15 Years of Thankful...

This is a significant day in our lives -- I am so thankful for the last 15 years. The ups and downs, the crazy pace, the people-packed years, the love, giggles, sobs, sighs, struggles, triumphs -- they add up and spill over with the sheer joy of knowing you are there, morning after morning, day after day, year after year.

You know who you are... and why I'm so thankful.

I'll keep showing up, as long as you are there!

H., H., T., M.,

L

Giving Thanks at All Times in All Places

Poised on the edge of great gratitude, the world news pops up on your screen and you read about violence in India... or just before bed, your stepson pops into the kitchen with a long face to tell you that one of his young colleagues was randomly, murdered last night on the way home from rehearsal. And the great swell of gratitude on Thanksgiving eve -- enhanced by the fragrance of freshly baked pie -- turns into a swamp of stinky despair and questions.

There are no answers for this type of evil and the contrast between this and the great feast we are about to enjoy in the name of thankfulness simply boggles the mind.

Yet we are called to give thanks... and when we can not -- when the journey is too incomprehensible we find it hard to mark the day with anything but sadness.
Gratitude is a choice.
When I do not feel it. I will do my best to choose it... and leave the rest to the One who already holds the outcome to all things in His holy hands.

Handel's Messiah

This evening, it was a privilege to hear the Kansas City Symphony and Chorus perform Handel's Messiah. No matter how many times I hear it, the music and words move my spirit. Coming away, the night air was brisk -- there was quiet... but the memory of the music pulsed in head and heart. Is there a better gift than music -- especially the music that sounds through corridors of time?

I'm grateful!

Whoops! Blogging... I Forgot!

Apologies Dear Readers (all 17 of you!) I fell out of cyber space for a time and forgot all about blogging. Hate when that happens.

Picking back up on the gratitude theme, tonight is brought to you by the letter W.
This evening I am thankful for:
word games -- especially the win-able ones...
warm home on a chilly night
wonderful siblings -- they each deserve their own entry, coming soon to this blog
wool sweaters, especially the soft ones
wonder that fills the mind
windows which give perspective on the world and
wisdom from above -- always just when needed, never too late

Thanksgiving is coming... my all time, favorite holiday... blue plates, best eats ever and bubbling over with happy memories of family and special friends. Wonderful!

List Interrupted But Gratitude Continues

Interrupted by life, there are times one falls off the blogbox, but the gratitude continues to pile up.

A few more remarkable things for which I am grateful:

• vitality (when I feel it)
• robust health (especially when I don't have it!)
• freedom
• having meaningful work AND
• being paid to do meaningful work!
• blogs that inspire new thoughts -- or old thoughts about important subject
• blogs that make me laugh
• singing hymns -- in my heart and sometimes, out loud
• the gift of a piano in my home
• the intelligence and compassion of my family, especially my dear Mother -- she deserves her own post and one of these days, she'll have it
• friends who will not let me rest, until I've seen a doctor
• friends who bring chicken soup, jello and all manner of soothing eats when one of us is ill
• phone messages that remind us we are loved
• the little personal notes my husband writes on the grocery list in between peanut butter and paper towels
• facebook! (also on the list of things I hate... facebook! so perhaps it cancels itself out -- but on the positive side, how amazing to connect with people from 20+ years ago!)
• Psalms
• my five-year-old neighbor who refreshes my perspective with her enthusiastic outlook
• a down comforter on a chilly night
• hot tea + lemon juice + honey --- and the ahhhhhhh it brings
• Jeff's chapel talks and the faith that prompts them
• finished projects!! (thank you K, S, M, M, C and C for the gift catalog... significant accomplishment for all)
• kindred-spirit colleagues/friends

Giving thanks... for all these things and more!