It is summer. Officially. We celebrated the summer solstice three days ago. But today I choose to hit "pause" on my summer expectations to savor blessings of the abundant weeks of spring. Here are a few of my blessings, not to give you cause to compare your life to mine, but to stir your soul with prompts for your own counting.
1. Mother's Day and my birthday were two days apart this year so my daughters planned an evening to spoil me with love, food and a few gifts. The priceless gifts were seated around the table; our parents, my Aunt Mary, our children. Family, be it biological, adoptive, or a faith community, is a rich place of belonging. And I am thankful for mine. "God sets the lonely in families," Psalm 68:6.
2. I am thankful for hearts that dream, are willing to take risks, and act to fulfill them. This is different than wishful thinking. Jeremy has desired to have a small flock of chickens and this Easter he and Mechelle set this dream to reality. From peeps to hens, it was delightful to watch their growth. It was a family project to finish the coop before vacation and move the "chipsters" in.
3. I am overjoyed for the celebration of baptism as two of my nephews declared their commitment to Jesus publicly; Joel in the solemn setting of a Sunday morning worship service, Brady in the outdoor chapel of nature and a creek. Both equally sacred, celebrated and witnessed by family and friends. I recall a letter written by my maternal grandmother and read at her funeral. Her words, "I love you all for choosing Jesus as your Savior. You will never be sorry for this... We prayed for you each day and God answered our prayer. We felt like John said, I have no greater joy than to see our children walk in truth...May you keep on the narrow road that leads to the eternal city of God the new Jerusalem. I have prayed for you that your faith fail not." Mabel Good, 1912-2002. I am grateful for the legacy of faith in Jesus Christ passed down through the generations.
4. I savor the books I had opportunity to read this spring. I devoured another Wendell Berry book, Hannah Coulter, about the reflections of an old woman on her life in the fictional town of Port William. I discovered Madeleine L' Engle too, enjoying A Wrinkle In Time, The Severed Wasp, both fiction and currently, Walking on Water, a book about faith and art. Finally, a little book that packed more than I can absorb in one reading, The Way of the Heart by Henri J. M. Nouwan, about solitude, silence and prayers from the heart. I am grateful for literacy and my education.
5. I am thankful for courage to try new things. Our children thought a fun beach vacation activity would be kayaking on the bay.....so we all agreed...and laughed, and got wet and made memories and I faced my fears. Why are new things so scary for me? But I am glad I didn't let the fears cripple my sense of adventure. I would have been robbed of delight.
6. I am over-the-top thankful for a week with our children. It wouldn't matter where we spent it. It so happens we enjoyed Ocean City, Maryland together. But any uninterrupted time with our adult children is like rich food for our soul, refreshing and restoring us.
7. I am thankful for the godly men in my life. I know not every woman (or man) can echo that statement. Both my Martin heritage and the Horning family I married into is blessed with God-fearing, kind, gentle, strong, courageous men. I'm sure I've broken some kind of writing rule to use so many adjectives but I can't leave one of them out. And I need to add another one, respectful of woman. The fathers in our family unit have been faithful men.....and I am filled with gratitude. "It's far easier to raise strong sons than to heal broken men." Frederick D. I'll post a picture of the men in Kevin's immediate family, three generations.......faithful. If your heritage isn't this one, be the one to change course and gift the next generation a healthy legacy.
8. I'll end my gratitude list with this one. The gift of Easter lilies received over the past years from the children or Kevin are now blooming in my gardens. And their beauty sings, "He is risen! Jesus Christ is risen, indeed!!"
I am thankful for the life I have in Christ! "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 1 Corinthians 5:17.
Do you count blessings? Or keep a gratitude journal? What are you savoring today?
