Tuesday Ten

I'm taking a moment out of my week to list ten things for which I am thankful.



1. Coffee, ready and waiting for me when I stumble downstairs in the morning. Jim, being a night owl, works late into the night on his class work, and before he comes to bed in the middle of the night he sets the coffee maker so that I don't have to fumble with it when I get up.


 
2. Grocery stores. Last night we watched a show about people who live within the Arctic Circle. The extreme lengths to which these people go in order to simply have food to eat are astounding. What they end up eating is, in many respects, revolting, (sorry- it really, really is). I'm so very glad to be able to live in a place where food is available without risk to life and limb.


 
3. Forsythia. There's gold in them thar hills! And the yards, and along the roads, and in the landscaping!


 
4. Thriving vinca growing where we planted it in the renovated area of the back yard last year! While the sun was shining- ever so briefly- yesterday, I went out to pull the weeds that were thriving above the intended plants. As I labored over the weeds I found that the vinca was not merely where we'd planted it, it had new growth and was blooming with little lavender colored flowers. After all the hard work we put into developing that space last year it is a relief to see that it may be sustainable after all.


 
5. Spring Break from schoolwork. (Insert relieved sigh here.)


 
6. Nathaniel's safety and the blessing of technology which allows us to keep in closer touch with him. Saturday was a devastating day for many in North Carolina as more than 60 tornadoes ripped across the state. Ft. Bragg was not immune to the forces of nature, and was also hit. Our son was safe throughout, and is now participating in recovery efforts.


 
7. The gradual approach of Spring. It seems too gradual at times, and I would certainly like to have more than one sunny day per week, but it is coming. God's timing may not match my impatience, but His faithfulness assures us of the certainty of the return of each season in its turn.


 
8. An injury-free return to running.


 
9. Spring cleaning. Cleaning out the closets, discarding things unneeded, repurposing things neglected, reorganizing those things we will keep, and ending with one really clean room after another has been refreshing.


 
10. Reconciliation with God my Father, accomplished for me by Christ my Lord on the Cross, and applied to me by the Holy Spirit, who now, through the lifelong process of Sanctification, is "spring cleaning' my heart, mind, and soul. We'll be celebrating Easter this weekend, and I'm so very blessed to know that it is not about a bunny or multi-colored eggs, but rather, it is about the spotless Lamb of God who died that I might live. In light of such a great salvation, the first nine on this list pale in comparison as merely temporal blessings. My gratitude for the little things is genuine, yet without the greater blessing of the Cross they would be meaningless. 

Praise be to God, who gives light and meaning to even the simplest of blessings.