A Full Heart...

The washing machine is whirring and the dishwasher set to start next, the table cleared and wiped down, the floor swept, the dishes and pots and pans washed and returned to their usual spots... With full tummies and happy hearts, it's time to reflect on the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

I'm pushing aside my urge to tell you all how much I've missed blogging and moving right on to the importance of the day. I've thought so much about this post, it's been turning over in my mind for several days, if not a week or more.

I'm so thankful. It's not just the time of year or because it's the day to be thankful. I just am. When I think about all that God is doing in my life, all the ways He's using me, all growth that He's investing in me. Wow. It's humbling.

A list seems like a business-like way to attack this...

1.) Jesus. It all begins and ends with Him. I'm so thankful for a relationship with my savior, a relationship that began at the beginning of time, that the Maker thought me up (and you, and everyone you know and even everyone you don't know) and knew that when He gave me free will I would choose to go my own way. And when I chose that, He chose a sacrifice to cover that choice, at tremendous cost. And I live, in freedom, in right relationship with Him every day, because of that sacrifice. I am so grateful for His Grace, and His friendship.

2.) the Word of God. My ever growing dependency on it, learning to bury it in my heart, learning the words of life and wisdom and truth. I'm grateful to live in a time that I am free to study it, pray it over my life, and seek understanding. I have access to probably 10 translations sitting on my shelves and bedside table, not to mention Biblegateway.com or the volumes of translations and concordances in Rob's office. An amazing time we live in, isn't it?

3.) My dear, sweet family. I'll admit it. I love the Thoresons. Rob is, well, he's Rob. How else do I say that? He's everything I will ever need in a husband, and more. He is the love of my youth and the ever-growing love as we grow old together. He pushes me, supports me, corrects me, challenges me, provides for me, and most of loves me, which is a great gift unto itself. I am not an easy person to live with, I'm sure. :) Yet, he sticks around. And we have such a good time together.

Eli and Sarah. Two stinking geniuses, always lighting up our life with their humor and love and just general joy. They are so funny, so passionate, and it's a joy to behold them. (even though we have our rough moments, the good far outweighs the not-so-good) I consider myself so blessed (and mostly inadequate) to be their mom.

4.) the Ministry. God is so gracious to allow Rob and I to serve Him. We are both highly flawed people, but still He manages to use us and refine us in the process. I am thankful for His call on our lives and His perseverance to fulfill that call.

5.) Trinity. We love our church. We are so invested in it. We love our students and our congregation. We are grateful every day to be doing something we are so passionate about, and glad that Trinity is the place that God has called us to.

6.) Technology. Sounds dorky, but technology has really made my life better. I can't imagine life without the internet and Mac, and our Touches, cell phones. The connectivity really helps, especially living so far from family and friends. Productivity has been massively increased.

7.) Facebook. Silly, but yes, it needed it's own number. Facebook has changed the way we do ministry. It's such an awesome opportunity to connect with people, beyond that surfacey 'hey, how are you?' on Sunday morning. And to be connected with people around the globe at the type of a keyboard. I have several missionary friends in another hemisphere, and yet, I can know what they had for breakfast that morning. Plus, it's a great chance to be salt and light, being a positive voice that connects people to Jesus on a daily basis. I have lots of friends from high school who still don't know the Lord, but they are reading my status updates. What an opportunity!!

8.) My Nikon d90. You knew that was coming. This camera has changed the way I view the world and I love it!! Every time I pick it up I think how blessed I am to have it.

9.) ATP. God is really using this business; to bless families, to grow me in so many ways (spiritually, relationally, financially, even just in knowledge!) I've really had to step out and decide where it is going and I'm really excited about the possibilities. God literally dropped it in my lap and I'm still amazed that I'm working for myself now. Very cool. It really pays off to be a work-a-holic when you are self-employed, too bad I didn't figure that out years ago. Really, though, ATP has been specifically for this time in our life. I feel like it's my reward for staying home and investing in our kiddos those first 8 years of early childhood. Ironically, I thought they'd go to elementary and I'd return to college and then eventually go back to work. I never dreamt that God would rewrite my plans (again) and allow me to go back to work so soon. Very cool, and completely satisfying, even if it makes our life a little crazy.

