Like the kid I just saw on his electric scooter whizzing down the street with the wind blowing his blonde hair back and the morning sun shining in his face…

emotions are hitting me as that breeze did his face.

I am grateful today for my boss friend Karen, with the most tender heart who felt my emotions and wanted to help.

I am grateful today for my other boss friend Ken, with the soft heart who needed to share his story that related, so I would know we are not on an island.

I am grateful today for Geri, because she took the time out of her very busy day to email me and give me an update on life in Oklahoma, and she takes time in the mornings to text out her devotions and send to me, because she feels the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do so.

I am grateful today for a husband who never stops dreaming, never stops planning, never stops, period.

I am grateful today for the beautiful home I am privileged to call mine.

I am grateful today for the softest fur, the calmingest purr, the silliest play, the happiest little cat grins during a chin scratch or ear rub, the hilarity of aluminum ball fetch because you’d think they were dogs, and the joy these two bring.

I am grateful today for Brigitte, because she made me feel loved when she included me in a sister conversation about her decision to wear a mask in this small town USA that doesn’t.

I am grateful today to be at work on a day when we should have been on the road enjoying the views of Colorado or Minnesota and points in between. If I have to be disappointed, at least I can be disappointed and do what I love to do at a job I love to have.

I am grateful today for hope when my heart has been broken, for light at the end of a tunnel, for a reminder that the worst thing is never the last thing, for Mom’s voice saying, “This too shall pass.”

I am grateful today that it is Friday and tomorrow is Saturday and I can spend lots of time cleaning.

I know that sounds awful, but cleaning is therapeutic and if anyone needs therapy right now, it’s me.

I am grateful that my husband puts up with my inability to stay on top of things.

I am grateful that our bedroom is on the second floor so I can get some steps in, INside instead of OUTside.

I am grateful that I can do a push-up and a plank.

I am grateful for hoodies and sweats and look so forward to those days again.

I am grateful for Sam’s “brush-it-off” personality this morning in the grocery store. A person he knows nonchalantly but accusingly questioned him about why he was wearing a mask. MY personality was a “why I oughta…” with gritted teeth. I am grateful God is patient with me.

I am grateful for Comet and Pine-Sol and good ‘ol Clorox – the smells of Saturdays back in the ’70’s. Thanks, Mother.

And I am grateful for Banana and Split, but not their claws. Or their hair all over. Especially not both of those things. Our furniture now looks like we have a herd of cats.

Tomorrow is therapy day.

It was January 2012. My life was upside down and I was living one day at a time, shaken and feeling very much on an island.

It was also the first time I had ever celebrated my birthday in Florida, and it was a birthday I will never forget.

We went to visit Aunt Patsy and Uncle Charlie – Mom, Dad, and Sam, helping me to keep my chin up. It was Mom’s last time to go to Florida, her last time to visit her sister and brother-in-law in their home.

So many memories were made those 5 days we were there.

• Poolside early in the mornings, visiting with Uncle Charlie
• Devotions and prayer time around the breakfast table
• Riding bikes with Uncle Charlie, and he was decades older than us but beat us handily
• Getting a tour of the Sponge Capital of the World
• Sitting in their living room and receiving such solid, Biblical wisdom and advice from Aunt Patsy, advice that was covered with love and concern from one injured and broken woman to another
• An impromptu piano concert dual, Aunt Patsy and me, and Uncle Charlie adding some trumpet in the mix, to the delight of Mom, Dad, and Sam
• A surprise birthday party, new white towels that we still have, and a little seagull figurine
• Being Happy Birthday serenaded by Charlie and Patsy in person, rather than on their annual birthday phone calls that always makes me cry and feel so very loved
• Shopping at Bealls, Aunt Patsy’s “place”
• Watching Patsy look adoringly at Charlie from one end of the table to the other, and feeling like we were witnessing a love story
• Spending evenings at the dinner table, singing acapella hymns, all six of us – two hours of tender music with my family was just not enough

Tonight, I wish I could wrap my arms around them both one more time. I am counting on doing that when I see Aunt Patsy again, but Mom will have to hug Charlie for me. He went home this morning…

I can just hear him singing next to Mom tonight. The two of them are louder than everyone else, and there is no one with a bigger grin than Charlie Bruce.

