1000 Gifts and Recent Adventures

Been wanting to join the Gratitude Community for a while.  I know it's not Monday anymore, but I wrote most of this yesterday... anyways, happy un-Monday to you!    

Someone asked me recently what adventures I've had.  So I thought I'd list recent adventures, mostly of the small sort, as my first compilation of Gifts.

1.  Learning how much I don't know about the future, and other people's minds, and my own self. And how it's a mixed blessing. But mostly good, because God made it that way, and it helps me learn trust.

2.  Pretending I live in the country...watering some friends' garden and trees, feeding their chickens, skinny cats, and barrel-of-a-black lab named 'Rilla (Gorilla).   Enjoying bits of dirt and sun, water splashed on my feet, quiet conversations with the critters... and with my Father.

3.  Precious time journaling and listening, more than I have in quite a while. Rediscovering the joy of scribbled words on a page.  Of comforting, gently-prodding bits of the Word memorized  Longing for cut-in-stone answers... but even more, craving His nearness.

4.  Munching Rosa's Cafe burritos with a younger sister in the faith, discussing old books and study habits and selective memory and CDs we listen to over and over and over and over...

5.  Learning, slowly, to give my anxious heart to One who can calm it, instead of burying it in business.

6.  Buying clothes... something I always put off, but needed to do... and actually enjoyed.  It's been exciting to actually find feminine, modest, lovely clothes. May I never wish I were a boy! :-)

7.  Hearing about two friends' courtship and engagement - hurrah for Aaron and Joy! I remember when Aaron was a little boy collecting snakes, lizards, basset hounds, birds, cats, inventing the silliest stories with his Playmobile characters. And when I first met Joy, she and her clan of siblings were reading Redwall books and Greek mythology and producing their own plays and speaking in unique accents. Now he's a vet who's still wild about animals but wilder about God and family, and she's an intelligent, lively, lovely young lady passionate about truth and home. Engaged in a spot in the mountains nicknamed Sherwood. Perfect. :-)

8.  Waking up at 4 a.m. feeling rested, with plenty of time to think and read and pray.

9.  Exploring musty shelves at the used bookstore.  Finding a fresh, crisp copy of The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis for $2.  Exactly what I was wanting, but didn't expect to find there.  A surprise present from God that almost made me cry. 

10.  Renewing old acquaintances with two sisters, homeschool graduates, setting a day to investigate the downtown coffee shop.

11.  Soaking up a Sunday School lesson focused on observations, not assumptions.

12.  Sending snail mail, handwritten notes and pretty stickers across town. 

13.  Enjoying unexpected rain after intense dry West Texas heat

14.  Eating garden-fresh tomatoes with basil, vinegar, and cucumber

15.  Starting this list, officially, which I've been unofficially doing off and on for years, looking forward to a more regular habit of thankfulness. 

Anyone want to do this with me?  I probably won't be consistent on the day of the week.  I just want to record God's specific goodness and grace.  I want to open my eyes today, but also 10 years from now, to catch glimpses of His faithfulness and intimate involvement in my life.


Note: I'm playing with layout... I liked my old one terribly, and might switch back... But meanwhile, please excuse any drastic changes that show up here. :-)