Tag Archives: Thankful

Copious Gifts

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I’m thankful for the autumn leaves –
bronze, lime, and sunshine,
copper and cinnamon,
beet red, butter,
pumpkin,
dun.

I’m grateful for developing lungs,
 hiccups, fingernails,
and kicking legs;
a swelling love for two babies grand
whose debut comes at Your command.

Grateful for answered prayer, O Lord;
a wedding for a special friend,
who has waited,
waited,
waited.
sigh…
Her waiting has come to a glorious end!

For babies – three!
born to a mom and dad
who rejoice and give thanks
after a season of grief.

 Slanted sunshine crawls across the floor,
crackling wood heat comfort radiates,
a light, a mug,
an engaging read;
my soul is fed and nourished.

For a brother who called,
for sons who write,
a husband who husbands
with care and delight.

For sisters by blood and sisters by love,
a neighbor who weighs,
Facebook and blogs,
for friends who phone
and company who come.

Digital cameras,
Albinoni’s Adagio,
Mary Cassatt,
Winslow Homer.

Bread dough rising and
butternut squash soup.

For internet radio,
downloaded books,
nocturnal stillness
and house-creaking sounds.

Forgiveness of sins,
-and can it be?-
I swallow great gulps
of Your grace and mercy.

For older women,
balm to my heart:
Mamapiano,
Elisabeth,
Lois, the Cellist,
Frankie, Marg.

For my pastor,
 a man who faithfully prays
that we don’t lose a child,
not even one stray.

Copious gifts,
bounteous and plenitudinous,
grace upon grace,
common, sacred and mysterious.

Previous Posts here and here.

One Act of Thanksgiving

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“One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong is worth a thousand when things go well.” 
~ John of the Cross

This week I have heard reports of thanksgiving when things have gone wrong. 

    ~  A wife and a daughter who lost their husband/father to a heart attack giving comfort and living at peace with this hard providence… 
    ~  A marriage splitting apart and one member growing closer to the Lord through this tearing… 
    ~  A newborn baby discovered to be deaf – the mother thankful for sign language…
    ~  A woman in Zimbabwe who sees hope, and is thankful for the unexplainable provision of necessities…

But isn’t the key to being thankful when things go wrong building the habit of being thankful for the thousand things that go well? 

Here is another quote from the best book I’ve read in 2008:  Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry.

“You mustn’t wish for another life. 
You mustn’t want to be somebody else. 
What you must do is this:
“Rejoice evermore. 
Pray without ceasing. 
In everything give thanks.” 
I am not all the way capable of so much,
but those are the right instructions.”

God’s Sticky-Notes

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We also want to continue throughout the day
expressing gratefulness for the innumerable
manifestations of God’s grace.

It’s as if God is placing sticky-notes in our lives
as daily reminders of His presence and provision.
They’re everywhere.
How alert and perceptive of them are you?
Are you a thankful observer of the
countless indications
of His provision,
His presence,
His kindness,
and His grace?

C. J. Mahaney in Humility: True Greatness

Piled High and Running Over

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(Adapted from the archives) Photo credit: Danny, my brother (DPH)
[Wait! I’ve never realized how close those initials are to PhD! – weird.]

Thankful

I’m thankful for the gloaming,

old hymns in minor keys,

Reuben sandwiches and Subaru
engines.

 

For continued forgiveness for
besetting sins;

wood heat, Bach’s Passacaglia

and lavender. 

 

For long-distance phone calls,

library cards,

Netflix,

and another leaf in our expanding
table. 

 

I’m grateful for a grandson and a
stack of books,

for garlic sizzling in olive oil,

for book-lined walls and long car
drives.

 

French Onion soup,

Sunday feasts,

John Donne’s poetry,

Two Buck Chuck Cabernet Sauvignon,

toddler laughter and uninterrupted
sleep.

 

Truth, beauty and goodness,

goodness and mercy,

mercy and grace. 
 

 

I’m grateful for Google,

down comforters and

freedom from
debt.

 

I praise God for King’s College Choir,

Vaughn Williams

and psalms from the
Vulgate;

 

For manly hugs and kisses,

hand-knit socks,

alliteration and Carl
Larsson.

 

Declared
righteousness,

promises kept and

the book of Ecclesiastes.

 

Extended family,

the piano,
lingering meals.


The scent of simmering spiced citrus,

speech, and
memories.


Billy Collin’s poems,

Wendell Berry’s short stories,

extra sharp cheddar cheese,

and
Amazon.com boxes.

 

Pesto, bubble wrap, smiles that
light up the whole face,

Naan, chai, and good drinking
water.

 

I wonder at the connections,

on the web and face to face,

for quotes, for thoughts, for book reviews,

for the shallows and the deeps,

PaperBackSwap, Anthony Trollope

Jacques Barzun, and Susan Allen Toth.

