Monday, February 6, 2012

1000 Gifts

Sometimes it's so easy to focus our gratitude on the bigger things.  An amazing answer to prayer.  An ambitious goal met.  A relationship mended.  Often when one of those big things happen, I think about how I will have to mention it on my gratitude list.  But lately I'm trying to focus on the little things.  The things I wouldn't have missed if they hadn't happened.  Or would I?

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143.  The finch feeder my sister gave me for Christmas, and the new friends it has brought to our back deck.

144.  Three children who've all taken to writing poems in recent months.

145.  Like this one.

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146.  Resisting the urge to scold her for writing that poem in church when she should have been paying attention.  Maybe her attention is better focused than mine.

147.  Getting to the point in a book where you can't put it down, so you spend the next couple of hours reading.

148.  Shocking everyone by sitting in a different pew in church.

149.  Big sister fixing little sister's hair.

150.  Simple meals that bring big smiles.

151.  These pens.  Is it goofy to be so attached to a particular brand of pen?  Nothing else feels right to me. : )

152.  That no one else in my family seems to like my pens, so they don't get stolen like my pencils do. : )

153.  Muddy boots left by the back door, because at least they had fun outside.

154.  Younger brother passing up older sister in weight.  Give him another couple of months, and it will be height too.

155.  The joy my husband gets from competing in his office's annual chili cook-off.

156.  That his chili is so hot I am forced to drink my 8 glasses of water for the day just to finish the bowl.

157.  The distant sound of trains humming through the night.

158.  A late night snack of chips and guacamole.

159.  Washed down with a cold pop.  Can you tell it was the last night before my diet started? ; )

Oh, yes, my life is definitely richer because of these smaller gifts.  And the more I reflect on His smaller gifts, the more content I am, and I'm less likely to be wondering (worrying) about the bigger things in life.



3 comments:

  1. We love to watch the sweet finches! What a sweet poem! I love a good book that is hard to put down. A chili cook-off sounds like so much fun. And delicious! :)

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  2. That poem is so great! I would give her a pass for having written it during church, just this one time. ;)

    Michael and I started the C25K for treadmill last week. So far, so good. Gonna start dieting soonish.

    Thanks for such an encouraging post. I'm going to narrow my focus today and get my mind off bigger things. I guess that's why I find bird watching so relaxing.

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  3. sweet poem. I love your list. It makes me smile and so relate!

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