He's Home

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November_2007_028He'll be here in his own bed for five whole nights (maybe six). He'll be in the kitchen in the mornings (I might even score some barista-style coffee). He'll be around late at night to read stories to small people and to hang out and talk with us. He'll settle into the familiar holiday rhythms that are so much a part of our family and would be so full of holes without him. And speaking of holes...

he's wearing earrings.

Alrighty then,  I guess I couldn't really expect everything to be just as it was before he left.

Ahem. That's me. Sticking to the "ignore it and it will go away strategy." Ill get back to you on how it's working.

In the meantime, I'm off to revel in the familyness of it all. Kiss your big boys and your babies and everyone in between. Have a very blessed Thanksgiving. You're in my prayers today.

The Thousand Gifts

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Giftsgraphiclg_2My dear friend Ann at Holy Experience has been keeping a virtual gratitude journal since this time last year. She has faithfully listed, one by one, nearly a thousand things for which she is grateful. Do go read her introductory post--a compelling, poetic invitation to see more clearly the abundance of God's goodness, to count it all, and to give thanks again and again. In part, Ann writes:

Too often I miss Him, oblivious, blind. I don't see all the good things that He is giving me, gracing me with, brushing my life with. True, He is everywhere, always. But maybe, before The Gift List, I thought of Him as further off, not so close. When I started to see all the things that I love bestowed upon me, I started to see Him as near, present, everywhere, showering me with good things. Seeing the things I love all around me gives me eyes to see that I am loved, that He loves me.

Of course, we know that we are loved. But I think it's a very good thing to truly pause and look at all the tangible ways He showers His blessing upon us. Today is as good a day as any to begin to take note. No, it's actually a better day than any. For me, it's the best day yet to begin to number my blessings.

1. A sleeping baby, tender curls wisping around her neck. She sleeps next to her Daddy.
2. The joy I feel knowing that when she awakes her face will light up with sheer glee at the prospect of another day begun with breakfast in bed with Daddy.
3. That man that they call Daddy. I cannot begin to articulate the gratitude I feel for the one who gratefully welcomes each new child, knowing that it is his burden to provide for their every physical need.
4. The tousled-haired little man who has just joined me, whispered "good morning" and asked if he might have some eggnog in his peppermint tea, please. Of course, you may. I'll join you now.