Counting Gifts - Week of March 7, 2011

I’m learning. I am SOOOOOO learning. And I’m fighting. Somewhere deep within my soul there is a war raging. So far in the past few weeks since reading this book two and a half times through, I have gone from awestruck, deeply convicted, doubting, this is for me, this is way beyond me, everything is right about this, this just can’t be right, this woman is crazy, this woman is so right on, I will do it no matter what, everything will change, nothing will change . . .. Well, you get the picture. But I can’t get away from it.

I open my Bible and there it is -- grace, thanks. I look at the cross and there it is -- all good, all grace, all for me, all the time. I look around me -- all blessings, all filtered through a hand of love, even what I don‘t understand, what I would turn from, what I would want to push away. Pastor’s sermon yesterday was out of Matthew 6, about the wise man who built his house upon the rock. Back to foundations again. Back to my life being built on God’s Word -- A Word that tells me God is love (was not that the first verse I ever learned?), God is light, and in Him is no darkness. And we CAN walk in the light, as He is in the light. And we can SEE. And no matter how fierce the storm, it’s the ROCK, all we know and believe and trust in to be true, that holds us up. He doesn’t always take away the storm, but He changes us as we stand firm on that foundation of His Word, and somehow, we come out of it all looking just a little more like Him. And so I keep on counting. . . One by one by one the gifts of grace keep piling up and I open my clenched fists a little wider to accept more. . .




40. Wild berry bushes in full bloom in the woods! I never knew they were there. I never slowed down to look and SEE! I can’t wait to go back when fruit appears. Will I beat the squirrels and birds????

41. Big holes dug in my newly planted bean gardens! Caught in the act! Isn’t it enough that I fill feeders every day? Or was he searching for the acorn he had stored away in that dirt???? Sorry, mister squirrel, I got them all out before planting my beans. Replanting today!

42. A surprise rain. Waking up to puddles, glistening grass, very green new leaves, and the smell of spring! Sunshine after rain, morning after night, add the duet of a wren and a cardinal, and you have a little bit of Heaven on earth!

43. Turning around in the post office only to find a dear friend, arms out holding a hug!

44. Taco salad for lunch!!!! Can’t get much better than that! Sorry Doc! I ate it all and it wasn’t diet! I’ll try better during the next 3 months! But for today my heart is sooooooo thankful for taco salad and for whoever invented these things!

45. Enough and a little more! He ALWAYS provides enough!

46. First signs of life on my Kiwi vines and Fig Tree! I was so sure those nasty freeze days had sucked the life out of these two and was ready to pull them out. But little green sprouts are pushing through the vines and branches and screaming, “We made it through!” I remember when I bought the Kiwi vines on an impulse last year. After planting, I read the info on these --- “may take up to 7 years before it starts producing!” Can I wait that long, tending to something that will take 6 more years??????

47. Crabby looking owl with his head all squished in his birdhouse doorway wondering what all the rucus is with the squirrels in the middle of the day!

48. Big, wet, smoochy kisses from Buster! Everyone needs a Buster in their life -- someone who thinks the world revolves around you, can’t live without you, howls and moans when you are gone. . .!!!

49. A great visit with my oncologist! (see Friday’s post). Always a time of thankfulness, gratefulness, memories, and a reminder of ALL God’s graces and goodness throughout my life. (An added thank you -- they forgot to weigh me!!!)

50. Baked potato with creamed peas. Comfort food to the max for me!!!! It had to be the BIGGEST of all potatoes I’ve ever seen. Smothered in butter, sour cream, salt, pepper. And creamed peas. . . . If you have never had them, you are missing the best of life!

51. Spam! I just KNOW most of you are going YUK! Here. But I am one of the few in the world who just loves it!!! Sliced nice and thin, fried crispy, etc. I love Spam burgers with fried onions, peppers, melted cheese on a fresh bun. I love it just on my plate with my potato and creamed peas. Any which way, I just like Spam. I can remember back “in the day” when we sliced it so thin you could see through it. One can would always have to do for everyone. Now, I don’t have it very often, but when I do, it goes on the list of thank you’s.

52. Word studies in the Bible. I never lose the awe and excitement of how a verse opens up like a flower and just blooms when I finally “get it!” I’m like a little kid who just learned something in school and wants to tell everyone!

