Very Grateful for:
God’s Interventions
pain-free living
Dr. Bill Hilton and his life of service
a cooler start to the week
a welcomed letter of encouragement from John
Cynthia, who is prayer-filled
people who return phone calls
flags at half-staff
federal Peace Officers Memorial Day
people who sacrifice and love us from Day 1
Aren’t you glad we are not in charge? ~Coach Wilson
1. God
2. Spring nights
3. Hannah motivated to do the requirements for her program
4. Having the patience and concern to help someone
5. And suspend judgment
6. Reminders from We Love Gratitude to appreciate the present moment
6. Learning from Lindsey about the Here Year
7. And joining the Twitter party late because I wasn’t
8. Containers
9. opened and contents escaping
God’s constant surveillance
a sudden cool snap
Ruby, playing, always playing
an email whose contents made my burst out in laughter
time at the office to clean out files
finding a gift certificate
spending it right away :)
finding a workaround with Cynthia
knowing that Cynthia and Maddie care for Mom
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. ~Coco Chanel
1. God
2. Lilacs in bloom
3. Seeds we started, putting the sprouts in the garden
4. Running water and long hoses
5. Making breakfast for Cassie (evidently Emily told her that she should get me to take her out to breakfast, and Cassie, bless her, told Emily it was even better not to leave the house.)
6. Taking Hannah and David to visit their grandmother at the library and give her birthday cards (that was Cassie’s idea)
7. Lettuce emerging. We haven’t had success planting it. Maybe this time.
8. Proud to know the names of flowers like Whitman asked “have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?”
9. Julia Fehrenbacher: her openness, storytelling and art
“Art is always visionary. Art always disturbs present realities, however satisfactory they may seem to the rest of the world.” Ben Shahn in Selden Rodman, Conversations with Artists
Very Grateful for:
God’s Timing
a change in the temperatures
the possibility of rain
an early morning walk with Ruby
a movie night with Amelia
a gauze skirt (wrinkles already built in!)
biscotti
a quiet office this morning
tutorials
There are experiences, situations, weaknesses and frailties that are huge parts of our personal story. Sometimes we don’t give those things a chance to write their chapter in our book of life because we are working so hard on erasing those chapters. Sometimes in order to help the chapter END, we have to sit with it and listen to it — let it tell it’s story. Then, when it’s done saying all it has to say, it doesn’t follow us around so much trying to take over our lives. It has finally been heard. Brave Girls Club
Very grateful for
God’s mothering of us
My mother, Miss Peggy, who is home today after a long detour
Cynthia and Maddie who offered selfless, mothering care to my mom while she was at the nursing home and the hospital
My daughter, who claims me as her mother
My dad, who nurtured me like a mother
Anna Jarvis, who began the tradition which became the holiday of Mother’s Day
The Florist Exchange who paid paid all Anna Jarvis’ bills during the last years of her life when she was destitute
Other countries who also celebrate and observe Mother’s Day (Denmark, Italy, Venezuela, Turkey, Australia, and Japan)
All the moms (and dads who nurture just like moms) here at We Love Gratitude
She needn’t be heard…. because she was known. ~Ann Voskamp
1. God
2. My mother
3. On her birthday
4. And the best thing she told me when I was young, that she didn’t mind what sort of career I chose or made of my life because “I know I’ve raised a good person.”
5. She says the right thing, and always interesting
6. Good judgment, doing the right thing
7. A house cleaner than one’s hand
8. And she makes the best pie and chocolate cake, for me, her little butterball ( I used to go through her little file box of recipes on index cards and say “Mom, how about this,” and she would.)
9. She’s an excellent reference librarian. Years and years ago, I watched her in action and was able to say to my brother that our mother is really good what she does. And well into her seventies she’s still goes in and works, at least once a month. (And yes, we “talk shop.” ;)
10. Books, books and more books – she’s read everything it would seem
11. If there is evidence that the longer one lives, the better one gets, my mother is it.
Happy Birthday and Happy Mother’s Day, Mom
And Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers
10.