Very grateful for

1. Time to ask questions
2. Is Giving Up on what is not working really the worst thing?
3. What if I gave up on my self-imposed obligations especially when they just made me feel disconnected, stressed, and frantic?
4. How far can I go from the point where I thought it was the end?
5. What if I was able to fill my calendar with caregiving or what I feel is best for my family instead of committee meetings?  
6. What if I felt a purposeful calm almost all the time?
7. What if I said “no, no thank you” without following it with an apology or an excuse?
8. What if I would stand in the truth about me?
9. What if I refused to feel pressured, guilty, or weird for choosing a path that looked quite the opposite of the way it “Should”?

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction. ~E. F. Schumacker

Very grateful for

broiled salmon which can taste like it was grilled at the beach, even from 1000’s of miles away

A positive response when I had convinced myself otherwise

Not believing everything I think

Others’ perspectives, which are more accurate sometimes than mine.
And vice versa (!)

Three weeks since a gas fillup!

A little pink coat on Ruby

A healed ankle sprain

Pushing through anxiousness to spend an hour at work, (slowly regaining calm)

Hope is the sun which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us. ~Samuel Smiles

Very grateful for

A spontaneous prayer from my daughter
A conversation with my dad
A capacity to love shared by and with many other kind folks
My dad’s caregiver made it through the night in i.c.u.
A phone call from a friend
The concept of the Sabbath
Little hanging solar twinkle lights
Giving fear a hug, instead of running from it and then sending it on it way
Knowing that God is always safe to trust

Make the conscious choice to act from love, not fear. Fear is the pushing, manipulating, controlling force, and love is the pull in your heart that will guide you to the path of least resistance. ~Shannon Kaiser 

Very Grateful for:

The first freeze of the year
Homemade pumpkin spiced lattes
Jeans straight out of the dryer
Reassuring emails from Garrett
Possibilities
Kind Words
Time to read
Fleece blankets
Flute music
A leave from a job that is combative, draining

Every time we use the present to stress about the future, we’re choosing to sacrifice joy today to mourn joy we might not have tomorrow. ~Lori Deschene

Very grateful for

Support from mom

Finding out a song she regularly sings as an affirmation, I sing too!

Recognizing a destructive pattern

Discussing it but not debating it

The thought that maybe debating is another type of control

Making a change

feeling such calm afterward

just accepting it

gently putting a pause on striving

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. ~ Flora Whittemore

Very Grateful for~

God’s calming presence

Fog

Computers

Digital connections

Judy, who is tolerating the chemo

Kindness to Amelia at the car repair shop

Home-made soup from Linda, next door

Music

the vacation day of a meddlesome co-worker…funny how we are all lighter and calmer today!

Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by. —Carl Sandburg

Very grateful for

1. Blessings
2. Chicken Salad with cashews
3. Forgiveness
4. The ability to see
5. To hear
6. To speak
7. To receive
8. To give
9. To Wonder…
   10. At all of the Blessings

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience. ~Emily Dickenson

Very grateful for

1. Opening the doors and windows to the cool air, light rain, and bird chorus
2. So many pretty birds flying around and through our yard
3. So many bird calls and songs—it sounds like Disney’s Tiki Room out there!
4. The lantana blossoms are vividly orange today
5. No bugs right now
6. A call @ 4:00am clearing things up
7. Ruby’s warmth as we sit and watch and breathe
8. Warm coffee and cinnamon toast
9. A front page mention for our Hope Fund

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Very grateful for

1. Generosity

2. A $21,800 gift to our Hope Fund from our high school students

3. An afternoon of rain

4. And a night of rain

5. Hearing birds sing during the rain

6. Napping and then sleeping during the rain

7. Finding a leak from the new roof before I sent in the final payment check

8. 3 inches and counting (we need about 12 inches to restore from the drought)

9. Warm gingerbread tea

Practice the discipline of the Present, practice the Praise of the Present. ~Ann Voskamp

Very grateful for

1. Making another choice
2. Taking time
3. Easing into it
4. Noticing
5. Listening
6. Waiting
7. The armless hugs that arrive not always in person
8. One day closer to completion
9. One day closer to God

Every moment you get is a gift. Spend it on things that matter. Don’t spend it by dwelling on unhappy things. ~a wise person