
9. Grammy's love for the kids and willingness to "take over" with them when we are tired (and that's not just during ice storms).
10. Grandma Byers's spirit, vitality and sense of humor.
11. Mom, Sarah and Kacey's caring prayerful hearts.
12. Jay and Tim's ability to make us all laugh at just the right time.
13. Flashlights, candles and the big orange basketball phone!!
14. Streetlights! Murray is dark and eerie without them!
15. T-Mac, Mike, Chad and everyone else who works for Murray Electric.
16. News Channel 6... on the radio.
17. Wednesday night church service... turns out you really miss it when you don't have it, especially when you need fellowship!
18. Our precious Eve and Zak who have been real troopers.
19. Snapfish books! (You better believe Emily and I are planning one for this experience already!)
20. The exact moment when I realized the power was back on and we all started jumping, dancing and shouting!
So, refer back to my title... It turns out that if you really look beyond the obvious negatives in a situation you will find that "God is Good All the Time, All the Time God is Good... Even during power outages and ice storms!"

How I Love You...

The sermon at church this morning was taken from the song, "When the Night is Falling." It is a beautiful song and has quickly become one of my favorites mostly because of the chorus in which the phrase, "How I love you, child, I love you," is repeated. After the sermon was over we stood to sing this song today. I was holding Eve, singing in her ear, and she had her head on my shoulder with her arms around me. When we got to the chorus she raised up, put both her little hands on her chest and sad, "Mommy, you love me?!?" I smiled and said, "Yes, I do!" She looked at Jay, who was singing, too, and said, "And Daddy loves me, too?" Wow! Out of the mouths of babes! Though her observation was right... we do love her, it brought into perspective how we feel about God, "God, you love me?!?" We are SO not worthy of that love, but are SO blessed to have it anyway!!!

When the night is falling, and the day is done.
I can hear you calling, "Come"
I will come while you sing over me.
When the night surrounds me,
all my dreams undone,
I can hear you calling, "Come."
I will come while you sing over me.

When the night would hide my way,
I will listen until I hear you say,
"How I love you, child I love you."
When this life is over and the race is run,
I will hear you calling, "Come."
I will come while you sing over me.

-Jernigan

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
For starters, this post is certainly not a copy off of Melanie. I would never steal a blogging idea from anyone... and especially not my own sister's sister-in-law to whom I am not officially related, but strangely, through the cyber-world feel like I am.

At the Stark home this weekend we have by no means been completely non-productive. For instance, we did not pile dishes in the sink, toys next to the shelf and trash by the back door. Likewise we absolutely did not hide baskets of clean laundry in our bedroom with the door shut while church visitors were over yesterday afternoon. We would never hide messes behind closed doors here! Also, we did not move said laundry from the middle of the family room floor just minutes before the visitors arrived.

Jay certainly did not forget to use the gift card we had for our lunch at Cracker Barrell yesterday. Furthermore, he did not move the gift card over from where I had placed it directly in front of his debit card in his wallet in order to pay. (For the record, I was not secretly happy that he forgot, because the fact that we still have the gift card does not mean that we get to go back there soon.)

After we did not waste the rest of our afternoon yesterday, I decided that today would not be wasted, either. So, I did not spend my day off chatting on Facebook and I did not play obscene amounts of solitaire on the laptop while lying on the couch. Above all, I absolutely did not watch "Bring it On: All or Nothing" on E! and I certainly did not like the movie!

To finish our day we went to a Lady Tigers ballgame. The game started at 5:00 p.m. and I did not not pack Eve supper and instead pack ritz and goldfish crackers. In addition, I most assuredly did not allow her to eat an entire popcorn from the concession stand during the game. And never ever would I turn my head as she ate the popcorn pieces she dropped on the floor.

Finally, I will not lay on the couch and watch "The Bachelor" before bed. (And, for the record, the clean laundry is not still in the baskets in our bedroom un-folded.)