Thanks to God for:

217. Having kids who eat stuff like broccoli.

216. Being able to bear burdens for others through prayer.

215. Crossword puzzles.

214. A little (not quite) three-year-old at church who loves to play with my hair.

213. One that I forgot from a few weeks ago... getting my hair washed and cut. I could let people play with my hair all day.

212. Shout Gel.

211. Chocolate Chess Pie and coffee for dessert.

210. A friend called to ask me a question about a party that both our girls were invited to on Saturday night. Uh, yeah. THANKS FOR REMINDING ME!

209. I didn't have to cook dinner tonight.

208. Before Bethany came to live with us, the kids would always pray for her at night. I think I prayed one night that Bethany would be "healthy and safe." Lainee and Jonathan picked up on that, and it became their regular prayer for her.

Once Bethany came home, I figured that they would stop praying for Bethany to be healthy and safe. She'd made it here, after all, so why did we need to pray that any more?

But, see, kids (thankfully) don't think this way. And so they pray for their sister every night, asking that God would keep her healthy and safe. All the while, Bethany is sound asleep in the next room.

And you know what? Bethany has been healthy and safe ever since she's been home!