Promises Kept

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 194: Today, I am grateful for promises kept.

There has been superstition around "Friday the 13th" for generations. I do not really understand it. Still, the idea of "Monday the 13th" makes me giggle. Fridays have a goodness about them that is hard to miss. Mondays mean the work week has just begun. 

Whatever the day brings your way, I hope you coffee (or other morning beverage) is just the way you like it. Remember that you are not alone and that you have important things to contribute. You can do hard things, kind things, and things you do not want to do. 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13

Today, I am grateful for promises kept.

Summer Salsas

 

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 193: Today, I am grateful for summer salsas.

Our favorite Michigan B&B (a.k.a. Craig, Monica & Addy's House) had all kinds of Michigan Cherry Festival goodies available. We were dying to get our hands on Koegel's Pickled Bologna (a Michigan thing and it was waiting for us) but the entire summer is about cherries in Traverse City! We were fortunate to be there for the Cherry Festival with some of our Smith family. Our hosts did not disappoint. 

This cherry salsa was so good. It had a little kick, but not too much. It was great with tortilla chips, but it could be a little splash of flavor anywhere you might use salsa. 

Summer salsas offer so much color and flavor to any meal or snack plate. They are often packed with healthy ingredients. Do not be afraid to try something new. Delight in new experiences. 

“He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.” – Psalm 136:25

Perhaps everything tastes better when it is shared with family and friends.  I think Dr. Seuss would agree that summer salsas are good everywhere you might eat "Green Eggs & Ham." 

Today, I am grateful for summer salsas.

Commitment

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 192: Today, I am grateful for commitment.

It is hard to believe how fast the years go by. I remember when being married almost forty years meant the couple was old. We are not there yet, but it is not far away. I often write in wedding cards that "marriage is a perfect commitment to an imperfect person." I believe that to be true.

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." -1 Peter 4:8

None of us is perfect. Life has beauty and tears. Happy seasons, trials, and plot twists are all part of the story. I am grateful,,, not for a perfect life... but for love that endures, forgives, laughs, and presses on through it all. 

Seeing an elderly couple holding hands always melts my heart. There is a richness in an old and seasoned love that is unique for every pair. They can finish each other's sentences, and sometimes, no words are needed. Just a look or a touch is enough. 

Commitment counts. It is the glue. 

Today, I am grateful for commitment.

Nature Art

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 192: Today, I am grateful for nature art. 

Much of art is having the eyes to see. Art is deeply personal. In my mind, there is a difference between crafting and art but they overlap. It takes a creative mind to look at a pin cone to see an owl, a bird, or a frog. 

The images shown caught my eye. Perhaps it is because I have just read "Theo of Golden" where there are artists of many kinds. It is, also, VBS time and nature art is typically inexpensive and kid friendly. These examples are sweet and new to me. 

The thing about gathering components to create an animal out of sticks, stones, nuts, greens, grasses, and pinecones is that it requires to look at the ordinary with new eyes. I have never looked at a walnut and seen the shape of a frog's head, but some artist did. Art is often the ability to think outside of the box and beyond what others see. 

Our Heavenly Father paints sunsets every night. He sculpted Adam from the earth and His breath brought us to life. He hangs the named and numbered stars in the same way we place our most beloved ornaments artistically on a Christmas tree. 

The most amazing thing to me is that great beauty can follow brokenness. The broken pieces come together in new ways. 

"“Yet, you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” – Isaiah 64:8

Art is more about the heart of any piece than perfection. Embrace the imperfect, the broken, and the restoration found in seeing with fresh eyes. 

Today, I am grateful for nature art. 

Theo of Golden

 Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 190: Today, I am grateful for "Theo of Golden."

"Theo of Golden" was written by Allen Levi. A man with 70 years of life experiences and an artistic soul. The book is full of adjectives, colors, and the decadence of handwritten letters on premium paper. It is that and so much more. 

Life is not always easy. Reflecting on the book, one cannot help but conclude that we are shaped by the things that hurt us, but even more by the things that heal us. 

The book is fictional but the impact of relationships and connectedness is real. It is why I loved growing up in a farming community rich in small towns, history, simple living, and hard work. People who shared what they had with those who had less. They convinced the widow or the elderly that they had "too many eggs" or "too much meat" in the butchering. "It would be a sin for it to go to waste." 

"Theo of Golden" will make you smile, laugh, tear up (not sob), and look for ways to live well. Living well has little to do with wealth. Having enough is good; enough to share makes us rich. 

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." -Hebrews 13:2

If you are traveling this summer, the Audiobook book is great! From the "Verbivore" bookstore's  cantankerous to Ellen of Golden, the characters are rich with many references to great literature, including the greatest book and greatest story of all time. 

Today, I am grateful for "Theo of Golden."

Children's Librarians

 

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 189: Today, I am grateful for children's librarians.

Children's librarians are often the game changers in the quest to teach children the love of reading. I love books and am blessed to call several librarians close friends, two family, and one a Daughter-in-Love. Today is Miss Emma's birthday!

Her love for reading is contagious. In a library there is something for everyone's reading diet and she loves to spark enthusiasm in young readers.

She blesses our community and our family every day. She can be gentle or fierce... as needed. She always makes us smile.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” -Proverbs 31:5

Today, I am grateful for children's librarians... especially Emma.

Favorite Shops

 

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 188: Today, I am grateful for favorite shops.

I love Sutton's Bay, MI. It was so much fun visiting the Old Mission Peninsula on the 4th of July with some of our Michigan family. These cute little dragons keep me coming back. They have the sweetest faces. There are amazing glass items, too.

We have been enough that we know the shops we want to visit and then we try something new, too.

Today, I am grateful for favorite shops.