Gift List
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moreToo Much
On Tuesday, March 20 th, 2007I am looking for little things: Dabs of snow tissue comforting window panes in howling winds The blue of the snow as it meets the twilit grey sky Soap suds, warm and frothy, licking fingersThe shine of pots, reflected in bubblesDrip, drip, dripping of snow melting on eaves The dance of flames in the hearth.The whistle of the kettle,Wrapping hands around warm mu...
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moreI know
On Tuesday, January 30 th, 2007This has been one of our Morning Gathering poems this past week. The line keeps lilting softly throughout my hours: “Who kissed you through the dark, dear guesser?”I don’t have to guess. I know His name. Just as He knows mine. And ‘His embrace slides down by thrills, through all things made.’ So I keep writing the 1000 gifts list… and may nev...
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moreHe is Near: Give Thanks
On Monday, January 29 th, 2007“We give thanks because You are near.” ~ Psalm 75:1 741.the cool of Gatorade on parched throats742. Tylenol to douse fever’s flames743. Crisp sheets sliding over aching bones744. Soft mattress, pile of pillows 745. Hot,deep baths746. Hope: “Mama’s sick, Shalom. I will hold you. Let’s go get a cracker.”747. Freezer full of easy applesauce for se...
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moreGift List: A Way of Seeing
On Saturday, January 13 th, 2007Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them. ~Leo Tolstoy 711. That Kai and Shalom always hold hands when they sit side by side in the van712. family day trips—we are all together out exploring!713. when Darryl shows me the way the tiles run in the fields we drive past714. boys lined up, flexing muscles, to see if they can bea...
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moreHeart Warmers
On Wednesday, December 27 th, 2006Sewing up corn warmers this afternoon, and smiling with gratitude for the gifts: 701. Hope reading Dr. Seuss stories to Shalom in the rocker until she fell asleep (one less little set of fingers to touch sewing machine buttons) 702. Caleb carrying in a pail of corn from the bin 703. Hope carefully filling bags full of corn 704. Levi’s lips pursed in c...
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moreGift Day: The Giver is Greater
On Monday, December 25 th, 2006I bow down… and worship the King. For the Giver is greater than the sum of all His gifts. 589 the way a child cleans out the last of the bowl590 the feel of Darryl’s hair between my fingers as I stroke away the day’s stress591 working as a team with Darryl to accomplish a task592 rocking a sick big child on my lap—to hold them as they are little fo...
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Grumble to Gratitude
On Friday, December 15 th, 2006God uses the the stories that are slipped into my inbox to teach me much… like this one. So much wisdom. Dear Ann,I found your blog a month or so ago and accepted the challenge to log 1000 gifts. I’m up to 741! After the first hundred or so, I wondered what I’d gotten myself into. However, as the days go by, I find myself mentally keeping track of th...
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The Feast
On Wednesday, December 13 th, 2006For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves,we are all of usfrom birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread.The sun, the earth, love, friends,our very breathare parts of the banquet….Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host,and to find out something of Himwho has fed us so long?~Rebecca Harding Davis457. brown eggs...
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moreOn Monday, December 04 th, 2006
Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live. ~ Jackie Windspear Up to #457…. 25 more days to write over 500 gifts… Can I do it? Ahhh…. but thinking on His daily Graces is a way to live…. Snippets : ~living on a gravel road, potholes and dust~the softness of lint~the feel of worn deni...
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moreUse the Blessings
On Monday, November 27 th, 2006Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser
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moreLife Gift: Wrung Out
On Monday, November 27 th, 2006A note left in my inbox, from the very wise Elise of Joy in the Morning …. words I don’t want to forget, but scratch on my heart: “[Thinking on our life as gift] is so timely, as we come into a season that tends to be full of “what I want”. I try to remind myself of life as gift when there is a spill on the carpet, or marks on the...
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moreThe Gift: Use it
On Saturday, November 25 th, 2006There are some gifts I have unwrapped, like that glass reindeer salt and pepper shaker set from a most kind uncle who shall, out of respect, remain nameless, over which I have smiled sweetly, expressed genuine gratitude…. and quietly set a storage room shelf in the basement, never to use. I can receive a gift, accept a gift, acknowledge the gift, be thank...
