We are, after all, your people
    and the sheep of your very own pasture.
We will give you thanks forever;
    we will proclaim your praises
    from one generation to the next. – Psalm 79:13 CEB

I am grateful today for warmth. The entire town was without gas yesterday due to debris in the line, and it was a cold, cold night.  It made me very grateful for an electric heater that took some of the chill out of the air while we were awake and project-ing in the evening. It also made me very grateful for good blankets on our bed.

I am very grateful for the 26 Kansas Gas Service technicians who had to come to every home and business in town, 950 according to their website, to re-light pilot lights. Our KGS angel arrived at 6:30 am and he said it had been a very long night.

I am grateful for a working boiler and radiators that heat this home very quickly, for warm water again, for a microwave oven that made a great baked potato since the restaurants were shut down last night, for a pressure cooker that made perfect green beans to go along with the baked potato, and for electricity to power it all.

I am grateful that I do not live in the Alaskan tundra. Nice place to visit, but I’m certain I am far better off in small town USA and the luxuries of living the civilized life.

I am grateful for friends who are skilled artisans who were not friends at first but have become friends because they are skilled artisans, we needed them, and they are kind and friendly. They are making our home of our dreams. The latest friend to drive five hours west, did this yesterday with some beautiful polished granite:

I am grateful that we still have an intact bumper and the deer with the rack stayed in the ditch last night.

I am grateful that I rarely have to drive at night.

I am grateful for the opportunity to listen to a couple of country groups that I had never heard before, thanks to the CMA Awards on TV last night while we stained a vanity in the middle of the great room. A lot of the music I could throw out the window, but Brothers Osborne and Eric Church…wowzers. And Carrie Underwood singing “Softly and Tenderly” was perfection. And Little Big Town and “Wichita Lineman” – loved it. And then there’s always Chris Stapleton, the guy who made me re-think country. Yes, former students, I am admitting I have caved. I have crossed over, with a pinky toe maybe, but I have crossed over.

I am grateful that Sam says “squarsh.” Or maybe you spell it “sqwarsh.” However it is spelled, he makes me laugh at 6 am.

So finally, I am also grateful for laughter before the day ever begins.