10.) Good friends. I have three friends who continually feed my soul. These girls are available any time I call, and always prove to be good sounding boards, offering solid advice and prayer. I am so glad they are a part of my life.

11.) Our home. All 1288 square feet of it. I will never be dissatisfied with this house. Of course there are things I would like to improve (you know me, I have a list of someday projects), but any time I feel myself growing discontent, I remember the Ozark house. All 500 sq ft of it. And I'm fine then. God has brought us so far since 2005.

12.) Personal Growth. wow. I just perused back to 2005 to see if I had a blog post about our tiny house and I was so cynical, oh my! I guess I was just really in a bad place back then, but I'm usually pretty glass-half-full, so it was surprising. I can see how my faith has grown since then. God has really brought us through some trials over the years and I can see the character He's been working on so diligently. Thank you Lord!

13.) Our freedom. Even though, I often think the very freedom that this country was founded on will eventually become it's demise. I am so thankful for people like my brother Chris and my cousin John who are working so hard to protect our country, sacrificing so much. We are blessed because of them.

Well, that's a start. Now to include some pictures.

We drew on a tablecloth today, all the things we were thankful for. Making this a new family tradition. :)

Here are the results. Totally washable, cheap table cloth + sharpies.

Yesterday we kept an eye on Grace and Ethan while their folks made a hospital visit. I had already planned on making these cute pilgrim hat cookies. It was a lot of fun.

And then here is our meal as a family this afternoon. It was yummy! (a little irritated with these last two shots because I had it in manual earlier, set for the light in the kitchen at the time, and then forgot to reinspect the settings when we sat down to eat an hour later. The sun was lower on the west side of the house, brighter room on the same settings = blown out photo. rookie mistake. oh well.)

I also snuck a remote shot while we were praying, just cause I could. :) Funny, right after we were done praying Eli told me he had thought of it too! That's my boy!

Ten Minutes

I'm on break. :) I've been photoshopping since I finished my quiet time at 9 this morning. I'm trying to dig myself out of the hole I've made for myself these past two weeks. That's the issue that happens when you book more shoots than you have time to post-process. And with putting everything on hold for the anniversary this weekend, I'm 4 shoots and a wedding behind right now, about to go to a family shoot this afternoon, and then another one tomorrow. whew! But then I've got a little break (to edit) and to celebrate Thanksgiving in the Thoreson Household. We are really scaling it back this year, but I feel like it's totally out of necessity, I just can't take on anything else. Perhaps, 10 days from now, I'll feel differently, but as of today I'm planning very low key. :) Yummy, but low key. Can you believe that turkey day is already almost here? Can someone please tell me where 2009 went? I feel like it's been just a blur. It's almost time to do my recap already. Oh my.

I'm thinking in 2010 I'm going to need to re-prioritize a bit. Maybe even starting before then. I told you about the small-scale Thanksgiving (very not Anna).. Take a deep breath, but I'm not sending Christmas cards this year. (don't throw anything) I know they are a Thoreson tradition since the beginning of time (actually, I literally sent out hand-drawn Christmas cards as a high schooler, such a dweeb am I!), but this year it's being forgone. Perhaps next year I'll pick it back up, but this season I'm focusing on ATP, giving everything extra time-wise to church, and spending quality time with my kids when they are home. Besides, almost everyone I sent Christmas cards to is on FB now, so we have been more in touch with them this year than any year previously.

Anyway, didn't pop on to say all that. Really wanted to express the awesomeness of yesterday. We successfully pulled off our 90th Anniversary at Trinity. It was a huge amount of work, but such a cool result. I'm very excited to sift through the photos, but they are on the aforementioned waiting list. ;) I did pull this one out real quick, just to add a pic because what fun is a post without a picture??

Also, just wanted to ask y'all to pray for my friend, Lori, who is really struggling with morning sickness (really, all day sickness) and her husband is in dire need of a job. Such a discouraging situation. Rob and I have been praying, but I today I got to thinking about it and thought about the power of lots of people praying. They are good people who work hard, and got dealt a bad hand. They need a touch from God right now.

Ok, off to prep for my family session. They are missionaries to Portugal. How cool is that???

