Well here I go...jumping into BLOGGING head first. I have never done this before and am not real sure where to begin. I love to write and feel like I express myself better through writing... I think this will be a great place to share our funny stories, experiences, outings, and other things going on in the life of my wonderful family... The Thompson Family!
I decided to name this blog the Thompson Family Blog (simple, sweet and to the point) the Est. 2010 is just to mark when we started this journey. I am sad that I didn't start something like this earlier. Being a relatively new mom (well I say that but we have three kids all under the age of 4) life got real busy real fast. Minutes, hours, days go by and you don't even realize it. Well better late than never right... no regrets, no living in the days of well I should have or why didn't I... instead my plan is to just start where I am and move forward!
I started a new season in my life several weeks ago. I felt like I had been in a race and instead of making progress toward the finish line I was stuck in what seemed like a roundabout. You know when you find yourself in the same situation over and over and you can't seem to move past it... that was becoming my norm. It all came crashing down when my husband, Shad, went to India for work... he was originally scheduled to go for 4 weeks and then he got extended a extra week... so he was gone a total of 5 weeks. I went from having him around each and every day to being all on my own with three amazing but needy kids. During that time we had a lot of things happen... we took a few trips to Branson, had car trouble, garage door issues, and then an unexpected trip to Texas for my cousin's funeral. Not having family in town proved to be difficult as it was up to me if anything got done. I realized that I depended on Shad for everything... he was my person to vent to, to share with, to run things by, to just talk with about everything. The time difference made that impossible. Times where I felt I needed Shad I couldn't get to him and things got really lonely. God was working on me and I was finally at a point where I was listening (praise Jesus for his amazing patience). I turned to God more than I ever have in my life. This impossible task of being completely in charge of my household, kids, everything didn't seem so impossible when I really started to put all my faith and trust in God. I prayed more, read more (the bible, devotionals), cultivated more relationships, asked more questions and seemed to get more answers. To say I had a wake up call is a major understatement... God showed me what life is like when we walk in obedience with him, when we seek out and engage in a relationship with God himself. What a lifechanging experience... and so started a inspiring, exciting new season of my life.
Shad has been home almost a month now and things are going well. Some days I find that I am falling back into my comfortable ways of the past... and on those days I literally will see what I would say is my image of Jesus sitting on my couch or in my kitchen just waving at me with a slight grin as if He were saying....let me know when you get tired of trying to get it all done, tired of being in control. I am right here ready to take the reigns... show you all I have for you... and I literally laugh out loud which is normally followed by a prayer to God... that screams Help Me!
God is so good... all the time... wouldn't you agree! He meets us right were we are and loved us for who we are despite our imperfections, short-comings, disobedience. What an amazing God we serve... thank you Jesus for your sacrifice!
Okay so lots of super exciting, fun things are happening in the Thompson family... before we get too much deeper into all the happenings I probably should take a minute to share just who the Thompson family is and a little about each of us....
Shad Lee Thompson (my amazing husband, best friend, my better half, spouse and the person I get to do life with each and ever day) is 38 almost 39 and he is the absolute love of my life. He is a great father to my children, he balances me out (and that takes a lot of work believe me), he can fix anything, he just does things around the house that need to be done (laundry, dishes, taking out trash), he takes care of all of our finances and provides for our family. I know ladies I have a good one (for sure) and I am not letting him go. I praise God for giving me such an amazing man, help-mate, friend, husband. I don't deserve him, but I am definitely going to keep him. Shad has an amazing testimony and a heart for kids. He loves playing volleyball and video games and he is constantly looking for ways to better himself and learn more about how to be all God wants him to be.
Then there is me... Amanda Kay Thompson. I am 35 and a wife, mother of three wonderful and beautiful children and thankfully the daughter of an amazing king (God himself). I was raised in Texas and all my family still lives there. I am a helper and fixer by nature... I love to give my time and anything I have to help others. I am creative and love projects. I also enjoy junk shopping, garage sales, finding a great deal, etc. Creating memories with my kids and husband always ranks at the top of my to do list. Other things I enjoy are party and event planning, spending time with friends and learning from others how to follow God. I have struggled for a lot of years with really investing in meaningful relationships. I have always seemed to have a lot of friends but not anyone that I would be completely vulnerable with until recently. I knew that God was tugging on my heart to really work on this area of my life. God has made it very clear that a relationship with Him is the priority and then cultivating relationships with those around me was also part of His plan and design for my life. I have stepped out of my comfort zone... sought out people that I connect with, can learn from, want to grow with... really individuals and couples that I want to have in my life and in my families lives... people we want to do life with. In a few short months they have encouraged us, challenged us, motivated us and helped us as we work to take our Christian life to the next level. We are so incredibly blessed and are excited about what God has for us in the future. Okay back to the rest of the family... sorry for the tangent....
Our oldest daughter is Kaylee Addison Thompson. She is a curly haired, blue eyed 4 year old that is super sharp. She is such a blessing. When she was young we called her Punkin and now we call her Big Bit. She has a heart for God already and enjoys spending time at church and MOPS. She always had something profound or hilarious to say. One of my favorite sayings from Kaylee to date happened one morning when we were headed to church. We went through the light off K-7 onto 83rd Street and the church was off to our right and Kaylee said... "hey mom, look... there is my church the one God built for me." My heart just melted and I knew that we were doing something right. Kaylee loves animals... all animals and I am convinced she will be a vet or something when she gets older. She loved playdates, playing babies, coloring/artsy stuff, being outside collecting nature and reading books. Kaylee loves to sing songs and dress up... she loves attention and performing either songs or dances. Kaylee really enjoys school and is sad on non-school days. Look for more fun things about Kaylee as I continue to blog... she always has something fun to say or do that is worth sharing, believe me....
My youngest daughter (middle child, for now) is Macy Jane Thompson. We love to call her Little Bit, Macy Jane girl or our Sweet One. Macy is petite in stature and has stick straight hair (like mine)... she has beautiful hair that I know she will love when she gets older. Macy is sweet... she is a helper by nature and can play for hours all by herself if you leave her alone. She will take up for herself when provoked. Kaylee likes to instigate not so desirable behavior in little Macy Jane... so we try to redirect as much as we can. Macy loves to give hugs and kisses... she enjoys playing with baby dolls, coloring and building with blocks. Reading books together, singing songs and playing hide n' seek are also fun! She loves her care bears and has a ton of them. She also enjoys playing outside and going to Children's Day Out at her school. She has a great time interacting with her new friends and teachers. We are looking forward to watching Macy Jane grow up and see all the new things she discovers... we continue to share God's love with her and pray she will know Him at a early age and follow Him.
God also blessed us with our youngest child and son, Steele Grayson Thompson. He is 7 months old and such a fun little guy. We call him Buddy or Little Man... and cannot get enough of his smiling or cooing... I am convinced that he said MAMA just this week. He is super active and very strong. He is getting around... all but crawling and is into everything. As you might suspect, everything is going into his mouth as he is cutting his teeth and having a hard time at it. His smile is contagious and will melt your heart. Having a little boy is such a blessing... we love our girls and feel that our family is complete now that Steele has been given to us!
We are blessed and so thankful for all God has given to us. We are not perfect people... we don't have the answers but we are encouraged because we know the one who does... Our God and Savior. We rest in His promises and strength knowing that He has a plan for our lives.
I am excited to share more in the days and weeks to come... look for pictures, quotes, updates and other fun news! So for now, good night... type more soon. Love - Amanda Kay Thompson
