The Gift of an Ordinary Morning

Today was just an ordinary morning...the only thing making it un-ordinary was my choice to pause and notice all the joys the morning held.

Before the sun had crested the horizon, I crept into the girls room.  Kissing warm checks. Smoothing their crazy hair the fairies seemed to have danced in last night. Whispering into their ears 'good mornings' and 'I love yous'. Sleepy eyelids opening. Discussing weather and possible clothing choices.  Since I was not working today, I found a book I wanted to finish, flipped on the switch the fireplace, watched flames dance warmth into the room, fixed some hot chocolate, snuggled into my blanket.

Then, pausing to chat with girls during breakfast. Rice Krispies left spilled on counter tops. Listening to daughters make up songs in front of bathroom mirror. Daughter asking if she can wear said shoes. Not my first choice, but then I remember the quote I read "some girls are just born with glitter in their veins." "Sure, you can wear those shoes." Five minute reminder to finish up and head out the door to catch the school bus. No lunches to make this morning. They are happy to eat school pizza. School notebooks signed. School bags on shoulders, coats on. I make sure to make eye contact as I hug them goodbye. "Love you, Have a great day!" "You too, mom. Love you!" Kisses left to dry on foreheads.

Door closes. I snuggle back into couch and continue reading.  Two pages left to go on my book and the phone rings at 8:22. Can I work today? School begins in 8 minutes.  "Sure! I'll be there shortly!" And so my 'to do list' for the morning had to wait, and yet, I am thankful for the extra few moments I had to pause and remember what a gift the everyday ordinary-ness of my life is!!

1000 Gifts. Counted.

Well seven months and 13 days after I began my 'counting' - I did it! I've paused and counted 1000 gifts in my life. Oh, I've probably duplicated a couple here and there, but that's okay, I'll keep counting, and some are worth counting more than once anyway, right? Below is a list of some of the gifts I've included at the end of my list.

Additionally, I was reminded in a phone call with a friend this morning, that every breath, every moment we have on this journey is a gift. This pausing helps me to not take it for granted and to fully live in this amazing, wonderful, sometimes painful and confusing, journey we call life!  

• Fresh vegetables, especially free ones from neighbors
• Mike’s ‘sure’ when I ask him to stop by the store on the way home from work for me!
• Mike sitting down and looking at the girl’s projects when they ask him to.
• Ibuprofen
• Weekends
• Rainbows
• Daughters dancing in the rain
• Morgan noticing the sunset tonight & wanting me to pause & see it
• Walks after rain drenched the earth
• The gift of calmness I had dealing with daughter’s attitude
• Joy I find in ‘organizing’
• Half price sonic drinks
• All the tools mike owns
• All the projects he tackles for me!
• Games
• Laughter with friends
• People in my past (youth) who were there for me and made a difference in my life!
• New friendship
• Unexpected days of employment
• Pizza back on school lunch menu
• A calm and patient husband
• Sun kissing treetops
• Wave reflections dancing on boat’s side
• Mike changing the rhythms of dancing reflections
• Adoption
• Mosquito spray
• Squeals, smiles & laughter of kids bouncing on tube behind boat
• Longtime friendships
• Worn out feeling from playing hard
• Luxury of ice and simple happiness it brings me
• Smell of aloe nourishing sun kissed skin
• Slowed down pace of camping
• Chocolate pudding on children’s faces
• Smells of campfire cooking
• Ooey gooey messy fun of s'mores
• Honesty of kids
• Red veins on green leaves
• A husband to hug
• “Goodnight” moments with the girls
• Long walks that seem short when accompanied by good conversation
• God loving me in each of these gifts. 

Crime Lab Camping Trip

We LOVE camping with Mike's work...and our time with them seems to grow sweeter with each passing campout. Here are 20 more things I added to my "1000 Gifts" list...bringing my number to #695, after returning home today from our most recent time this weekend.

#1 -  Dams that create lakes.

#2 -  Yummy food I didn't have to plan or prepare.