I was waiting for a client this afternoon and forgot to bring a book or a to-do list or anything other than my iPod, and even that keeps kicking off my downloaded translation of my bible. Normally I use that kind of 'waiting' down time to read scripture, or study my memory verses, or go over my calender and mentally prep for the things that lay ahead. But today, I was off my game and just sat for a few moments and thought. One of the things I thought about is how much I miss blogging on a regular basis. Life is just moving way too fast right now and I haven't even had a chance to write it down! Thankfully, I have been much more faithful to my quiet times, so at least I'm not losing my mind! :)

Photography has been busy. Church has been insanely busy. The laundry and dishes and housecleaning is piling up. I feel like a person (who is not a strong swimmer) standing in a swimming pool at the 5 foot section, a little overfilled, just barely keeping my face to the surface of the water, arched up on my tippy toes. Sure, I'm still technically keeping my head above water, but just barely!

This week we are finishing all the last minute preps for the church's 90th anniversary, the pictures, the cake decisions, the order of service, all the little extras. I'm also working on editing last weekend's wedding.

I had a senior session today, which was super fun. I ripped my last contact on Sunday though, and am condemned to wear my glasses (grrr) until my 'extremely unusual' prescription trial pair come in late this week. Shooting with glasses today was irritating, to say the least. Wearing glasses just makes me feel like I'm walking around in a fog, and I'm convinced they make me look tired.

Tonight I'm previewing pictures for today's session, and working on the church Christmas card which needs to be ordered by the end of the week. Tomorrow Rob is off (yay!) and the kids get out of school early, so we NEED to do something fun. I'm not exaggerating, sometimes I think our kids really get the short end of the stick and we need to do something about it tomorrow. I'm thinking maybe a park, or the beach, or a movie or even lunch. Not sure, but definitely need to do something!

Thursday I get my hair done, which I am so ready for! And we have parent teacher's conferences. Friday is scrapbooking with the girls from Trinity (yay!) and then prepping for the anniversary. Saturday is more anniversary prep and 2 family shoots that I'm totally looking forward to.

And so forth and so on until we get home from Youth Convention on the 21st, we'll do Sunday services on the 22nd and then it's one week of vacation for me and my favorite youth pastor. Man, I hope I'm caught up by then. Our house could use some serious attention!

Meanwhile.... I am so looking forward to some time with our kids tomorrow. And feeling like myself again with a fresh cut/color. And most of all, scrapbooking in the name of all things church. :) What a built in blessing! I can't wait to focus on something totally creative and unnecessary for a little while. I can't wait!

Everyone's doing good though. Eli's recovered well from his sinus/staph infection. He's still on antibiotics but his 'clicking' when he breathes has stopped. Sare's been a little cranky the past couple days, but last night and tonight early to bed seem to be helping. They are really looking forward to their early out tomorrow. Rob did a great job on the video 'history' of the church, I think the congregation will really enjoy it. I'm also really excited about his worship set for Sunday morning, he's doing a walk-through-the-ages type of thing, best songs from 1920-now essentially. I think it's going to be a beautiful service.

Ok, back to work so I can afford to play tomorrow. :)

Making Mom Happy

I noticed my mom missing the Halloween pictures of the kiddos in her weekly email, so I figured I better belly-up and get 'er done for her. I posted quite a few on FB last week, but I like to post 'em here too, because the blog is the family history book, you know.

I have a lot of family photos to edit from the past few weeks, but I've been really behind lately and trying to prioritize work first. Eventually I'll catch up, but it likely won't be until at least Thanksgiving in all honesty.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and spending Thursday with Rob, although we will be spending a good chunck of the day treating our house and cat for fleas. grr.

So a few Halloween photos. We did Trunk or Treat at church and this is our "Deep in the Heart of Texas" trunk. The lights lit up and we played traditional Texas music through the whole evening. It was pretty fun. There were a couple of bales of hay and a feed bucket to hand out candy with as well...
Eli wanted to be Jesus for Halloween. He was so sweet, asking each person if they knew Jesus. Such a bold soul. Both kids were both absolutely crushed when two people at the last two houses we visited said they didn't believe in Jesus. They came home and prayed for them right away, and still talk about it now 5 days later. I'm so glad they are so sensitive. Adults have been seasoned to be hardened I think.
Sarah was a bride for the Trunk or Treat and she was adorable, of course...


