Warm weather thanks...

While the rest of the country swelters, we are just now having summer weather.

Oregon takes the calendar literally, the bulk of the month of June is still spring with it's rainy weather.

Summer hits in earnest often after the fourth of July.

This year the fourth was mild, cool enough for a light sweater, but still lovely enough to have a backyard barbecue.

By week's end the weather turned warmer, and it finally feels like summer.

When something is rare and comes and goes quickly, it must be savored.

I'm savoring these summer days.

But, oh, isn't life itself a rare and beautiful thing, and oh so fleeting?

Shouldn't each ordinary moment be noticed, savored, and given thanks for?

-Morning's first cup of coffee.

-Fresh strawberries.

-Sitting in the sun on the front porch steps with sweet blonde, blue-eyed three year old granddaughter, her sitting on my lap, making up stories together.

-Seven month old granddaughter with her little pig tails.

-Homemade ice cream.

-Going for a run.

-Talking to my brother on his birthday.

-A picnic by the river with the Hubs.

-Creating.

-Learning new things.

-Talking to my daughter and grandkids in Ghana.

-Cool summer salad with grilled chicken eaten outdoors.

The list of things to be thankful for goes on and on.

We only need eyes to see.

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I’ve taken the Joy Dare.

I’m counting one thousand thanks in one year.

I hunt for thanksgiving using the prompts Ann gives us each month.

If you are interested in joining in, click the link above or at the bottom of this post.

I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my little black journal…

#2075-#2098

3 gifts loved-

-worshipping with my church family

-good friends

-my Hubs, my three daughters, my son-in-laws, my grandbadies

3 gifts read-

-Always Enough by Rolland and Heidi Baker

-the book of Revelations-reading it repeatedly the last couple of months, journaling everything it reveals about Jesus

-my favorite magazines

a gift in faith-

-casting my care on Him in prayer

a gift in family-

-a call from my girl in Ghana and my grand babies

a gift in freedom-

-thank God that we are still able to worship freely in America

a gift in red-

-strawberry-rhubarb crisp

a gift in white-

-homemade vanilla ice cream

a gift in blue-

my hydrangeas

3 gifts of persistence-

-my two youngest granddaughters, God's miracle after 10 years of infertility, and prayer, prayer, prayer

-my daughter in Ghana, her life long desire

-still praying and believing that Mama's last prayers, that not one of her descendants would be lost, will be answered

3 gifts of enthusiasm-

-wholehearted worship

-little granddaughter playing tag and chasing me around the backyard, giggling the whole time

-the Hubs thinking everything I cook is "the best!"

a gift of challenge-

-our church building project on the home stretch

a gift of conflict-

-relationships, whether marriage, family, friendship, or church all involve working THROUGH conflict, not walking away, but caring enough to work it out

a gift of change-

-praying with someone older than me, but who still wants God to change them

3 gifts water-

-a picnic by the river

-cold bottle of water on a hot afternoon

-the sound of the sprinklers in the backyard

Gratefully yours,

Elizabeth