#3 -  Solitary bird filling vast blue sky

#4 -  Magical lights flickering in the woods. Mesmerizing those lightening bugs were.

#5 -  Refreshing lake water

#6 -  Quiet sunsets shared on the boat with Mike

#7 -  Amazing people Mike works with.

#8 -  Happy people

#9 -  Babies and kids and laughter

#10 -   Watching people’s ‘happily ever after’ dreams come true

#11 -    Glowing embers

#12 -    Crackling wood

#13 -    A dozen or more sails bobbing along the shoreline

#14 -    Wind

#15 -   A break from the extreme heat for a few days

#16 -   Hammock lulling me into a nap

#17 -   Leaves silhouetted against the twilight sky

#18 -   Happiness

#19 -   Toasted marshmallows

#20 - girls who feel the same way, "Dad, you picked a great job!" - because camping with those he works with is so much fun!

and now that we're home...five more...to top off #700

#21 - hot showers

#22 - washing machines

#23 - air conditioners

#24 - pictures on the camera

#25 - memories in my heart

Fully Living...to Fully Die

Not sure where this blog post is going to go...a million thoughts floating in and out of my head this morning.

I know I shouldn't have, but I went to bed last night dreading today. I'm stuck home with no car and it's suppose to only be in the 50s today (and after 80s two days ago... I'm not pleased with this fact) and it's suppose to rain all day.  But as the girls rushed out the door for the bus...unexpected sunshine greeted me as I opened the door.

I was suddenly pleased I had no place I had to be today. So, I made myself some hot cocoa, grabbed my robe and then sat on my front porch step, soaking up the rays of sunshine spilling out of the blue sky down on me. Thankful for the alcove of protection my porch walls were offering from the 42 wind chill.  And I talked to God, thanking him for all the signs of Spring I saw around me. Pondering and thanking him for Good Friday and Easter. I decided to grab my bible and I read a few chapters. I read about a leper pausing to say thanks.

Then I grabbed my camera. Lately I've been noticing other's photos... and if I'm completely honest, I'm been a bit *envious* of their cameras that can capture such gorgeous pictures.  I have a simple automatic zoom digital camera. It's easy and convenient - but lately I've been noticing, it doesn't capture the details I see. And it's made me a bit envious.  But I decided, I do have a camera, and I need to take pictures to capture what it can.

I LOVE all the green that is surrounding my back deck again!

Here is a view from my front porch step this morning.
So many shades of green already appearing. 

I then came inside and crawled onto Morgan's bed. Her room is the only room that has sunshine pouring through it in the morning. And I've been laying here for the past 45 minutes, reading Ann VosKamp's book One Thousand Gifts, seizing these unexpected gifts of sunshine and silence and time for reflection.

In her book she asks the question, how do we live fully so we are fully ready to die? Because face it, one day we will all die. How do we live fully alive with every breath we are given?  She talked about two stories. The last supper and  and the story of the leper. (Kinda interesting that I was already thinking on Easter this morning and had just read the story of the leper in Luke 17 this morning). She says "With an expiration of less than twelve hours, what does Jesus count as all most important?" 'And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them...' (Luke 22:19)" When facing the hardest moment of his life, he gave thanks. And as for the leper, God healed him, he came back and said thanks, and then God said, your faith has healed you.  He fully experienced the miracle of the moment, because he paused to say thanks.

Ann's book asks, and I am asking, is it in living a life full of thanksgiving that we can truly fully live? The wonder of life, of God, of living... isn't 'out there' to find 'one day' - rather, it's to be found, 'right here' and 'right now' in this moment. So before these final rays of sunshine leave this room, and I'm caught up in daily chores, I am going to go and add a few more things to my list of 1000 gifts.

Misery *dislikes* Gratitude

I have been feeling miserable lately. I'll spare you all the details, besides, if I wrote out all the details, I'd probably just feel worse, so I won't.  Let's just say it's a combination of many things...and these stupid allergies are NOT helping at all!! My soul longs for Spring, I love to immerse myself in it, and now I feel trapped inside by these allergies!! Ugh!!