We did pumpkins on Friday night and the whole family really got into it. Rob did the Rebel symbol (from Star Wars) and Eli did the Imperial symbol (also from Star Wars), Sarah did her take on a traditional pumpkin, and I did a camera. It was very fun. Here are our lit up results...

The actual night of Halloween Sarah changed her mind on being a bride and went as a punk rocker instead.. We just dug through our closets till we found something that worked.

I've been having fun pulling out clothes that I bought on clearance at the end of our 'winter' season last year. This sweater is my new favorite. I like pairing it with this pastel blue and also a bold bright blue with a fun blue fabric flower pin I found on clearance last week..

Also, we did our staff photos on Saturday morning for the church Christmas card. Hard to believe it's that time of year already, but it is! Here's our best family shot.

Thankfulness and More

You've probably heard me say it a hundred times, but God is so good!

I say that and you probably think that I've got it all together and everything is coming up roses. Nope, not at all. Not even close! In fact, right now we are battling fleas on our cat (and have been since I got home from Iowa, so over a month already), Eli's got some kind of break out in his hair and is just drowning in snot from sinus issues, Sarah's teacher let me know that Sarah could use more rest, I'm completely overwhelmed with work/housework/ministry/personal growth tasks.... But God is so good and I'm so excited about what He's doing in my life and the ways that He is moving!

Brother Herb spoke this morning about being 'too blessed to be stressed' and I have to tell you that I am not there yet. But I know that I am immensely blessed. My kids are just amazing, I'm completely in awe of them as they are becoming these amazing little people going out in to the great big world, affecting it for Jesus, WOW, that is powerful to behold. Rob is my strength. He is so talented and forthright and just exactly what I need when I need it. He loves me in such a clear and consistent way, I'm so grateful to be hand in hand on this journey with him. I think about what he does on any given Sunday morning and it's incredible to me, his gifting and his calling. It makes me want to hold him up and help him anyway that I possibly can. And I do, we pray together before every service and post process afterwards and obviously I'm super-involved where ever he needs me. But I'm way amazed by him and totally in love with him at the same time. We are all growing in our household right now, and it's just really cool!

So blessed. Working on the stressed still. I feel like I have been in a constant struggle for balance ever since we moved to Baytown. It's been hard to find my place; with the kids starting school full-time and the seemingly ever-increasing demands of ministry and wow, running a household (all the mommies and wives know what I'm talking about there, that's a full-time gig all by itself) and then to add to it my photography business. But the photography thing is such an incredible blessing in itself. Not that it's been extremely profitable just yet, the start up and overhead costs have been far greater than I had initially anticipated, but so worth the effort. I love what I do with a passion I didn't know I had. There's such a thrill in working with people and creating with them. It's a natural high, let me tell you. I get such satisfaction when they are ecstatic about their results. It's just cool!

So as you can see, I'm not willing to put anything down. I love all that I'm doing. Every time I get to a point of 'overwhelmedness' I slow down long enough to think it through, pray about it, cry to Rob, and remember why I do all that I do. And then I move past overwhelmed right in to thanksgiving, God has filled my life with so many good things. So blessed.

Brother Herb also talked about being a blessing to others. I've been on this kick lately, having recently listened to lifechurch.tv and Craig Paschel speaking about 'Being blessed to be a blessing to Others' and it's really been a good challenge for me. I've been trying to give more in all areas of my life, just not holding back. God has been so good to me, it's good to give back even if it's simply out of thanksgiving!

Ok, well I'm tired. I've already written my to-do list for tomorrow and all I can say is oh dear. But it's Monday and it's going to be good. I'm excited for a new week. A big week. A family shoot on Friday and a wedding on Saturday, it's going to be great. Just around the corner is the 90th Anniversary and just beyond that is Youth Convention and then Thanksgiving. Rob and I are taking the entire week of Thanksgiving off and we are really looking forward to that!! Too blessed, let me tell you.

PS - I have all kinds of photos to share, but it's going to be a bit before I get that far...