53. The sound of my washing machine filling. Remembering those days waaaaay back when . . . . I’d help my Mom separate heaps of clothing into color groups, then we had an old wringer washer and we dumped the first pile in. I can still hear the constant warnings of keeping my fingers and hands away from the wringer!
Oh, what a process that was! It took forever! To say nothing of hanging it all outside in the freezing cold. My Mom’s hands were all red and wrinkled and chapped from being in that soapy water all day and then out in the weather with wooden clothespins, heavy baskets, and icy winds. Thank you, Lord, for my washing machine and dryer. Fluffy, soft, sweet smelling towels and sheets! I am so blessed!

54. Wisteria! OK, I know it’s been on every post this week, but what can I say? The scent is out of this world!
Today? It’s the pods. I’m fascinated with the tons of pods this vine produced this past year. Long, thick, velvety green pods hanging all through the winter. Not one fell off. But with the warmer days came “explosions!” Sounded like little cap guns. (remember those???) The harder-than-wood pods exploded, and seeds went flying, leaving a spiral twisted pod. I’m going to soak and plant a few seeds and see what happens.



55. Megan! A good week with chemo and a fun week with make-up!

56. Prescriptions and God’s grace in providing for me!

57. Baby squirrels playing --- in and out, in and out of their birdhouse home. Now I know where the saying came from about kids being too “squirrelly”!

58. Peppers --- Last year I had an abundance of green peppers, so I sliced them up and froze them for use later on. So glad I did! Today, they were $1.59 EACH. I think I will plant more pepper plants and guard them with my life and baby them through the summer! Who ever thought a stuffed pepper for supper would become so expensive to make?

59. Cawing of two crows at dusk. Can’t really call it a song, can you? But nobody ever told these two that they couldn’t sing!!!! There they are, on top of the highest pine tree, singing to each other their God-given song. I think they are in love!

60. Two cardinals at the feeder. I can hardly see them as the shadows fall into darkness. Always the last to feed at night and always the first to show up for breakfast.

61. Being washed in Heaven’s rain. Whiter than snow. Always available. No cost to me. Cost everything to God. But given in grace, lavishly.

62. Beautiful spring rain throughout the night bringing with it cooler, refreshing springy air.

63. Birds bathing in the new puddles in the driveway. So much fluff and splashing!!!!

64. My play list. Soul-settling music that melts frustrations to where I can “see” what is really in this moment and thank the Lord for it. As I learn to see what is in my moments, that all is from the Lord and given in grace, I’m finding I can at least SEE the futility and waste in the time and effort of being frustrated, up tight, and even downright crabby. When we get the point, that first step, of saying, “this is not worth it,” we can work on it. It’s just a miracle, simply amazing how a simple opening of the clenched hand to receive a gift of the moment can change everything! How did this get from play list to . . . .???? Maybe it’s the first song, “Moment by Moment, I’m kept in His love. . .” Such an old song and not heard much today.

65. The sound of eggs boiling on the stove as they gently hit the sides of the pan. Light blue, white, light brown, tan --- I love the colors ---- Perfect for decorating ---- shades of eggshell brown with a splash of light robin’s egg blue! I can see me now at the paint store with eggshells!

66. A young child teaches me how to pray. How many times now has it been the trusting prayer of a child that has moved me so deeply? Where did it all change --- the moment I thought I had to pray like a “grown-up?” When was that awful moment when I believed the lie that my simple, child-like prayer was not sufficient for God’s ears?

67. More hugs than I could count. A moment of kindness. A forever-imprint on my heart.

68. Songs and hymns that take me back ---- WAAAAY back. Like comfort food for the soul. Sung so many times growing up that I know all the verses. I never tire of them. They never grow old. Only deeper. I thought the hymnbook was boring as I grew up. I wanted the new songs, the new song books. Why is it, now that I’m old, out of date, out of step, and out of breath, I find my hymnbook always next to my Bible? Comfort food -- that’s it. If you are young, you won’t understand. If you are old, you are probably wiping tears like me when you hear, “Be not dismayed what e’er betide, God will take care of you!” Those are weird words when you are young -- “e’er betide” . But when you hear your ninety something year old grandmother singing it with tears running down her cheeks, somehow, “e’er betide” loses it blur and you just know what it means. . .!

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