Happy Things!

Lots of wonderful things have been happening this week. Which is good. Because last week was a big ball of stink. So, I'm happy that this week is going much better :)

First, we had a retreat with a group of our high school students last weekend. The theme was "Chase the Lion", referring to Christ as the Lion of Judah. The Lion and the Lamb. You get it. Anyway, it was all about having courage to believe and follow Christ. At school, at home, at work, at play. It can be hard to be a Christian in a public high school. We talked about persecution (did you know that Christianity is illegal in 51 countries? and that 2 weeks ago 500 Christians were killed in Nigeria by machete? Yeah. This Christianity business is the REAL DEAL, folks.) It was seriously such an awesome weekend. The kids really grew close to each other, closer to Christ. They got along quite well and actually played games! Which, a year ago, was a very difficult thing for our teens to do. To have the freedom to be silly and fully engage in games... it takes time to build that kind of trust. It's exciting to see that it is (finally) happening.

Josh and I at the retreat:

Josh leading worship at the retreat:

Second, it has been beautiful outside. It makes everyone quite happy. More importantly (ha), it makes my car warm. I have not had heat in my car since..... mid December-ish. To be honest, it has been quite miserable. Also, because we keep our house at a toasty 56 degrees, it would be easy to say I have been cold since December. (We got an electric blanket though in January and ohmygosh it changed my life!) ANYWAY. I park my car in the sun. Always! Even just a few minutes ago, we got home and it was in the shade of our house. So I backed it up 15 feet. It will make my drive into work that much more pleasant! yay sunshine!

Third, I talked to a telemarketer yesterday. She said I was the first pleasant person she had talked to all day. (It was only 10:30am, but still made me feel good and reaffirmed my previous post)

Fourth, as of yesterday, Joshua and I are (outside of our house) COMPLETELY DEBT FREE!!! And that is a wondeful, fabulous feeling.

Fifth, I got to wear my new 50's looking dress that I got for $10 at Plato's Closet yesterday. Complete with red lipstick and 40's hair. I felt sort of silly, and sort of awesome all day long.

Sixth, Josh has been telling me since last week that he had a surprise for me on Tuesday. The surprise ended up being so fun! We went out to eat at Olive Garden with Kenny and Nicole, and Matt and Cassie. Then, each couple got a seperate room at the Amway Grand Plaza downtown Grand Rapids. We walked down to the museum and got to do some swing dancing (I chose a great day to dress vintage!) and we taught Kenny and Nicole some moves. We explored the hotel and retired for the evening AND as Josh and I laid in bed flipping through channels we stumbled upon Moulin Rouge! 'twas a great end to a great day.

See? Six happy things! Six!