 

I’m thankful for the death of death,

for mingled tears,

For temporary sighs and sorrow

and
the hope of the future.

 

Cobb salad, Athanasius, rustic bread.

Independent sons, reading evenings,
growing families.

 

I give thanks for 100% cotton,
loving rebukes,

Laughter in the morning and southern
windows.

 

For nostrils, fingernails and belly
buttons,

for DSL, clematis, and airplane
travel,

different cultures and customs,

enduring
friendships.

and for the Lord God who made them all.


“Oh give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good.  His mercy endures
forever.”


Admire the Hand of God’s Providence

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photo by brother Dan
“I frequently sat down to my meat with thankfulness, and admired the hand of God’s providence, which had thus spread my table in the wilderness. 

I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed, rather than what I wanted, and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them;

and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something He has not given them. 

All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.”
                               ~ Daniel Defoe in Robinson Crusoe

I Wonder As It Wanders

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Now that I’m 50, I had my first “senior moment”…

I walked out of the box store with my cart full of groceries.  After starting down the wrong section of the parking lot, I corrected my course.  While pushing the cart, I remembered when my sister Margo was still driving but dealing with effects of a brain tumor.  She lost her short term memory and had several episodes of walking around parking lots looking for her car.  I imagined how frustrating that would be.

A tall vehicle was blocking the view of my parking space, but I was startled to see a car pull into that space.  Huh?  My little old Subaru was parked in the slanted space directly in front of my original parking spot, the car now oriented opposite of all the cars around it. 

Immediately a grin came to my face and I started scanning the parking lot for one of my young friends who I assumed moved my car as a prank.  Certain names even came to mind!  On the third swivel of my head a hand went out of a window across the way and a woman yelled a greeting.  She bounded out of her truck and came over with a knowing look. 

“Your car wasn’t in gear and tried to run me over!  I was walking past it and it just bumped into me.  I thought jerk! — but when I looked for the jerk driver, the car was empty.  I started pushing my cart against the car to keep it from going farther but I was losing.  I yelled to a guy and he helped me push the car back.  He finally got in the car and engaged the emergency brake.  That’s why your car is in a different space.”

She wasn’t the least bit belligerent; I apologized up one side and thanked her down the other.   Yikes!  I have never done that before in my life.  That I’m aware of…. 

Trying to balance my reaction between a casual laugh and shrug and morbid “what ifs” – there was only one direction to go.  Thankfulness.  I’m thankful that a little toddler didn’t wander in front of the car; thankful that I didn’t need to leave notes on the late model car(s) in the next row; thankful that I was disabused of my notion that a practical joke had been played on me; thankful for the reminder that there are, ahem, gaps in my routine.

Thy mercies are new every afternoon.
Great is Thy faithfulness.

Thankful

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~ Curt and Collin had a small window of time to hunt close to the house before they left on a week-long archery hunting trip.  Curt got a  six point (here in the West we count one side of the rack) early this morning.  I so prefer elk meat to deer meat and it is truly a blessing to have a freezer full of meat.  Thank you, Lord, for providing.

~  Collin drove home to get the trailer and camera.  It was his first time hooking up the trailer alone.  I called up my DIL Jessie who has hauled horses around since she was sixteen.  Speaker phone on, she walked him through all the checkpoints, talking as if she could see exactly what Collin was doing.   Thank you, Lord, that my boys have married capable women.  And thank you, Lord, for the growing maturity of my youngest son.

~  Wednesday was the final day of my girlfriend weekend.  On Saturday we stayed in our jammies all day while we talked and talked and talked.  On the drive home from the airport in the car without AC, the rays of sun were hypnotizing me.  My body was shrink-wrapped in fatigue.  My tried and true stay-awake strategies had lost their efficacy.  I stopped at Staples and saved my life with a $6.99 purchase.  Bubble wrap.  I love, l-o-v-e, to pop bubble wrap.  Popping those pockets of air kept me awake until I got home. Thank you, Lord, for protection and for the most wonderful invention of man: bubble wrap.

Tell me, my friend, what are you thankful for this day?


Addendum: here is Curt and his Dad.
 

Fifty Reasons to Give Thanks

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1.                  
We know Whom to
thank.