I am so very grateful for Charlie.

I am so very grateful for the many times Uncle Charlie and Aunt Patsy would call and pray for me and for Sam, and they would both be sure to tell us how much they loved us. Charlie always shared scripture and words of wisdom and we never doubted he was petitioning our needs to God in prayer.

I am so very grateful I had the privilege of calling him my Uncle.

I am so very grateful I will see him again one day…

I am grateful for clean clothes that smell good.

That makes me grateful for dryer sheets and good smelling laundry detergent.

I am grateful for green lawns with tree shade that creates ever-changing patterns for me to look at from my 2nd story window all day long.

That makes me grateful for sunshine that creates shade.

In God’s garden of grace, even a broken tree can bear fruit. – Rick Warren

I am grateful for sleeping cats so that I can get some work done instead of the constant get-them-out-of-my- face with their purring need for attention.

I am grateful for productivity.

That makes me grateful for a pen to cross off all the things which brings on the feeling of satisfaction.

I am grateful for inner pain twinges that happen because of change. They remind me to grasp and cling, trust, and obey.

“Growing in grace is all about transformation—becoming more like Me. I never change: I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. So you are the one who needs to change—to be molded increasingly into My likeness. This is a glorious adventure and an awesome privilege! Yet it is also painful at times. Change always involves some loss, and it can trigger anxiety. The remedy is to cling to My hand—walking with Me in trusting dependence along the path I’ve prepared for you. My Word is a lamp to your feet and a light for your path.” —Jesus Today by Sarah Young

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” —Hebrews 13:8 NKJV

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” —Psalm 119:105

I am grateful for night lights.

I am grateful for focus, especially when I have none.

I am grateful for quiet sounding cars, trucks, motorcycles, and dishwashers.

I am grateful for corn on the cob, tonight’s dinner.

And I am grateful for a husband who loves ice cream and is far too kind and compassionate. Those two things do not have anything to do with each other, other than the fact that both can add a certain “weight” and both make him that much more lovable.

May the words coming from my fingers
and the thought and focus of my heart
be acceptable in Your sight, Lord,
my Rock and my Redeemer.

I need more of both, that’s for sure.

Today, I am grateful for thunderstorms and AirBnb guests from Delaware who were fascinated by Kansas lightning.

I am grateful for God’s grace as I slip and slide along my spiritual journey.

I am grateful for insight and wisdom that is gained as I learn Biblical context.

I am grateful for laughter with my daughter on the phone this afternoon.

I am grateful for cat hair that seems to be everywhere. It reminds me I really need to do a better job of cleaning, but it also reminds me how blessed I am to have two cats who keep me entertained.

I think it is kind of funny that as tired as I get of cleaning, I am now cleaning multiple houses and many times a week, thanks to wonderful people who are traveling out here past small town USA and need a place to stay. I am certain Mom is giggling and God is smirking.

I am grateful for Winchester Friends.

I am grateful for the anticipation that I know my Dad must be feeling right alongside me…of actually having REAL MLB baseball back and the first Royals game to watch in a VERY. LONG. TIME.

I am grateful that I lost my hearing aid, because now I know how much I need it.

I am grateful for a little granddaughter who reminds her mama and her Ama of Gma Ferguson – her nickname is Grandma, and she likes to choose the Grandma when she is playing with little dolls. She makes us all laugh and laugh and laugh, just like Grace.

I am grateful that the twinge of sadness is still there when I think of my mom. I wish I could just call her today and say, “Let’s go, Roy-als!”

And I am grateful for my husband who gets up early and meets me on 3rd street in the sprinkles and breeze as I walk, before the light of day.