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Did you brush your teeth?

Did you boil noodles in water or use water in another way to cook?

Did you turn on your coffee maker and brew a pot?

Did you fill up the swimming pool for the kids to splash in?

Did you wash your car?

Did you take a shower or give the kids a bath?

Did you water your garden?

Did you take it for granted?

There are many people who don’t have clean water at all. In fact, each week 42,000 people around the world die from unsafe water and unhygienic living. And 90% of those are kids. (Check it out for yourself.)

Really, in 2011, this is unacceptable. And we can help change it.

By providing wells as clean water sources and educating local people on sanitation and hand-washing techniques, charity:water is making a difference.

My good friend, Cheri’s, husband, Matt (did I need all those commas?) is working to raise one million dollars for charity:water clean water projects this month. Can you help? Can you give the gift of $5, $20, $50 or even $100 to provide clean water for people in need?

Go here to donate now. You can also blog, Tweet, or Facebook about Matt’s one million challenge to help him get the word out!

Juicy summer treat

Every bite deliciousness

Uh oh! Need a bath!

32. being alone with the baby (who hardly ever gets “alone time”)

33. iced coffee in the middle of the morning

34. hot showers

35. the feeling of Q-tips cleaning my ears

36. anticipating a visit from dear friends

37. lifting voices in songs of praise as one body

38. sharing a meal with brothers and sisters

39. milk chocolate

40. getting mail/messages just because

41. picking out the perfect gift, and wrapping it up

42. sitting on the balcony drinking tea with my love talking about nothing and everything

43. being adopted into the biggest, most wonderful family by the Biggest, Most Wonderful Dad

44. “water from the wells of salvation”

³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ And you will say in that day:

    “Give thanks to the LORD,
   call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
   proclaim that his name is exalted. ⁵ “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
   let this be made known in all the earth. {Isaiah 12}

On My Nightstand: Organized Simplicity and One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

In My Bible: Ephesians

On My Television: SYTYCD, I love this show! I never was a dancer, and probably wouldn’t have been a good one anyway, but it’s so fun to me to watch the amazing dancing on the show! Hubby and I have been watching Everybody Loves Raymond on DVD some nights before bed too.

In My Kitchen: I’ve been making anything that doesn’t require my oven or my stove. When it’s summer and you don’t have central air, you eat food that doesn’t need to be cooked in the kitchen! Our favorite right now is grilled chicken salad- I build a big salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green pepper, carrots and cheese. Then we grill some marinated chicken, cut it into bite-sized pieces and toss it on top of the salad- YUMO!

In My Ears: Really, I haven’t been listening to anything the past few weeks. I think my brain has turned off the music to try and de-stimulate! Summer comes with a soundtrack of it’s own from the chirping of birds, laughter of children, honking of horns for wedding or circumcision parties (cultural events here!) and I guess I’ve just not needed to turn music on lately!

On My Memory Card:

On the Calendar: June is a busy month for our family. Hubby’s birthday is June 24 and Ladybug’s birthday is June 29. Toss in Father’s Day, Hubby’s language school final exams, a wedding, a boys’ camping trip for Hubby and Stinkbug, and (hopefully!) a weekend away as a family and we’re booked solid!

(Links to Amazon are affiliate links.)

I feel my voice raising and it seems I am outside my own body as I watch me yell at my kids…

I weep over spilled salsa on the freshly mopped kitchen floor and the stress and frustration of a hard week pour from my eyes…

I feel biting words leaving my mouth directed at my best friend and husband, and wonder why I chose to speak at all…

I feel like Eustache, the boy-turned-dragon, (a figment of CS Lewis’ divinely creative imagination) a disgusting creature with need for change

I yearn for the holy claws to peel off my nasty scales and make me whole again

“Then the lion said – but I don’t know if it spoke – You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.

“The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know – if you’ve ever picked the scab off a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.”

“Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off …and there it was lying on the grass…. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on – and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I’d turned into a boy again.”

{The Voyage of the Dawn Treader}

16. ceiling fans!

17. baby sleeping through the night

18. holding the Word in my hands

19. blond boy playing contentedly with trucks and trains all morning

20. goodbye kisses each morning that hold the promise of return by evening

21. fresh fruit

22. curls of red cascading around a sweet girl’s face

23. meeting a new friend at the park

24. brisk morning walk with lungs filling and releasing, body stretching and shaping

25. sugar in my tea

26.pants that don’t need ironing

27. Hubby’s handsome smile

28. the bread and the cup taken with brothers and sisters

29. sweet baby “crawling” on tummy determined to get where he wants

30. turkey pesto and cheese sandwich grilled to perfection

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

{Philippians 4:4}

I have been thinking about but dreading want to get into shape. And so inevitably I know I need to eat right and exercise. (That’s really the only solution to anyone wanting to be healthy, if you want my opinion.)

Well, I’ve done a few exercise videos since Doodlebug was born, but haven’t committed fully to becoming healthier. Yesterday morning, Ladybug crawled into bed with me and started talking to my belly like there was a baby in there. I promptly hopped out of bed and into some work-out clothes and got to work.

So, yes I have a mommy tummy. And having my three year old talk to my belly was embarrassing enough to me that it was all the motivation I needed to get on the wagon and get rid of the baby weight x 3.

Your turn, what do you want to momfess?

I’m feeling broken down by things I’ve believed about things I’ve believed about God. And about me. I know God will put all these pieces back together, and when He does I hope I’m a more grateful me. Me who breathes every breath with a fierceness for living and an appreciation for full lungs.

I’m seeking to be grateful and I want to share my thanksgiving, in hopes that it will inspire you to look to Christ. To see how much you too, have to be thankful for….
1. Grace, the amazing gift of God

2. the great love with which God loves me

3. the Word- alive, unchanging, true

4. Hubby’s willingness to constantly serve me and our children

5. shrieks of laughter of children at play

6. baby soft hair

7. tea

8. the fresh spring breeze making my curtains flutter and dance

9. a majestic blue sky littered with wisps of white- simply glorious!

10. naptime rest for the children and their mom

11. meeting a new mom friend at the park while children run and play

12. strawberries, not the first of the season, but the plump delicious ones that come later and are so sweet on the tongue

13. barefeet

14. being made alive (Ephesians 2:5)