Long term friends.

Dogs who hang out the back window looking sad on my way to work and then do the same thing again the next day.

An organic egg farm that puts surprise messages inside for the consumer to find.

Sunday afternoon lunch at a local coffee shop with Dad, sister, and husband that included a rousing game of points dominoes.

A sister who encourages me without shaming to kickstart a program to lose all this weight and is partnering beside me to make it happen.

An incredible book to listen to on my pre-dawn walks and the reminder this morning to I John 4:7-8 in every encounter with another human being, whether in person or online or in speaking to others.

I am grateful for things to look forward to and another daughter wedding this year.

I am grateful for a little 4-year-old birthday girl who got to control Mom’s phone during a video call with Ama and took me all through the house to show me this and this and this and this and “I want to see Sam,” and showed me this kid and that kid and this kid and that kid and “Aynjel wants to see Sam,” and showed me this and this and this and this and “Anissa wants to see Sam” and whipped that phone all over the place to give Ama a minor but very happy headache.

I am grateful for simple but profound.

I am grateful for purring at 3:58 am this morning.

I am grateful for Minute Clinics with open appointment times and the medicine that comes with it.

I am grateful for such great discussion with my husband about life matters.

On Sunday during Zoom church, Joyce shared II Timothy 4:1-8 from The Message. She added her thoughts, and what she said resonated with me and has played on my internal jukebox since that morning.

We are His messengers. We are fed on Sunday and we aren’t supposed to just keep it to ourselves. DISPENSE THE MESSAGE.

I am grateful for Joyce thoughts to not keep the message to ourselves.

Doug Baker also shared during that hour about the WOW factor in church. Our pastor, my brother, asked us, “Should “wow factor” have any place in our discernment and decisions about how to worship and serve the Lord?” When we think about “WOW” in church, we often think of big screens, lighting, worship bands, etc. Doug offered a different perspective, however. He equated “wow factors” with Ellene sharing the words to a hymn with him after his wife passed away, or a special children’s sermon from Tony that has stayed with him for a long time, or the sunlight beaming in through the stained glass window when he entered the meeting house one Sunday morning.

I am grateful for Doug thoughts to recognize the wow factors that are evident all around us.

I am grateful to be a part of a Friends Meeting that reaches down deep and touches my soul, grateful to call my brother and sister-in-law our pastors, grateful for the Holy Spirit’s prompting on Sunday mornings.

I am grateful for Betty Daniels and her impact on my life in the short amount of time I knew her. She made a difference to me and I will miss her on Thursday evening piano nights.

I am grateful for hot cinnamon tea.

And I am grateful for II Corinthians 1:6, TLB version and Oswald Chamber’s thoughts: God has comforted us – and this, too, to help you: to show you from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings.

When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.

Oswald Chambers