I am grateful for times of quiet.

I am grateful for sleeping with the window open.

I am grateful for a husband who clears the table after dinner, does all of the dishes, covers me with soft blankets and cares enough to remove my shoes when I am not feeling well.

I am grateful for memories of recess time and art class with Mrs. Bohannan and chocolate milk boxes with thin straws and those little pink pills that showed where we weren’t brushing our teeth very good and Smokey the Bear coloring books and the smell of the band room in junior high and marching at the Fall Festival parade and solo night when our artwork was hung in the hallways and we had to perform for a room full of parents and being afraid of Mr. Murphy the principal, and Miss Meyers’ spelling cards that were on manila cardstock and tied into a little stacked card book with yellow string and reciting part of the Gettysburg Address and having a super clean desk and the awful smell of spinach in vinegar and the wonderful smell of Leona Silver’s cinnamon rolls and awards days and loving recess indoors on rainy days and getting to ride on the bus when Marcy asked me to come home with her to play and the dread of President’s Physical Fitness time in PE.

I am grateful for a new picture every morning of my little pre-schooler with personality +

I am grateful for banana bread with pecans.

I am grateful for the ability to swallow.

I am grateful for a belt to hold my pants up.

I am grateful that I know my faults, or at least am aware of most of them, and they are many.

I am grateful for the ability to envision lovely things, like curling up on the couch with a warm blanket on dreary days like today.

I am grateful that my Mom knew how to mend. Now I wish I had listened when she wanted to teach me…

I am grateful for moments of feeling safe and secure.

I am grateful for Frito pies at a football game.

And I am grateful for worship songs and hymns that make me cry. Like this one: