even when you're tired, give praise

I've been so going-through-the-motions lately, trying to stay on top of to-do lists and baby's sweet cries. I have tried once or twice to make lists of gratitude, or even my favorite things, and come up empty. Maybe I haven't tried very hard. No, maybe I just haven't made space enough. Nevertheless, sometimes we must act and pray that the heart follows...

I am grateful for a pair of friends that GIVE of themselves every time we see them. Clothes, little treasures, food, many things they can't afford but give anyway. They floor me and humble me. It seems like the stinge-y people are most often those with so much. Why is that (me)?

I am grateful for the wisdom of the Desert Fathers, which I read in Space for God...

For example, "Abba Poemen said about Abba Pior that every single day he made a fresh beginning."

Or, "An old man said, "Constant prayer quickly straightens out our thoughts."

I am grateful for family, who cares for baby while I work, and helps me paint, and feeds me dinner and prays for us.

I am thankful for Kombucha tea, especially the guava and grape flavors.

I am thankful for my husband when he is silly, when he is vulnerable, when he is strong. He is a great dad already.

I am thankful for all the baby stuff we've been given. There is so much!!

I am so thankful for sunny, warm weather!! The snow is finally melting--come quickly, spring!

And if it snows again, hopefully I'll just have a $2500 Southwest gift certificate in my pocket, to fly me somewhere beachy :). Epiphanie Bags is giving away a gift certificate--or a Canon 5D Mark II, holy cow--to someone lucky this month!

I'll get some sunshine one way or another! (Actually, my nose is already nice & pink from sitting by the slopes this weekend, watching husband & friends fly down the mountainside--shirtless, no less! It was warm, they were crazy, and I was laughing.) I am thankful for these blessings!

my valentine

I'm thankful for my Valentine, who treats me so well, even when I'm really cranky. I'm thankful that he understands me and pulls me through and loves me.

And I'm thankful for a friend who invited me over this week for a valentine's craft night and fed me a perfect dinner, too. Here is what I made for my sweet niece:

I embroidered two pieces of glittery felt together and hot-glued them to little hair clips. I thought they turned out pretty cute!

I got the idea and the know-how from thelongthread. Fun, fun!

Oh, and I'm also thankful for Necco Sweethearts. Yum!

heaven stands

Its been a heavy week--Haiti, and some things closer to home--and I need to pour out the gratitude that God is due. God is always due our gratitude, even in the mess. And the mess has made me all the more aware of the good in my life:

I'm thankful for my marriage. So thankful.

I'm thankful for my little one and his constancy.

I'm thankful for community; that we don't go it alone.

I'm thankful that "when my world is shaking, Heaven Stands."

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Hebrews 13:20 - 21

If God can bring back from the dead His own Son, then I have hope that God can revive much else, too!

halloween

Friends painted and carved pumpkins with us. We roasted the seeds and handed out candy and all took turns taking our niece out trick-or-treating to a couple houses at a time. We slurped potato soup and grape jello and enjoyed cake donuts from my husband. Everybody was partaking and sharing, cooking and cleaning, like family. Community is great.

thank You, God, for Your good gifts and the heart to see them.

Today I am thankful for getting to work in my fleece at home, watching the snow twirl and fall and build.

I'm thankful for two different girlfriends who are so delighted in the snow, and chose to share their delight with me. A couple nights ago, a friend spoke about how it is sometimes scarier to reveal the best part of your heart, rather than the broken pieces. Because what if you share your best part, and it is not recognized, or is rejected? And so, I am grateful that friends are entrusting me with their best parts and delights, believing that I'll recognize that and rejoice with them. It is an honor to be a friend.

I am thankful that today is another chance to conquer the dishes.

I am warm, and cozy, and thankful.

october

October has almost come and gone, and where have I been? Not on this blog.

But much good has happened...

We got up to the mountains at what happened to be the peak of fall season. A week later, everything was bare. So thankful that I got to witness the beauty in the nick of time.

My good news from the last post has blossomed and settled in to my heart. When I shared the news with friends, their delight increased mine, and for that I am particularly thankful.

An old friend came to visit for a weekend, bringing happy memories and making new ones.

The snow from earlier this week didn't stay for too long, and so the leaves are still on the trees, red & yellow instead of frozen & brown.

A friend offered to take pictures of husband and me. We caught the last warm day of fall, and some lovely light with the mountains in the background.

I'm anticipating more good...

Getting to see those new pictures next week, for example.

And getting a pumpkin, to scoop out & roast the seeds. And then carve if I get around to it. But the seeds are the best part!

Thank You, God, for Your good gifts and the eyes to see them.

my week

Fair of Face
- Good, sort-of unexpected news
- A late night walk

Full of Grace
- The Melting Pot; dipping sauces are my favorite part.
- prayers at night
- family & friends enthusiastically supporting my organization

Full of Woe (nah, just full of autumn)
- thrift store fall skirt
- cooler weather for husband

Far to Go
- yes this will be true tomorrow

Loving & Giving
- we'll be with friends, heading toward an outdoor weekend

Thank You, God, for Your good gifts and the eyes to see them.

deep down

Tonight I'm simply thankful for a new gathering of people that fed us dessert and tea, spoke openly about their lives and marriages, and asked good questions. Earlier this week, at a retreat, I stood up and shared some things about the crappy state of my heart, and people acknowledged that and loved me...this is how I feel about the whole larger group of people we are getting to know:

"Deep down there was an understanding, not of the facts of our lives so much as of our essential natures." (May Sarton)

People here love broken people. Thank You God.

-------------------

And after that thoughtful thought, I just have to add that my husband just walked in with a fart machine app on his new iPod, and I am in tears I am laughing so hard. Yeah. Almost nothing has made me laugh so hard in a long time, don't know what that says about me. But, Farting Preacher, anyone? Now that is some humor I am thankful for.