Thankful Thursday: Treasures in the Mail

Tirzah Mae and I usually leave the task of getting the mail to Daniel, but I was eager to try out the ring sling I (finally) finished so we took the quick jaunt across the street. I was glad I had the sling, because I wouldn’t have been able to carry Tirzah Mae plus the mail plus the small brightly colored package and the larger Amazon package if I hadn’t had Tirzah Mae already tied on.

This week I’m thankful…

…for a new phone
I dropped my phone within six months of getting it, cracking the screen, but it’s worked okay since then. When the contract expired shortly after Tirzah Mae was born, I told Daniel I thought my phone was fine – we didn’t need to get a new one. Sure, it had some difficulties charging and the battery ran down quickly, but it met my needs. Then when I was in Lincoln for a week and Daniel in Wichita, we discovered that the phone calling function works only about half the time. We vowed we’d get me a new one before either of took another trip. The time got moved up a little more whenit became increasingly difficult to turn the screen off and on about a week ago. So now I have a fancy new phone with all the bells and whistles (including a case to prevent another screen cracking!)

…for my first homeschool purchase since Tirzah Mae’s birth
We could pay $6 for shipping or $15 on another item to qualify for free shipping so Daniel asked if there was anything I wanted. I checked my list and didn’t really find anything, until, on a whim, I looked up the book I’ve been drooling over since I checked it out from the library: Dorling Kindersley’s Smithsonian History Year by Year. I expected it to be much too expensive (it’s hardcover and not a small book) – but, to my surprise, it was just under $19! I was getting ready to congratulate myself on not purchasing any homeschool materials since we’d been married, until I remembered that we’d stopped by a used store where I’d picked up an art text and a couple history books. I might be a compulsive homeschool shopper (and have been for the past 10+ years!)

…for adoption books
Mary Ostyn of Owlhaven recently hosted a giveaway of her book Forever Mom and Shannon Guerra of Copperlight Wood‘s Upside Down: Understanding and Supporting Attachment in Adoptive Families. Daniel and I have talked about adopting, would like to at some point, but don’t know much about the process at this point. I’m super excited to learn what these moms have to say about the process and how it works within existing families. (Sidenote: Do these books intrigue you? Shannon is hosting a giveaway of the same two – the giveaway is open until the morning of April 28, so go check it out!)

…for a heart-rending read
This one is a treasure that arrived in the mail a few weeks ago, but which I finished yesterday. It’s Stephanie Fast’s She is Mine – sent from Stephanie thanks to Carrie. I’ll be reviewing this soon – but for now, it’s enough to know that this book read like one of the best novels I’ve read in a long time – except that it’s not a novel, it’s an autobiography. It’s absolutely worth reading.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
~James 1:17 (ESV)

Thank you, Father, for these good gifts.