My daily gratitude for:

1. Watching Aiden play for his Select baseball team- he loves it, he enjoys his friends, and it makes me nostalgic for when I played baseball as a kid.
2. Ryan’s calm this afternoon at the baseball game that Aiden is playing, which has allowed me to enjoy and watch it…and treasure the time with him rather than stressing!
3. A really beautiful day and a beautiful afternoon.  I love sunny blue sky days regardless of the heat.
4. The kindness of strangers around us.  It doesn’t take much time to see good people and kind acts all around us, like a smile in passing or another parent being gentle with Ryan, or funny food vendors, or water offered without cost, or kids being sweet with one another in the playground.
5. A, a sweet teenager friend from the hospital who is sassy and faithful and spirited, and this may be her final days.  She, and her parents, have been a gift and blessing to me and someone who I feel very comfortable being playful and myself.  

My daily gratitude for:

1. Having a really delicious dinner with a whole crew of fun and good people, including Elana, Mikey, Andrea, Stephen and Dawn, Aiden, and Ryan.
2. Playing Dominion with Stephen and Dawn Marie tonight, which was quite fun and full of laughs.
3. Morning stretches with Ryan! Lol!

My daily gratitude for:

1. Visiting with one of my favorite families today, and celebrating the two kids birthdays.  Such a great family, great parents, and 2 great kids!
2. A great conversation with an interpreter tonight about life in Honduras and seeing his excitement talking to another person from Honduras.
3. Going to the park with Ryan and seeing him love driving his big wheel from his grandparents! Thanks for your gift that keeps giving Mom and Dad!
4. Prayer. It’s such a gift with families at the hospital and a gift personally as I walk with God.
5. Preparing wedding ceremonies, which is so special and encourages me in my marriage.

My daily gratitude for:

1. The good doctors and nurses who I work with in the PICU who show so much compassion to families, especially those we have known for so long.
2. Parents.  Not easy. Few easy answers.  But there is a connection I make with any other who I learn is a parent.
3. My best friends, including Mike Bell, Josh Day, Stephen Lucas, and from a far, Cambry, Adam, and Joe.  Good people I get to be surrounded by!
4. Dinner in Papaw’s back yard!

My daily gratitude for:

1. People finding whatever ways they can to protest life status quo in our world, from the big to the small.  There is often more complexity and more depth to a protest, and we as Christians ought to understand since our Christ refused to bend to the dominant culture and societal norms of his day.  
2. The everyday heroes of our world, like those who go out of their way to protect strangers or the people who serve sandwiches to homeless people or the people who give up time to just talk with isolated elderly or the people who fight fires protecting our homes and families.  And those are just four types of the amazing everyday heroes that I am grateful for.
3. The story of Jonah, of which Jonah’s almost drowning story speaks volumes to a father of two sick boys right now.  Thankful that Scripture can speak to the unspeakable tragedy and pain in our world, even centuries later.

My daily gratitude for:

1. Sharing in service with a ton of people cleaning up a family’s flooded home belongings.  
2. Ryan’s love of ketchup.​​
3. Hanging with Stephen today!
4. A good round of disc golf today.
5. Saturday morning donuts!

My daily gratitude for:

1. Recovering from strep throat! For a couple of days, that illness feels bad. But recovering feels just as sweet.
2. Spiritual Direction as a support in the journey of faith and the journey towards life with God.
3. Getting control of my anger with Ryan this morning, sooner than later, and understanding that he is only 3 and doesn’t quite understand life fully.  I think it was a word I read earlier in the week that suggested that your kid can get hugged even when you or they or both are angry, and that that anger doesn’t disqualify them from a compassionate embrace.  It was a needed word for me.
4. Because even Ryan thinks it’s funny that a dragon eats people…and that he did this all on his own!

My daily gratitude for:

1. Sickness, which, although I hate to say it, slows me down in a good way and enables me to rest and be still.
2. Elana bringing me lunch today from Jasons Deli while I am home being sick.  It was very sweet and thoughtful!
3. The way our dogs fight over toys in our living room and make me laugh and chuckle over silly things.
4. Ryan’s snuggliness while I am sick, which is very comforting.

My daily gratitude for:

1. Walking Galveston beach with Elana this afternoon, and having fish tacos and crab soup for lunch.  It was a nice end to the four day weekend I have enjoyed.
2. Hearing Stanley Gay share a message about forgiveness that was encouraging, especially from someone who has his fair share of experiences practicing forgiveness in the face of hurt.
3. Little blessings that I am very mindful of- a beautiful house, safety during Harvey, FaceTime calls with my mom, being able to drop off my son at daycare, a wife who budgets well, and good colleagues, etc.  thankful for all of them!
4. Afternoon naps, which I’ve done three days this weekend (and I almost never take naps)