A Summary of Thanks

So, it is the day of Thanksgiving. All month I have been giving thanks for small and big things in my life, and doing that for 25 days has really helped me appreciate everything around me. I think it's wonderful to spend a little bit of everyday reflecting on what we are grateful for, not just on Thanksgiving, and not just through the Christmas season. The quality of life changes, not because it's better, but because I see it through "thanks" colored glasses. When I see how much there is to be thankful for, negativity seems like an uninvited guest that has overstayed its welcome. I look over the past month, and I see that I've been thankful for:

- My friend Liz
- A place to stay, food to eat and wonderful family and friends when I was jobless and car less
- My siblings and sibling-in-law
- My friends
- A temp job
- Friends I hadn't seen in nearly a decade
- My mom who takes care of me when I'm sick
- The privilege of waking up in the morning, even when I'm ill and prefer to stay asleep
- My soul being thankful and singing to the Lord, "My soul sings, my soul sings, my soul sings, how I love YOU!"
- Those in the military who have put their lives on the line for my freedom.
- Being in the life of my friend Heather
- Beautiful days that uplifts my spirits, even when I'm not depressed.
- Laughter
- John and Camille who fixed my car
- Feathers and butterflies
- Slightly nippy, "feels-like-Thanksgiving" weather
- The fact that I am totally, completely, incredibly, amazingly, thoroughly and unconditionally loved
- Sunrises and sunsets; moments of beauty that help me appreciate my life, slow down and enjoy
- The rain
- A new long term job
- The opportunity to serve a thanksgiving meal to those who wouldn't ordinarily have one
- God in my life
- A wonderful night's sleep

Some big things, some so small, I would never have thought to appreciate them if my heart wasn't turned towards thankfulness. In a prior post I said, "In the great times, I will praise Him. In the dark times, I will trust Him. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Even when everything seems to be going awry, I will continue trusting the Lord, and find something to thank Him for.

There are many verses I could quote, but I chose this one: Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made know unto God; an the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Be thankful, be blessed and be at Peace!

Nature's first hue is gold

Just for the record, I am not a morning person. I just needed to establish that from the beginning. There's a phrase in French, bonne heure, that means early morning. The literal translation is good hour. I'm thinking a morning person made that phrase up, because early morning and good hour do not go together in my book.

But lately, I have been getting up earlier. The window in my bedroom faces west, looking into the side of our neighbor's house and a medium-sized light oak tree. When I wake up early enough, the sun, peeking over our house from the east, shines it's light on the tree, and for a moment, everything looks golden. It reminds me of that Robert Frost poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay:


Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.


It's strange; I watch that golden tree, and everything is all right for a while. It's easy to talk to and listen to God. It's easy to remember to be thankful for everything in my life. It's wonderful to look at my day and see the opportunities. It's easy to smile. It's no problem to be content with the world. And I find myself waking up at that hour, without even an alarm, to catch Nature's first green on that tree. And... it is a good hour.