JonDavid and I were able to come home yesterday! We are getting settled in quite well, and are very glad to be home. Grandmom is still here to help us, so we are making it fine. In honor of being born during hunting season, I made JonDavid a special coming home outfit and matching blanket. We appreciate all the well wishes and prayers on our behalf, and we are truly thankful for this new addition to our family.

Here are the links to two videos that Kristin took at the hospital Wednesday evening after JonDavid was born:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLU9oYxp1Vw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1q7b1giKIc&feature=related

Hello all! This is Kris, and I am hijacking my wonderful wife’s blog for two reasons. First, to tell you how wonderful she is, and to tell you how thankful I am to be married to her. Secondly, to tell you that she has given me today our third wonderful child. JonDavid Hunter was born today at 3:07 PM. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 1/4 ounce. He is 21 inches long. Both mother and baby are doing wonderfully. Lord willing, they will be home on Friday.

Here is a few pics of the new addition:

I also have a couple short videos posted, but I have to figure out how to put them on here…I will try to get a link shortly!

I am very thankful for my family. It is truly a blessing to be surrounded by a wonderful family. It is a blessing to have good and godly parents who taught me the truth through their words and through their actions. I have also been blessed with wonderful Christian grandparents. I have a great brother, who has developed into a fine gospel preacher and has brought my kind sister-in-law and adorable niece into the family. Then there are my aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom are great people. I also have a terrific mother-in-law and father-in-law, as well as brothers-in law and sisters-in-law.

We enjoy spending time together, and even though we are separated by distance, we always support and help each other in whatever ways we can. And of course my husband and my children are such good gifts from God. Family is so important, and it is even better when physical family members are spiritual family members, too. I could write a separate post about each person, but just suffice it to say that I feel very fortunate to be part of this family, and I appreciate what each member contributes. Thank you God, for our family.

Today was our weekly time to go to our local library for preschool story time. We have a great librarian who does a lot of fun things for the kids at story time. Today she was asking each child to tell something that he or she is thankful for. Of course, “toys” was a popular answer, but one little girl said “books.” I thought about how thankful we should be for books. There is so much information available in books, and there is so much enjoyment that comes from reading stories. There are so many benefits to reading in general. We can learn information and increase our vocabulary and communication skills by reading. We can relax and forget about problems for a while. We can help our children to do these things by reading to them.

We have such an abundance of books that are easy to access. In our Wednesday evening Bible study, we have been talking about various Bible translations. One of the points that was made Wednesday as we talked about how our English translations came about was that there was a time when the translating and copying of the the Bible text was discouraged, and even punished. For the centuries before the printing press was invented, each copy of the Bible was hand written. People did not have copies of the Bible in their homes, because they were not available. We have multiple copies of the Bible in our home, in English, with nice leather binding and easy-to-read type. We tend to take this for granted, but we should really appreciate the blessing that our printed Bibles are.

So, I am thankful for having books that I can read and that I can read to my children.

In the theme of thanksgiving, today’s post is about my husband. I am very thankful to have a wonderful husband to share life with. There are so many who complain about their husbands, are unhappy, or are even mistreated and abused in some way. Kristin takes seriously his role as husband and father, and his work as an evangelist, too. He is a hard worker, devoted to doing right, and courageously stands for the truth. He is attentive to his family, and has been particularly helpful to me lately. With the aches and pains that go along with late pregnancy, he has really stepped in to help with tasks that I normally do. Our kids love him, and so do I. It is truly a blessing to have him.

As the weather is turning colder here in West Virginia, I am so thankful for a warm home! It is such a blessing to have a comfortable home, central heat, warm clothes, and nice beds with lots of covers. Proverbs 31:21 says that the worthy woman “is not afraid of snow for her household.” Like her, we make sure that the clothing and blankets that our children need to stay warm are ready. All these things are blessings from God that we should appreciate.

Being the first Sunday in November and in my theme of thanksgiving, it seems only appropriate that I should be thankful for salvation. We spend time each Sunday remembering the sacrifice of Jesus that makes salvation possible. It is such a blessing that God loves us and wants us to be in a relationship with him, and that He has done everything He can to make that possible. We are not worthy of salvation after we have sinned and separated ourselves from God, but He still wants us to restore that relationship so we can be saved in the end. Of course, it is up to us to take the actions needed to restore it, but it is still by God’s grace and love.

We show our love for God by obeying Him. Jesus said to His apostles, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) When we read of the torture and crucifixion of Jesuson our behalf, is it really too much for Him to expect our obedience? We should be thankful that we are given the opportunity to obey after we sin. We should want to repent, turning away from our sins. We should eagerly confess our belief in Jesus as the Son of God. We should be glad for the chance to “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins…” as Ananias told Saul to do (Acts 22:16). We should be happy to worship, serve, and even suffer for Him if we truly value salvation. So, today and every day, I am thankful for salvation and for the love of God.

Since the Thanksgiving holiday is this month, I was thinking tonight that it would be nice to blog each day about something for which I am thankful. Of course, I do not mean that we limit our expressions of thanksgiving to the holiday called Thanksgiving. It just seems timely! Then I realized that I will be in the hospital having a baby at some point during the coming month, and I really doubt that I will be blogging from labor and delivery. So, I am going to make some posts about things for which I am thankful…but no promises of daily posts!

Tonight I noted how thankful I am for my dishwasher. Now, you were probably expecting me to start with something a little more significant, like my family. I’ll get to them soon. But, as I finally sat down on my couch and stretched my legs and feet out, I heard the dishwasher running and thought, “I am so glad that I am not standing in the kitchen washing all of those dishes in the sink.” An aching back, legs, and feet are pretty much standard at this point in pregnancy, so standing in one place to do dishwashing is quite tiring. We do not have a built-in dishwasher here, but when we moved to this house we bought a portable one. It is a bit in the way at times, but it is worth working around!

There are so many modern appliances and gadgets that make tasks easier than they used to be. I just imagine being 8 months pregnant and having to bring the water to the house in buckets, put wood on the fire, wash dishes and clothes by hand…the list could go on and on. So, today I am thankful for my dishwasher and the time it gave me to sit on the couch and watch a movie with my kids.

If you are a blogger and would like to join me in expressions of thanksgiving this month, I would love to read about what you are thankful for! Just leave me a comment with your blog address so I can check it out!

I worked on cleaning out the baby’s room today. Yes, my due date is just over 3 weeks away, and yes, I am just now getting the room ready. Can you tell this is my third? When I was pregnant the first time, we painted the walls of the nursery, cleaned the carpets, washed baby clothes and put them away…all done about 2 months before the due date. We even had family that came and helped so that I didn’t have to paint or push the steam cleaner.