Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 105: Today, I am grateful for a sense of humor.

Does God have a sense of humor? Well, we are told that God created man in his own image. Babies laugh. They do not need to be taught. It is a reflex to something they find funny.

"So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." -Genesis 1:27

This quote made me giggle: "When God created ducks, He said, "Waterproof that chicken and give it a kazoo." That's funny!

Shelley - I know you are going to hear the "kazoo" in the next duck you hear. (Love you!)

Today, I am grateful for a sense of humor.

Beauty from Ashes

 

Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 104: Today, I am grateful for the beauty from ashes.

"Satan loves to take what's beautiful and ruin it. God loves to take what is ruined and make it beautiful."

The battle for our souls is real. The enemy of our soul wants us to feel ugly, broken, and unloved. He wants us to feel ruined.

Like the Japanese art of kintsugi, repairing broken pottery with gold, silver, or platinum... it becomes more beautiful in its broken, mended places at the touch of the Master's hand.

As a little girl, I fell in love with "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams. I think it is where I first discovered that children's literature could speak great truth.

“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit.

'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'

'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'

'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”
― Margery Williams Bianco, The Velveteen Rabbit

You can never be ugly again. That is how we are loved. He wants to trade beauty for ashes. 

"To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory." - Isaiah 61:3

Be brave. Be real. Be willing to "make the trade."

Today, I am grateful for the beauty from ashes.

Matthew

Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 103: Today, I am grateful for Matthew.

A picture of the two of us is rare, so I had to share it. Happy Birthday, little brother! I am so grateful he came along.

I am grateful for all of the seasons we have shared. Each one has its sweetness and its sorrows. We have known the simple joys of being raised in the dirt with plenty of trees to climb, and creeks to explore.

We grew up with the intoxicating fragrance of grain falling from the auger into a wagon and the scent of rain as it hits the thirsty soil in the summer heat. We can spot the clouds that look like trouble when the conditions are right for a tornado, especially in the spring. We've spent winter nights listening to the cold winds shake the house. We grew up with "old wives tales" and "farmer sayings" and have found them to often ring with truth. We would not change a thing.

He was in 6th grade when I graduated from High School and went off to college. I blinked and he was a man... and a good one. How swiftly the years pass by! I am grateful for every one... even the hard ones, because we learned together what matters most.

I love you little brother. Wishing you many more trips around the sun.

"Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13

Today, I am grateful for Matthew.

Mama Ina Mae's Wisdom

 

Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 102: Today, I am grateful for Mama's wisdom.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Mama! I miss you.  

April, Matthew, and I had the most patient, wise and loving soul on the planet as our Mama. She was gentle, but it only too a look when Dad stepped out of line. Those who knew them know exactly what I mean. "Kenneth!" meant he was really in trouble. 

She used to say, "Learn something new every day." She was a slow reader but what she read she retained. She knew her Bible. She loved owning her own "Strong's Concordance" so she could better study The Word. She studied healing plants from the earth, before it was "cool." I wish I had written down more. 

I sure miss her light and her life. I am so grateful she is dancing, singing, and playing music in Heaven. 

The sermon today talked about the Holy Spirit and she was full of it. She was always a good girl, but when she said her best "yes" it was to Jesus... her life became a living sacrifice.  

She loved my Dad with every beat of her heart... even when he was in the dog house. She loved us... including and maybe especially... Randy and Jennifer without reservation. There were no "in-laws".. only "in-love." 

We did not have to earn Mama's love. It was as steady and warm as the sun. She loved the title of "Grandma" best, and loved practicing on her great nieces and nephews.  Brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.. each one was special in her sight. 

She was a "love not judge" kind of girl. She chose wisely and with intention. 

"So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy." -Proverbs 23:25

Today, I am grateful for Mama's wisdom and her example of love. 

Wild Vines

Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 101: Today, I am grateful for wild vines. 

Wisteria is a bit of a mystery to me. Is it a tree, a bush, or a wild vine? For us, it has always been a surprise from bird droppings. I love it. 

It is strong, wild, and beautiful. If controlled, it can be spectacular shade. We are watching the rehab of an old building in Italy where they are trying to save the wisteria. I understand their desire. It is gorgeous. 

I wonder if that is how God sees us at times? Strong, wild, and beautiful. I hope so. That might explain his patience and abiding love, even when we do the things we know we should not do. 

He allows consequences... some of them are hard... but I wonder if he relishes in us "submitting our lives to him as a living sacrifice" not only because His ways are always better for us... but because he designed the very part of us that wants to be wild and free in our own strength. Submission of our will and handing Him our hearts is evidence that we are choosing him back. 

He knows our minds and our hearts. 

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." -Romans 12:1-2 

Be like wisteria... strong, wild and free, but submit to the Master Gardener's Hand. 

Today, I am grateful for wild vines. 

Soughing

Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 100: Today, I am grateful for soughing. 

It is pronounced “sowing." Soughing is defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as “the high or low long sound that something such as the wind or ocean makes as it moves.” 

We hear it often on the prairie... in the Spring and in the Fall. The whooshing tests the branches after the Winter's sleep. Some break and blow away. Others break forth with new life. I delight in the color of new leaves. 

The soughing of the wind through the trees is common this time of year. It is one of those times we are faced with a choice. Do we find it exhausting? Or, do we choose to listen to it like a melody. If I am not forced to fight the car door, I will choose the melody? 

"The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” -John 3:8

Who can explain the wind? Who can explain what it means to be born of the Spirit? You have to experience them. You have to be in the right place at the right time to hear the soughing. 

To be Born of the Spirit, you need only invite Him in.

Today, I am grateful for soughing and the Spirit.

The Flowers Off the Paved Road.

 

Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 109: Today, I am grateful for the flowers off the paved road. 

"Normality is a paved road. It's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow." -Vincent van Gogh

What a fun quote. The paved roads are usually the easier path, but it is not always the best. Normal is overrated, right?  

The way that is comfortable is not always the best way. I like the flowers. 

"And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?" -Luke 12:28

Enjoy the beauty of this day. 

Look for the flowers. You might have to leave the easy path to find the beauty. 

Today, I am grateful for the flowers off the paved road.