Moments of Gratitude

I have been thinking a lot these last weeks of how good my life actually is. There are so many people struggling and suffering, with crosses I can barely summon the strength to watch, yet they do so. My own life feels so fortunate- almost every single day. So I am trying to cultivate gratitude. To simply remind myself that life is short, and that I can choose to see and count the blessing before me- or not. So here is a list of some of those things I have been grateful for lately. I hope you are all able to add a few of your own, if not please stop by for a cup of tea and I can loan you a few minutes of time and we'll  look together.

1) Freddy. After all I write about him, do I really need to say anything else? He is smart, funny, patient, hard-working, a terrific father, and he loves me despite my obvious flaws. God knew he was my match. Perfection.

2) My kids. Yes its a ton of work. Yes, its a whole mess of fun. P.S. Its way more fun than work.

This is all of my kids and only my kids on the playground.

3) We harvested our potatoes today. Which officially means that just about everything I planted this year, actually grew ( we'll forgive the broccoli for its poor show and hope for better results next year).

4) Chickens! Not only do they give us almost half a dozen eggs a day, but my kids have had hours and hours of fun caring for them. The first things our little girls ask in the morning is if they can let the chickens out for a while.

Sarah and Lolo chicken shepherding

5) My siblings. Who have impressed me each one, so very much, these past months by their absolute devotion to Greg as he battles cancer, and to one another. There are so many of us with so many personalities that navigating it all could be really tricky. But you know what, its also been wonderful.They are the greatest gift my parents ever gave me.

6) Biscoff spread. Nutella, watch out. OK- full confession- I found this in an Aldi aisle. On a whim I decided to purchase it. I opened the jar  today, and took a small scoop out to taste, and found myself transported into the seventh heaven. This stuff is seriously good. You can ask what to spread it on if you'd like, my best answer at this point is... everything. Because its that good. And I already checked on amazon to make sure I could order it in an emergency-and its available. Nirvana!

7) Classroom. My school room took me only  one afternoon to set up entirely.( we officially begin classes on Monday)This was mainly because I wisely prepared last May for this September, but still, it actually worked! Can you say stress free start off?

I actually imagine my classroom to look like this.

8) Friendship. I got to see a few of my favorite friends this week, and chat with  some others. You know, the old faithfuls that add so much to life and yet are as comfortable as a good pair of slippers? Today Josh and the kids came by and spent the afternoon catching up. I don't think I have ever spent time with Josh and not walked away feeling blessed. I mean that.

9) Romantic dinners. It can be hard to sneak away from ten people on a regular basis. So, Fred and I have devised special dinners where the kids eat separately, and we set up a candlelit table by ourselves, and the  two  worlds don't collide for at least a few hours. Tonight was one of them. Snow crab was on the menu.
Success!

10) A home I love. After dinner we walked around the yard, and looked at our fruit trees, and blackberry bushes, and raspberry bushes, and talked about the plans we have for the future. God has been so good to us in all of these things. I love where I live.

I know there are a million things on all of our plates to worry and fret and be sad about. But I do find it helpful in my own life to stop and think on these blessings and remind myself how good life really is. In all things, there are silver linings. So, where are yours?