2.                  
The sun rose again this
morning.

3.                  
The opportunity to pray for people
facing crises this day.

4.                  
Clean clothes to
wear.

5.                  
Food in the cupboard – Kashi Go Lean
is my choice today.

6.                  
The milk is cold.  It would be sooo
hard to be thankful for warm milk.

7.                  
Job security – I love being a mom
and a teacher and a very part-time accountant.

8.                  
Almost instant communication with
those I love through email.

9.                  
Asparagus, fresh from the
farm.

10.              
Morel mushrooms, fresh from the
forest.

11.              
Indoor
plumbing.

12.              
Plants that refuse to die –
impatiens and petunias.

13.              
A gentle
breeze.

14.              
The Lord is
near.

15.              
The Portable
Dante – arrived from Amazon
yesterday.

16.              
A clean silverware
drawer.

17.              
The reappearance of old friends in
our lives – lately, at the rate of about one a
week!

18.              
Upcoming graduations and the
celebration of work completed.

19.              
Upcoming weddings and the
celebration of God’s goodness and provision.

20.              
The haunting beauty of Eva Cassidy’s
music.

21.              
Compost.

22.              
Chainsaws and those who operate
them.

23.              
Red bell peppers, Walla Walla sweet onions
and sugar snap peas.

24.              
A friend who forgave me when I
blanked out her birthday.

25.              
A good paring
knife.

26.              
Fresh water, fresh lemon and good
tea.

27.              
Singing the psalms – my current
favorite is 116.

28.              
Dirt under the fingernails and weeds
in the trash – I’ve never been a glovey person.

29.              
A table to rest your elbows on; a
table to gather around; a table to set and clear.

30.              
Friends who ask penetrating
questions and expect to be answered.

31.              
Electric light — by which to read
at night.

32.              
A stack of Wendell Berry and Anthony
Trollope books waiting to be read.

33.              
Sons who make me smile; sons who
make me laugh; sons who make me cry.

34.              
Shaking the dustmop outside and
saying goodbye to dustbunnies.

35.              
A piano in the house – available to
play anytime.

36.              
The Decalogue (fancy way of saying
Ten Commandments).

37.              
A friend with a persevering spirit
in strife-torn Zimbabwe.

38.              
The joy of sharing a lovely loaf of
bread with friends.

39.              
A brisk walk in the brisk
air.

40.              
“Strength for today and bright hope
for tomorrow” – from my mom’s favorite hymn.

41.              
Continuing forgiveness for repeated
sins.

42.              
Becoming friends with my curly/wavy
hair with streaks of gray.

43.              
Cabernet
Sauvignon.

44.              
Another book filled with quotes and
notes and pictures.

45.              
A husband who enjoys hugging
me.

46.              
Fidelity expressed in both married
and single people.

47.              
A laughing, coy, happy, expressive,
running, talking grandson.

48.              
Daughters-in-law who bless me in
multiple ways.

49.              
The blessed Lord who gives all these
things and will take what He sees fit to take.

50.              
Bach’s organ music, Bach’s cello
music, Bach’s violin music, Bach’s vocal music.

Thanksgivings

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I’m thankful for the gloaming,

old hymns in minor keys,

Reuben sandwiches and Subaru
engines.

 

For reoccurring forgiveness for
besetting sins;

wood heat,

Bach’s Passacaglia and lavender. 

 

For long-distance phone calls,

library cards,

BBC films

and another leaf in our expanding
table. 

 

I’m grateful for a grandson and a
stack of books,

for garlic sizzling in olive oil,

for book-lined walls and long car
drives.

 

French Onion soup,

Sunday dinners,

George Herbert’s poetry,

Two Buck Chuck Cabernet Sauvignon,

toddler laughter and uninterrupted
sleep.

 

Truth, beauty and goodness,

goodness and mercy,

mercy and grace. 
 

 

I’m grateful for Google,

down comforters and

freedom from
debt.

 

I praise God for
reconciliation,

Vaughn Williams and psalms from the
Vulgate;

 

For manly hugs and kisses,

Hand-knit socks,

alliteration and Carl
Larsson.

 

Declared
righteousness,

promises kept and

Exodus.

 

Extended family, the piano,
lingering meals,

Scented candles, speech, and
memories.

 

Weddings, daughters-in-law,

the researching, thinking and
writing of David McCullough,

extra sharp cheddar cheese, and
Amazon.com boxes.

 

Pesto, bubble wrap, smiles that
light up the whole face,

Asparagus, chai, and good drinking
water.

 

Daughters who care for their elderly
mothers,

Sons-in-laws who do the
same;

 

I’m thankful for the death of death,
for mingled tears,

For temporary sighs and sorrow and
the hope of the future.

 

Cobb salad, Athanasius, whole wheat
toast.

Independent sons, reading evenings,
growing families.

 

I give thanks for 100% cotton,
loving rebukes,

Laughter in the morning and southern
windows.

 

For nostrils, fingernails and belly
buttons,

For DSL, clematis, and airplane
travel,

Different cultures and customs, and
the fun exploration of such,

Enduring
friendships.

 

I’m thankful for home.

 

“Oh give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good.  His mercy endures
forever.”