Very Grateful for:

God’s awakenings

The sound of rain upon awakening

Having time to sleep in…but waking up anyway

Sabrina, movies, both the 1950’s version and the 1995 version on tv last night

When Sabrina observes that her dad chose to be a chauffer so he would have time to read

Unwrapping two orders delivered from Thiftbooks that arrived earlier than expected

The sound that the pencil made as it impacts the paper while I wrote this list

Taking time to site, sip hot coffee, and read a book choice, not one assigned

The fragrance coming from the herbs indoors as I water them

“Once the quietness arrived, it stayed and spread…” ~Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

Very Grateful for

1. God’s do-overs
2. My Stats professor, who allowed me to redo my final paper two times so I could get it right
3. My boss, who never fussed at me for all the days I came in late this semester
4. My daughter, who took care of me over Thanksgiving when I was sick and during my surgery last week
5. The very kind and knowledgeable doctors and nurses
6. My design professor, who allowed all of us three extra days to turn in our paper
7. Gingerbread biscotti from Starbucks
8. Mango smoothies from B.C. Coffee
9. Peace through breathing

“If you haven’t got all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you don’t want.”

Very Grateful for:

God’s opportunities

The distinction between blessings and opportunities

An uncharacteristically kind comment from one of my professors

Khan Academy vids to help me understand Stats

Discovering that West with the Night by Beryl Markham was available free with Kindle Unlimited

Teeny, tiny flowers on the basil plant

Amelia, quietly washing all the dishes while I typed in a frenzy

Sleep

The kind girl at Starbucks this morning, early, who graciously listened to me say “hope you have a nice Wednesday”

Autumn. The year’s last, loveliest smile. ~William Cullen Bryant

Very Grateful for:

God’s Grace

tea with ginger, apple cider vinegar, and turmeric

“Cool Touch” Kleenex for my nose

sweating out my cold on the tennis court

pancakes with Dad

and the growing group that shows up to eat with us

the time of morning right before sunrise, when things are part sleepy / part awake

Dad and Charlie, friends for over 50 years

telephones and iPhones

“…pleasant words are persuasive” ~ Proverbs 16:21

Very Grateful for:

God’s companionship

beautiful clouds

successful travel: 6800 miles and 8 flights in 7 days

talented pilots

someone to sit by in church

seeing family friends for the first time in 30 years

remembering my password

an extension on my stats assignments

getting through a day-long meeting without my forgotten glasses

We’ve got to live no matter how many skies have fallen ~D.H. Lawrence

Very Grateful for:

God as Editor

Wondering why I ordered only one copy of our center’s Christmas card…then finding two errors on the one copy I ordered.

Poached salmon

The mirror-face of the lake just before sunrise

The walk with Ruby

Hearing people call a soft “good morning” to each other

The distinction between a “mistake” and a “misunderstanding”

Not taking the bait

Friends on Skype

Friends here on WLG

If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because a dose of joy is a spiritual cure. It transcends all barriers. ~Ed Sullivan

Very Grateful for:

God’s statistics, new every morning

Staying with stats until very, very late

Excel when SPSS is down

Each deep breath to get through

2:00am

Remembering to get the mail

…and finding a large, white, cardboard envelope

Rushing inside – excitement after stats dreariness

A beautifully richly hued picture by Julia and her poem celebrating silence

The title of the picture

Garrett, for his “constant gardener” kindness

Very grateful for:

God’s todays, and antique and future worlds

Mornings with the herbs, just watering them and snipping them is wonderful

Garrett’s lists of David and Hannah’s triumphs

Amelia’s ability to teach middle schoolers

New lemon cucumbers from the Farmer’s Market

Textbooks available in downloadable pdfs

A scholarship received, just in time

Puddles on the pavement—indicating we’ve had much needed rain

Breathing in slowly and exhaling longer

Life is our dictionary … This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it … Give me insight into to-day, and you may have the antique and future worlds. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson in a talk given 177 years ago today.

Very grateful for:

God’s emissaries

The constant gardeners of Proust’s reference

Garrett

Cassie

Tedra

Mary

Deb

Mike, in his way

Crystal

Very Grateful for:

God’s care

working through doctors

and nurses

dad, home now from the hospital

Garrett’s kind texts and prayers

Hurley’s kindness

Mary driving all the way out here

and Amelia

Gratitude is a twofold love – love coming to visit us, and love running out to greet a welcome guest. ~Henry Dyke