Eating lunch with a friend. Trying to do a decent day’s hard work. Hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize Him. – Frederick Buechner

I am grateful for the little gifts from God that really are the big gifts from God.

I am grateful for a free ice cream social at lunch time today, even though I did not partake.

I am grateful that I refrained from partaking in the ice cream social right outside our office door.

I am grateful for a WalMart associate named Ria. She had the prettiest, sweetest smile today and her parents taught her to make eye contact when speaking kindly to anyone and everyone. I witnessed it, and I was the recipient.

I am grateful for the delight in seeing a cat’s paw bat at a string.

I am grateful for the pleasant memories of Sneakers waking the family up in the middle of the night as he hopped up onto the piano keys.

I am grateful for the laughter generated when Ruska chased Panther and then Panther chased Ruska. And when Fifi chased Sneakers and then Sneakers chased Fifi.

I am grateful for hilarious dog and cat names.

I am grateful for the beautiful big feelings of hearing a cat purr.

I am grateful for cats who find empty boxes and brown paper bags and beams from a flashlight or a red laser pointer and know how to use them for fun.

I am grateful for cats who fall asleep on laps and create a warm living blanket.

I am grateful for a chauffeur driver who stood outside the office door waiting on his passenger, because this man knows how to dress. Crisp suit, tie, and a sharp silver fedora. He was a great distraction this afternoon from a monotonous day.

And I am grateful for this devotion from Dad’s book today:

But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. – Colossians 3:14

In his book on auditioning for Broadway, director Michael Shurtleff tells actors to consider every scene in a play “a love scene.” It’s not that every scene is romantic. But every scene has emotion, and our core emotion is love. “The desire for love, to give it or receive it…is the chief propellant in human beings,” wrote Shurtleff. “An actor had best learn that.”

We’d best all learn that. Every experience in life is a love scene, and Christians are to love as Jesus loves. The Bible speaks of putting on love like a garment. Colossians 3:14 (NLT) says, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love.” It’s a cloak we never remove. Since the Bible uses this symbol, why not take a moment and visualize it. Look at the clothes you’re wearing today. Think of them as radiating love. Think of yourself as wearing the invisible threads of love, doing good, meeting needs, shedding offenses, showing compassion, projecting friendliness. That’s the uniform of the Christian.

I am grateful for memories of raking the gold shag carpet on Saturdays and making it look perfect.

I am grateful for memories of getting a shot at the doctor which led to Mom taking me to the fish store to get a new angelfish for the aquarium since I didn’t cry.

I am grateful for weeds to pull which takes me outside and offers me a little exercise.

I am grateful for early mornings at work to get a head start on the day.

I am grateful for memories of chapel videos at CBA. This had to be one of my favorites. It’s long, but if you can play it while you do something else this morning and just listen…wow.  Wow. Wow. Wow.

And I am grateful for quiet early mornings at work when I am all alone and can listen to Louie Giglio while I work and be brought to tears at the majesty and magnificence of God and His attention to detail in creation and the brilliance and awe of laminin.

I am grateful this morning that I woke up.

I am grateful this morning for time in the stillness and quietness of the new day to sit and pray and reflect and enjoy.

I am grateful when devotions scream, I mean gently nudge, at me:

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass by you in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

Learn to enjoy life more. Relax, remembering that I am God with you. I crafted you with enormous capacity to know Me and enjoy My Presence. When My people wear sour faces and walk through their lives with resigned rigidity, I am displeased. When you walk through a day with childlike delight, savoring every blessing, you proclaim your trust in Me, your ever-present Shepherd. The more you focus on My Presence with you, the more fully you can enjoy life. Glorify Me through your pleasure in Me. Thus you proclaim My Presence to the watching world.

I am grateful for the conviction and reminder that I should be filling my mind with the positive and not the negative. In this political climate we are once again entering, I want to focus on those who are sharing hope, not despair. I want to listen to my pastor who shares hope and grace and love, not those who dwell on the adverse and destruction of morality and offer little in the way of Jesus and his love. I want to be around people who do not spread negativity, who do not complain, who speak to make the day better. I am grateful for the reminder to count. every. last. thing. Even the seemingly normal and mundane.