Last night I was feeling really down. Right now, I don't feel like looking on the bright side of things. at all. I really want to wallow in my misery. But honestly, where will that get me? Besides, I'm trying to live with more gratitude in my 'everydayness'...and perhaps that means finding gratitude especially on days I don't feel like it.  So this morning, in an attempt to gain a better perspective, here are 15 more things I'm adding to my 1000 gifts list, bringing my total to 489.

#1 -  Sadness. Without it, could we truly know happiness?

#2 -  Darkness, so we can experience light

#3 -  Coldness, so I can know warmth

#4 -  Tears, to release emotions instead of keeping them inside

#5 -  Unfulfilled dreams, so when they become reality, I’ll appreciate the gift/work of them all the more

#6 -  A new day, to begin with a new perspective

#7 -  My aging body that is reminding me to live a healthier lifestyle

#8 -  Allergies, so I can appreciate my good health the rest of the year

#9 -  A husband who would like to make things better for me, if he could

#10 -    Internal battles that make me wiser and stronger…eventually

#11 -   Backrubs generously given

#12 -   Bicycles

#13 -   Mike leaving work a few minutes early so we can enjoy a bike ride together before the girls get off the bus.

#14 -   Garage door openers

#15 -   Daughters who point out things I can appreciate (like garage door openers)

I'm trying here...can you tell?!? :)

1000 Gifts Continued

In January, I started a list called 1000 Gifts, you can read about it by clicking here. My goal is to list 1000 gifts by the end of the year. Again, the purpose is simply to pause and notice all the many things I have to be thankful for in life. I try to keep the file open on my computer, so I can just add to it as something comes to me. Below is my list from this past week. 

Also, the same author of this idea, has this one page sheet you can print which makes a weekly booklet where you can write down just 7 gifts a day. Click here to read about it and see how to fold it.  I printed up one for each of the girls, so they can cultivate a heart of gratitude in their lives as well. They seem excited about them.

#408 - Morning breeze thru my window
#409 - Screens to keep bugs out
#410 - Girls’ homemade documentary on how to make clay pots and stuff out of playdoh for barbies.
#411 - A day that begins with laughter
#412 - Bright green spots dotting bare branches
#413 - A friend’s offer to let the girls sleepover at her house when I’m completely drained
#414 - A husband who so willingly makes me lunch all the time when we are home.
#415 - A husband who does up the dishes before I get home
#416 - A friend who takes her time to proofread my writing
#417 - No commitments this weekend, so I can rest
#418 - Paint in a 1000 different colors. Deep purple, dark orange, lime green, bright turquoise are the chosen treehouse (inside) colors today.
#419 - Neighborhood friends for the girls to enjoy so often
#420 - Splotches of bright colors throughout the neighborhood
#421 - Listening to the girls read the Easter story to me
#422 - Medicine
#423 - Kleenex
#424 - Air conditioning, even if it is April (gulp).
#425 - Unexpected visitors, like Uncle Jim this week
#426 - A tear that chokes me up during a worship song at church
#427 - Easter egg hunts
#428 - Smiles on kids faces
#429 - Finding a decaying dead walnut that has a new 2 inch baby walnut tree sprouting out of the inside
#430 - Mike’s willingness to help with projects without complaint
#431 - Springtime rains
#432 - Shelter from storms
#433 - A friend calling for no other reason but to share good news with me

1000 Gifts - Pausing to Notice

So in the video I posted a couple of days ago, the author, Ann Voskamp, began this project in 2006, to write down 1000 Gifts of things she has in her life. You can read more about it by clicking here.  What I love about this is that she pauses to cherishes the moments.  Last I checked, she was at #2197.   This simple act allows gratitude to permeate her life. God gives us gifts every day, if we just slow down and notice them.  Below is the beginning of my list, in totally random order. I am just keeping the file open on my computer and I am writing them as they come to me.

