Thankful List ~ February 2015

February Thankful list

The greatest thing we are thankful for this month is the birth of our new healthy baby boy, Elias Samuel Kelly.  He was born on Friday, February 13^th, weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long.  For the full story of his arrival please check out this blog post!

We started the month out having a Super Bowl party for the Youth Group.  It was so much fun. We had beautiful weather and a sweet family in the church opened up their home. Over 50 people showed up, including several visitors to the church, which was amazing! We had lots of snacks.  People played basketball, table tennis, many just sat around and talked.  The little kids played on the playground and in the playroom but, funny enough, not too many people ended up watching the game.  My favorite part was all getting together during halftime and listening to Josh share his testimony with the Youth.  He challenged them to make their faith their own.  This is something I not only pray for the Youth, but also for my own little kiddos.

We had a difficult 1^st week of February when everyone in the house, except myself, came down with the flu.  It may seem weird to put this on our thankful list but here are just some of the ways I saw God’s graciousness in the midst of this trial:  1) Josiah had a 104.7 fever the night we discovered something was wrong.  We are so thankful for God’s protection of his little life and that it wasn’t anything more serious than the flu.  2) We were thankful for the timing.  Had it been a week or two earlier we would have been in the middle of our move and had it been a week or two later we would have had a newborn.  3) After getting medicine, everyone bounced back really quickly. I’m just so thankful it only lasted about 6-7 days instead of 8-12!  4) I never got sick!  The Lord spared me, and my 38-week pregnant self, from having to battle the flu.  I can’t even begin to tell you what mercy that was!

The weather.  Yes, I know- everyone has been complaining and complaining about the weather but here’s my take on it:  It’s technically still winter.  I’m not a huge fan of ice or snow and I definitely don’t like cold weather, but that’s kind of what winter is supposed to be like.  I’m thankful that it snowed right after Elias was born and we were kind of stuck in the house for a bit.  Josh was able to take Addi and Josiah out to play because he had already planned on working from home so he could be available to help me.  In addition, we have had two or three really warm days.  It’s February, so those should incline our hearts to thankfulness, not just more grumbling because everyday is not a sunny 70-degree day.

Calvary Baptist Church- One evening at church we had a Deacons and wives prayer meeting and dessert fellowship.  It was wonderful to get together with a group of women and just encourage one another and pray.  I had written an entire blog post about the difficulties of the past few months and the transitions we’ve been through as well as how much we appreciate and love our new family at Calvary.  I wrote all about how I see God’s grace in people especially in the area of sacrificial service.  However, after searching through tons of files on my computer, I have come to believe that at some point I accidentally deleted the post.  During this season of my life I unfortunately don’t have the time to rewrite it, but I do want everyone to know how incredibly thankful we are for those at Calvary!

Josh started watching some YouTube videos with Addilyn and Josiah this month.  These videos were created by a group of guys called “Dude Perfect.” These guys basically spend all day-every day practicing trick shots with any and every kind of sports equipment.  It’s been so much fun to watch Josiah get such a thrill out of these and try over the past few weeks to replicate a lot of their trick shots.  He specifically loves trying soccer and basketball shots with his little Jake and the Neverland Pirates ball.  LOL. In addition, at the end of each video the guys usually “sign off” by giving the camera pounds (or some people call it knuckles) and one guy even leans his head in and says, “Noggin.”  Josiah has become adamant about giving “Pounds and Noggins” to just about every body.

We are very thankful for our friend Dana Haynes, who came over and took newborn pictures of Elias completely free of charge!  Her (and her husband) always find creative ways to show us love and we are so thankful for their friendship!  There are just some people who you know you’ll be friends with for as long as you’re living here on earth.  Robbie and Dana are definitely those types of friends!