So, once again, I am grateful this morning that I woke up.

I am grateful for Johnny Cueto.

I am grateful for the ability to type, even though I never learned correctly.

I am grateful for Nutty Bars.

I am grateful for the wisdom of a homeless person, that it’s a great day if you woke up this morning. I have four extra books if anyone would like to read this powerful story.  My gift to you. Just let me know.

I am grateful for new plasticware. Not a word. I am grateful for new storage containers.

I am grateful for paper hand towels to dry my hands and to use while opening the door to leave the restroom which is what I will be doing from now on after witnessing ANOTHER seemingly professional woman finish her business and exit the restroom without ever glancing at the sink. Paper hand towels are my new bathroom best friend.

I am grateful for restraint.

I am grateful for delicate flowers in late summer.

I am grateful for Delmar’s Demo. My Dad has been so helpful with our latest project.

I am grateful for Sam’s advice to “let the Johnson come out and put the Ferguson on the backburner for a while.”

I am grateful for my job.

I am grateful for meteor showers.

And I am grateful for the sound of cicadas and crickets just outside the window, a good sleeping sound.

I am grateful today:

1. for a beautiful cool day yesterday to enjoy a walk around Lake Dillon.

1. for a sweet little cafe to enjoy breakfast on the patio with a cool breeze, a warm sun, and a husband who is relaxed.
2. for the simple pleasure of watching a fisherman catch a trout in the rushing creek.
3. for conversation with a young sales girl who aspires to become a snowboarding pro.
4. for an unplanned vacation that makes every day a new adventure.
5. for another experience, this time finding the hotel in downtown Denver, only to discover that parking would cost $34 and arriving just in time for the hotel to be evacuated for an emergency.
6. for more firsts, eating on a patio on 16th street, watching as a young man fell into the street from sitting on the curb, completely wasted and clad only in a pair of shorts and socks; watching from a distance as another young man offered his hand to help him up and back onto the curb, staying with him and calling for an ambulance.
7. for the blessing this morning of an unexpected parking fee of $54, only to be waived by a kind parking lot supervisor.
8. for GPS on this tablet that helped navigate our way to and from the chaos of downtown Denver streets.
9. for the most pleasant McDonalds in Castle Rock, credit being given to the local owner/operator family who insists on friendly and well-dressed staff and offering the best fast food experience possible.
10. for the beauty of eastern Colorado valleys in a quiet car ride.
11. for the thrill of seeing a random air show rehearsal as we drove by on I-70.

1. for this book that brings me to tears and makes it very difficult to read out loud.
2. for clean restrooms along the yellow brick road.
3. for anticipation of Sunday’s message and being back home and in my own church.

What a beautiful day for a drive to Aspen.

I am grateful for a two hour drive that turned into three because of tunnel work. We sat on I-70 and enjoyed Dad’s book, me reading out loud to Sam in the stillness of the morning, before getting out of the car to peek over the edge and enjoy the water below, and then visiting with the California guy in the pickup just ahead of us.

I am grateful for this book that has made us both choke up a bit as we read it together. I am grateful for the profound wisdom of a homeless man…

I am grateful that I am not an Aspen person, although it was very entertaining to see how the privileged live.

I am grateful for a drive without the radio but with a sunroof and with a little AC for the warm sunshine that melted the chocolate in my purse.

I am grateful for the symmetry of towering pines.

I am grateful for the sound of a babbling brook.

I am grateful for my husband who intentionally walks street side and holds my hand as we meander.

I am grateful for deep conversation last night with friends, and I am grateful that they too struggle to know the answers in this ever-changing world, but I am also grateful that good friends share their faith in Jesus and their desire to serve Him and the younger generation.

And I am grateful for a few more days to just enjoy life in Colorado.

I am grateful today for the time to sit in this cozy living room, hearing the birds singing outside.

I am grateful today for the beauty of a mountain covered in pines, with a brilliant blue sky backdrop and lazy clouds floating by.

