After discovering the book, One Thousand Blessings, I am really getting in the habit of counting my blessings as I go through my day. It really is amazing how just changing my mindset to search for things in the everyday that I am grateful for, can become a default for my thoughts and a way of living life to the fullest wherever I am.
I heard something recently which spoke to the idea that acknowledging God’s gifts to us {by simply pausing to notice} is accepting what He has given us and is itself an act of praise. Giving thanks and praise is not only merely done through worship, music and active prayer, but also through the simple act of living in gratitude by noticing the beauty around us. It’s a prayer of the heart. It’s seeing the beauty in the hidden places, the mundane, the everyday, and the pain. In this I am finding new, more profound ideas for expressing the purpose statement I have had on my blog for years. When we ‘take time to consider beauty’ around us ‘in all its forms’, we are living a beautiful life of praise to Him who provides it all.
Here is the beauty of my blessings I paused to notice this morning…
{#s 50-87 to One Thousand Blessings from the morning of April 19th}
· sending my ‘big kids’ off on the bus after they’ve gotten themselves up, showered and dressed all on their own, marveling at how mature and fun they are and missing them before they even leave, being a mom like mine who packs their lunch and sends them off to school with something in their tummy, a kind word and a prayer
· morning coffee and quiet time to study the Word and pray
· the pure joy of pulling my daughter into my lap and cuddling her in her cozy pajamas when she comes downstairs after waking, enjoying every moment with her because she is my youngest and I know this time is fleeting, the smell of her hair and skin from last night’s bath, her smile, how she is always happy in the morning
· the beauty of having a creative mind, even though it troubles me to know I don’t have enough time {hours in the day/days in the week/weeks in the year} to make use of all the ideas in my head
· doing the morning chores with my little one and listening to her talk to the animals, “You sure have a cute baby calf!...slow down, you’re eating like a pig, but you’re a cow…you think you know what I’m saying, but you’re just an animal, so you really don’t know anything…”
· the smell of spring, blossoms on our fruit trees, fresh bark dust in the flower beds, tulips, camellias, daffodils, the colors that come out in the sunshine, how the air feels warm and cool at the same time.
· having my little one with me in the kitchen; my joyful little helper who is watching everything I do and learning cooking skills
· homemade oatmeal with freshly toasted walnuts & pecans, cranberries and flaked coconut
· hearty, homemade bread made with freshly ground grains baking in the oven
· the smells of freshly toasted nuts and homemade bread baking this morning in my kitchen
· watching my 5-year old cruise on her bike after she taught herself to ride without training wheels
· one-on-one time with my youngest before her bus picks her up for afternoon kindergarten, reading together, our routine and that she has learned this routine to get ready for school with very little of mom’s help, deciding her clothes and hairstyle together, fixing her hair and admiring her sweet, girly-ness, how this whole thing can take as little as 15 minutes if need be, that the bus picks her up right in front of the house and I can stay in the front doorway and watch her get on, sending her off with a hug, kiss and a getting a wave or blown kiss from the bus window.
· that…for today…our chocolate lab hasn’t harassed any neighbors walking past our house {since our fences don’t hold her in the backyard and she goes wherever she pleases}, which may be because I finally thought to use the shock collar to try and train her to stay in the back and not scare people.
· a quiet house for a few hours, and knowing all 3 kids will ride the bus home together.
· a groove with housework, finding that I’m actually enjoying myself, and letting that feeling motivate me to get a lot done.
· the comforting sounds of home; the ticking of the clocks, the cracks of the settling wood frame, the hum of the refrigerator, flies bouncing off the windows, wind chimes in the breeze, the jingle of the dog’s collar, birds ‘tweeting’, a distant ‘moo’ from the pasture.
