There is just the three of us and  the sand between our toes. And always the sky.

She walks on one side of me, the woman who gave birth to me, and then her on the other, the girl I gave birth to, almost now a woman. They walk and watch and I don’t think of myself as a bridge, only that I am here, and the waves, that they are loud and in us, a witnessing.

“This is what I can’t get over.” Mama turns to me, her hair white as the crashing and the breaking, as water’s lace hemming along sand. “I can’t get over the constant rising and falling…. in and out… ebb and flow.”

Always here no matter where we are, this swelling surf, the rising and falling and slipping away, and us all like shells, echoing an ocean, Home and Him reverberating along our walls.

When Hope stands beside mama, when time does this ebb and flow, day upon day, carving younger into older, when the starfish curl still, waiting for the rise of the world’s water and the bald eagle swoops, a kite, over wind twisted trees, a span of wings and serenity, this is what I can’t get over.

Nowhere does He leave Himself without witness, nowhere a space that doesn’t bear testimony, earth and sky and water a bridge from the now-tarnished glory to the then-perfected glory, and only for a moment, I am here, the pounding of my heart, a relentless applause of thanks…

Here and now an awakening —  a witnessing.
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“In Edward’s worldview, the Creator planted these figments of Himself and His truth in creation to stimulate the faith of making.

Wherever one looked — roses, the sea, silworms, or serpents — one found the hand and mind of God…

Perhaps the best way to apply the doctrine of God’s goodness is to live a perpetually thankful life (1 Thess. 5:18). In doing so we will honor Him who gave His Son for us — the greatest expression of mercy and kindness the world has ever known.”

~Jonathan Edwards on Beauty

#2517… -#2531 of hunting for  the grace of God in the Moment…more of the One Thousand Gifts that never end…

sand between toes

how both of their hair moves in the wind

Spurgeon’s morning and evening devotions

Mama snoring

knitting stores found on back streets

Scrabble at twilight

emails from old friends

Hope laying her head on my shoulder and falling asleep

Mama-made s’mores

singing hymns on long walks

crows calling early

the way tears wash hard places clean

waiting for low tide

lingering long at the edge, listening to waves….

Just this:

 

Or listen to the song here {Music player can be paused right under the header?}

Related Resources:
Free Printable: June’s Gratitude Calendar
Free Printable: 7 Gifts Good & Perfect : A Weekly Gratitude booklet (find folding instructions for booklet here)
And from the archives: How to {help} Raise Grateful Kids : A Primer for the Summer

Today, if you’d like to share your own marking towards One Thousand Gifts of thanks, of making your life about thanks to God — (please, jump in!) — just add the direct URL to your specific 1000 gift list post… and if you join us, we humbly ask that you please help us find each other by sharing the community’s graphic within your post.