I am grateful today for a cool morning to relax and enjoy and soak in the many gifts that I so often overlook.

I am grateful today for the problems in my life, because today I am once again reminded how minuscule those problems really are, and I am reminded that they make life interesting and allow me the room to grow and to depend.

I am grateful today for memories made yesterday, for our friends Julie and David, for laughter, for tired legs after hiking, for a room to return to after a full day.

I am grateful today for new friends.

I am grateful today for  an absence of technology, with the exception of this computer, of course. I am grateful that the TV is not blaring, the cell phone is not being used, and I can sit in quiet and appreciate the silence.

I am grateful today for songs that are filling my mind. Two choral songs from years past – The Majesty and Glory of Your Name by Fettke, and How Can I Keep From Singing? by Lowry. I did these with my choirs, and God has placed them back into play in my internal jukebox this morning.

And I am grateful today for this song, another one that will accompany me throughout the day:

I had this dream in the night. It was so real, I could smell the sweetness. In it, I was in the car following a rendering truck and soaking in the aroma that it left in its wake.

Funny how you dream craziness when you sleep craziness.

We left the beauty of western Kansas and tried to catch up to a glorious eastern Colorado thunderstorm, both of us perfectly happy and delirious in our adventure, opting to continue driving into the evening rather than stop in a tiny Colorado town and it’s no-tell motel. However, we had neglected to charge this tablet yesterday before we left on the trip, and therefore, we were down to single digit battery life, so we turned it off and decided to just check in to a hotel willy nilly when we arrived in the Springs shortly before midnight.

Not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier…but we sure were having a good time on the adventure.

“We’re sorry. All sold out tonight.”

“So sorry. No vacancies this evening.”

And then… “There isn’t a room available in the Springs area. Or Manitou. Or Pueblo. Or Woodland Park…” So, this morning, I am grateful for cheap pillows and $2 blankets from WalMart.

I am grateful for a clean and single restroom at the Loaf & Jug convenience store where I could wash my face and brush my teeth in private.

I am grateful for a relatively empty parking lot to park the car and sleep for a few hours.

I am grateful for seats that recline.

I am grateful for the laughter Sam and I have had over this unplanned and slightly inconvenient adventure.

I am grateful for happy waitresses at The Hungry Bear who made us smile in our foggy car-slept haze.

I am grateful for a family who walked in to the same restaurant wearing their Royals t-shirts and told us about yesterday’s game.

I am grateful for a sunroof this morning to enjoy the mountain air as we make our way up the Pass.

And I am grateful that we will have a bed tonight.

I am grateful for small town western Kansas that makes a drive so interesting.

I am grateful for my husband, who travels leisurely and doesn’t speed, enjoying the drive rather than hurrying to get there, who makes a U-turn so that I can take a picture of a funny sign in Leoti.

And I am grateful for funny signs in Leoti that make me think of my Dad.

Happy birthday, Katrina Beth. I have always loved your name. It’s spunky and fun, but sensitive and sweet. It fits who you are.

I love talking to you on the phone. I could listen to your stories about your daily adventures and Parker and Reilly and ups and downs and your philosophy on life and current events and love of movies and tv shows and hear your laughter and sense your pain…and wish there was never an end to the conversation.

I love how you are passionate about your calling in life. You have accepted this ministry of reaching out to young people, of partnering with your husband, of opening your home to any and all, with such a grace and a compassion that is an example for the rest of us to follow. You sacrifice in order to serve. You teach your little girls what it means to live on less in order to fully live.

I love the memories you have given to me over the years. Some of my greatest joys in this life have been to sit in the stands and watch you play volleyball, or basketball, or softball, or run track, or play tennis with your sister. Or to listen to you surrounded by your many friends around the kitchen table as you laughed and played board games into the wee hours of the morning.

I held your tiny hand in mine 30 years ago, loving you as my new baby girl, and today, so many miles away, I am holding your hand in my heart, still my baby girl, and loving you 30 years even more.

I am so proud of the woman you are and so honored to call you my daughter.

You are my grateful today and every day, Katrina Beth. I love you tons.