It’s November and I’m counting my blessings as part of the 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge. Here are some of my blessings from this past week:
1. Strength and stamina after five days of being on the road to have clarity for a filming project I did with Focus on the Family.
2. 5 people who spent a lot of time and effort to critique my manuscript and give me feedback before I turn it into the publisher December 1.
3. 6 days, 6 flights, 3 hotels, 2 conferences, 3 presentations, 1 filming, countless conversations, and dozens of God-moments. This tired mama is thrilled to be finally home again with her babes and sleeping in her own bed again!
4. Finally getting our ceiling/bathroom leak problem fixed! It took multiple plumbers and a lot more time than we initially assumed it would take, but we are so grateful to have things in working order again and our ceiling all patched back up and painted.
5. My mom’s faithful prayers for me. She’s constantly texting and emailing me to let me know specific things she’s praying for me and it’s been such a blessing — especially the past two weeks as there’s been a lot going on in our family.
6. Playing LEGOS with my kids. (If your kids love Legos, be sure to search on YouTube for Puzzle Box tutorials — my kids get such great engineering practice and problem solving skills by designing and building these.)
7. My dear friend, Tam. After a long week for both of us, we got together for an hour and half on Saturday just to chat and encourage one another. It’s always a gift to have people you can share your hearts to openly with.
8. The love that my children have for each other. See a video Silas made for Kathrynne while she was at her swim meet here.
9. SLEEP! So very thankful to have time this weekend and the past few days to get caught back up on sleep. It’s amazing the difference being well rested can make!
10. After months of research, discussion, more research, talking with other companies, exploring options, and yes, some pulling our hair out moments, finally landing upon a solution for our email lists. So grateful for some direction and resolution after a year of working on this project!
11. A quick day trip to Atlanta and back to meet with an amazing group of designers, creatives, marketing brains, retail sales folks, and publicists and map out the details of the product line that we’re launching in 2015. I cannot wait to share more details… I had to hold in my squeals of excitement all that day! You are going to LOVE what we are cooking up! I’m still pinching myself that I get to be apart of all of this!!!
12. Our dear friend, Susanna, flying out from Kansas to stay with us for a few days. She’s been like an angel in our home — playing with our kids, helping with laundry, cooking, and just bringing so much blessing and peace into our home. It’s truly been a gift to our family.
13. An impromptu date night with Jesse! Since Susanna was here, she graciously watched our kids while we went out for dinner, conversation, and a movie. It was so fun to do something like this… especially spur-of-the-moment!
14. Launching the Choose Gratitude Blessings Journal. You all have, once again, BLOWN ME AWAY with your support and excitement for this. Thank you for how you bless me on a daily basis and for how much you believe and support me. You have no idea how much it means to me!
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Tamboliya says
As to your son’s video to his sister for her swimmeet: How sweet! 🙂 How loyal of him to want to be supportive for his sister, being her cheerleader to encourage her. Awww. 🙂 What godly character. 🙂 Also, I’ve never known a boy to stain treat his shirt; that is quite remarkable and impressive! What a grown-up little man! 🙂 How thoughtful to make breakfast for his mom. 🙂
Audy says
I ordered 5 of those books. THanks
Could you tell me the point of puzzle boxes? I am confused. lol
Crystal Paine says
Basically, to create a box that has certain levers you pull that cause other actions to happen that eventually lead you to the “prize” (sometimes, my kids will use candy pieces, but usually the prize is Lego money or small gold Lego pieces). It’s a great way to learn basic engineering skills, as well as problem-solving skills.
Audy says
Ok, I had watched one video and was confused at why they were doing it. I have to have a point. Heeeheee.
So when they put a lego computer in it, that computer was the prize?
I wish they showed how to use it after it was made.
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to get my books. Maybe I should have ordered 10? grrrr But already placed the order.
Cheryl says
Your post reminded me of the children’s song “Count Your Blessings, Name them One By One”…I’m also doing this too, my dad passed away a month ago, and I’ve been taking the time to see how many people in my church, friends, etc have been blessing and supporting me through this. I’ve been helping my mom too, they had been married over 50 years and this Thanksgiving I’m thankful for Christian parents and that Dad is celebrating in heaven!
Crystal Paine says
I’m so sorry about your dad, but I’m so inspired by your upbeat, grateful perspective. {Hugs!}
Laura Murfin says
What an incredible week you had! I feel energized to count my blessings and to be opened to be used by God.
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for your kind encouragement!
sallie smith says
Hi Crystal! Thank you for this post. I love hearing about your mama praying for you. We all need someone like that in our lives. What a blessing. My question is about the LEGO boxes. I know, that’s not the main point of this post:) My kids are obsessed with LEGOS and we’ve never heard of this. I looked them up on Youtube and found lots of videos about solving the boxes, but how do you put them together? I know……silly question in the midst of this wonderful profound post. Sorry! Thank you for all you share.
Crystal Paine says
If you look up LEGO Puzzle Boxes or LEGO Puzzle Box Tutorials you’ll find step-by-step instructions and tutorials. My kids usually take ideas they find in videos and then tweak them.
Here are some examples: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lego+puzzle+boxes
Lisa Guyer says
We’ve never heard of Puzzle Boxes! I looked them up a little on YouTube but don’t have a good handle on them. Do you have to buy certain sets to have the right pieces? How do you get started? Maybe your kids should make an lntro to Puzzle Boxes quick video! My kids would love to hear more about these!
Crystal Paine says
If you look up LEGO Puzzle Boxes you’ll find step-by-step instructions. My kids usually take ideas they find in videos and then tweak them.
We just use the pieces we already have on hand to make them.
Here are some examples: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lego+puzzle+boxes
Lisa Guyer says
Thanks!!