1. Sarah’s contagious laughter that always makes me smile
2. A husband who spends his day off with me
3. Morgan using her money to buy Apples to Apples Jr. so we can play it as a family.
4. The gift of an ordinary day
5. Friends that think of me
6. My laptop computer
7. The internet
8. Honesty and authenticity of North Point Church
9. My Warm Fuzzy Blanket
10. DQ Blizzards for dinner
11. 3 more home improvement projects done, thanks to Mike
12. Instant streaming of movies to our blu-ray player
13. The release that tears give
14. Never knowing who is going to answer the phone at my sister’s house – I love my bro-in-laws impersonations. Tonight I was offered “pickled pigs feet” by some kindly old woman!
15. My dog’s big brown eyes and floppy ears.
16. The quiet moans of sleepy girls waking up in the morning
17. Sarah’s gentle hug for me before she even opens her eyelids
18. Warmth that pours through my house from the heater
19. My eyes to read the beautiful words written by others
20. The gift of encouragement I received this morning
21. Mike’s job that sustains us
22. The convenience of online banking
23. Hearing a friend smile through the other end of the phone
24. Neighbors who offer to watch your kids while you run to walmart
25. Garbage man that takes my trash and recycling away
26. A thing called ‘margin’ in my life
27. A husband to take lunch to.
28. Girls that run home from school, screaming, happy and full of energy.
29. My daughter’s cute pigtails.
30. Words from the page flowing out of my daughter’s voice as she reads to me.
31. The way Sarah’s eyes light up when she has something funny to tell.
32. The ability to say ‘no’!
33. The opportunities to say ‘yes’!
34. Facebook posts that make me smile. And laugh out loud.
35. Country songs that stir something deep in my soul and makes the tears spill out.
36. A husband that pauses to work the knots out of my lower back.
37. A beagle that enjoys snuggling.
38. Waking up to the misty glow of the streetlights bouncing off the snow.
39. Snow day with my girls!
40. The softness of my girls cheeks, as I touch them to awake them in the morning

p.s. Today is our first snow day of the year!! Yes!!

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

I was reminded today of this video I saw this past year. This author has a gift of pausing, noticing, appreciating the little things that make life so worth living!  Here is her website, and the video is near the bottom, on the left. http://www.katrinakenison.com/ and she celebrates the gift of an ordinary day.

Well today, I have tried to pause and enjoy the gift of this ordinary day.  Here are a few highlights.

Our girls actually slept in til 9am! I never thought they would sleep past 6am when they were toddlers, especially on our day off! They watched cartoons for awhile, and I spent some time getting lost in other's words on their blogs.  Mike got up and decided to begin (and finish) painting the ceiling in the kitchen.  There have been a few spots on the ceiling since we moved in - it's so nice to NOT see them anymore!  I took an extra long hot shower and then watched another movie with the girls, while getting caught up on laundry.  I gave them a break and told them "Don't even ask to help with the laundry today, because the answer will be no!" We then went into town to spend the rest of their Christmas gift cards (they got Apples to Apples Jr, a new lap desk, and an I spy puzzle book), get Morgan a volleyball so she can practice at home, check on cell phone plans (sigh - we currently have pay as you go plans and are looking to leap up to smartphones with monthly plans), and then we ended the errands using our buy one get one coupons for DQ Blizzards, for dinner.  We played several games of their new Apples to Apples Jr. game, then I snuggled with Sarah and helped her with one of her I spy pictures, then giggled with Morgan as she read from her Double Fudge book to me. I listened to each of them laugh today. I looked into their eyes and smiled at them. I reminded them of my love after bedtime prayers. Now I'm going to go to bed and snuggle into the arms of my amazing husband.

I both started and ended my day watching another video. Figuring Life Out - One Thousand Gifts. It's inspiring. I posted the video in another post. I hope you take the time to pause and enjoy the beauty of it.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhOUaszMGvQ  I will probably blog more about this later.

Figuring Life Out - One Thousand Gifts