Very Grateful for:

God’s opportunities

The opportunity to return to speaking to teachers

The opportunity to return to beautiful, beautiful Santa Fe

Smart pilots, flight attendants, gate personnel, even with delays, ease of travel

The opportunity to return to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum

Learning that O’Keeffe first saw the wide landscapes of Santa Fe in 1929 when her train stopped abruptly and needed repair

Wondering how many opportunities are birthed from what seems like inconvenience

My Vine : The historic square in Santa Fe https://vine.co/v/5hUZ0gh1OFK

And…the teachers who made the visit possible!

Psalm 13:6 (MSG) “I’m singing at the top of my lungs, I’m so full of answered prayers.”  

Very Grateful for:

1. God’s Blessings
2. The way a slight summer rain lifts everyone’s mood
3. The Wu family, who came to my yardwork rescue when I managed to slice into the hedge trimmer cord, not once but twice
4. Garrett’s tweet of this post on Embracing Contradiction & the Sacredness of Human Attention: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/07/20/alfred-kazin-journals-perception-contradiction/
5. Ezekiel bread
6. Air conditioning
7. A parking place close-by
8. Dad, responding better to less medicine
9. the postcards from the trip to New York

Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth…These are the things to fear… Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

Very Grateful for:

God’s Rebuilders

Seven (count ’em) seven days off

My Vacay Reading Book

Remembering  a Password

Hearing about Letitia’s trip to Cuba

the man who fixed the air conditioner

yummy kale/raisin/apple salad

clean, running water

the promise of rain

Isaiah 58:12 ~~ “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; [they] will raise up the age-old foundations; and [they] will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.”

Very Grateful for:

God’s messengers

my daughter’s encouragement

the soft fur of my sweet Ruby

the sermons of T.D. Jakes

people who continue to keep me in the loop even though I’ve been snowed under with “dissertatia-trivia”

Crystal’s wisdom on FB

giving away books to the audience in my talk yesterday…and watching their reaction to the gift.  :)

ceiling fans

new yoga poses targeted for my challenging areas

“Be an active carrier of the light” ~Isaiah 45:19

Very Grateful for:

God’s seasons

perseverance

reverence

exuberance

innocence

the wisdom of others

Garrett’s list and the concept of holding space for ourselves

Crystal’s list about the lens we put on events and the need to look for the probable truth

thinking about the lens and found  this online tool to create kaleidoscopes:    http://www120.lunapic.com/editor/?action=kaleidoscope

new ideas to incorporate in an upcoming talk, (holding space for probably truth) born from collective insights

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
― Yoko Ono

Very Grateful for

God’s Angels

Amelia, driving so well in the dark early morning rain

this delicately beautiful song that I play over and over: https://youtu.be/teSuDu84kMc

the man who greeted us curbside, checked my bag for me, and, after we talked briefly said, “your mom is having the best birthday ever today.”

the woman next to me at the security checkpoint who grabbed my boarding pass as it attempted to sail away from the gust of wind dispatched by my frenzied thrump of stuff into plastic bins

Amelia, calling and calling back to check that I boarded all right

the man in the aisle seat who lifted my computer bag into the overhead

the man in front of me who has graciously not reclined his seat

the man next to me who picked up my spoon when I dropped it

the woman behind me who picked up my apple when it fell behind me

the tears that come and go unpredictably, so I won’t think there is a magic potion I can impose upon them to control them

I am a mess today, and gratitude is my service dog

remembering my mom, on our first birthday apart- she in heaven and me in seat 13F

“Because every gift I acknowledge reveals another and another until, finally, even the most normal, obvious and seemingly mundane event or encounter proves to be filled with grace.” ~Henri Nouwen

Very Grateful for:
God’s grace
cold medicine
orchid tea
apple cider vinegar
laptop batteries that last a long time
Dad’s caregivers
Amelia
a strong house roof during the rain/hail storms
figuring out how to reset the car clock for the time change

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.” Brene Brown, Rising Strong

Very Grateful for:

God’s caretaking
timing my listening when I am on the phone with someone so I don’t interrupt
no cavities at the dentist (!)
deciding on an alternate path after the dentist appt. instead of returning to workspending a couple of hours with Tim
Crown Devon China
remembering a more languid and gracious past way of living
noticing my procrastination pattern of cleaning to avoid writing
a nice visit with Addie in her beautiful new store

If you live the questions, life will move you into the answers. Mark Nepo

Very Grateful for:
*God’s success and His overcoming power
*seeing a shooting star during yesterday’s (very, very early morning walk)
*silent nods between my neighbor and I as he returns home from his night shift and I begin the day
*unleashing my pushy persona to get Dad’s new bed delivered and installed for him
*the rain
*someone who opened the door for me as I ran in out of the rain
*fajitas
*Spotify
*all that is good and right in my life

 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. ~Proverbs 4:25-26

Very Grateful for:
God as Scholar
my dissertation issue was approved
my theoretical framework was approved
I now have a brilliant dissertation chair
I have a more structured research focus
after 2+ years of being on the receiving end of frowns, I received this message: “I like it”
I slept 7 straight hours (finally)
next steps
Going to school or college is much more than going to lectures. It is being immersed in a world. ~Punya Mishra — http://punya.educ.msu.edu/amusings/tea.htm