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Hugging God…….Thirty things I’m thankful for

25 Nov

I once read that blessings are a hug from God and counting your blessings is giving God a hug back. I had a challenge earlier this month to daily write one thing that I am thankful for until Thanksgiving day arrived.   I have been faithful to that challenge but once I started writing them I began thinking of so many things, so I decided to add to my daily list by listing thirty random things.  Here we go:

 

  1. baby squirrels- Apparently these little guys are quite the popular internet search…and because I posted one little photo of a cute little baby squirrel in February, my blog gets a great number of hits daily just to look at my little squirrel. It is a great confidence booster when I look at my visitor numbers… I’m thankful that they help keep my blog alive.  I will definitely be embarrassed if I find out that “Baby Squirrel” is some rapper’s name or something like that
  2. creativity- I’m a person who loves to create…. whether it be a story or a sculpted caricature of someone….It is what I love to do… I’m thankful for a creative Creator and amazed at what He created
  3. gloves- don’t have to touch things that are yucky if I don’t want….
  4. crocs- the heavenly shoe of the wide-footed human like me… cavemen would have loved them…
  5. my parents-  by example they taught me how to work through arguments, dance, laugh, love each other and love God and church….
  6. my husband- he makes me laugh, is a great dad, incredibly dependable and is just an all around great husband…
  7. my children- such a great gift to be called “Mom”… they bring an unexpected joy… even when they are old enough to roll their eyes at you.
  8. bug spray- genius invention…. Take that, Mr. Mosquito!
  9. grace- thankful that I don’t get what I deserve…. because I can never do enough to get the good portion of deserving  all by myself….
  10. the alphabet- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz…. may be a lot of them but thankful there are no ~ or ` or other symbols over the tops of them….
  11. medicine- had I been living 2000 years ago, I can imagine that without medicine I probably would have been one on the side of the road in need of healing when Christ walked by
  12. health- thankful that, though I should focus more on taking care of myself (I see a New Year’s resolution here) I can walk, talk, and do most anything I want to do because I have good health
  13. my home- I’ll confess…. there are times when I wish I had a bigger yard or one more bedroom or a live in maid, but I am blessed to have what I have and know it
  14. my co-workers– not too many have co-workers that feel like family…. I do and am thankful
  15. my family- I’ve already mentioned my parents so I’m looking at the other ones that I call family….no siblings but cousins, aunts and uncles… brothers and sisters-in- law, father and mother-in-law(deceased- but wonderfully remembered), a wonderful step mother-in-law…. so many great memories and wonderful little bundles of precious baby cousins
  16. my friends- some to laugh with, some to weep with, some both,  some who have passed in and out of my life, all have a special place in my heart
  17. waterfalls- not sure why they are so beautiful but it regardless of their size…. they are wonderful to enjoy
  18. cute animals-baby squirrels aren’t the only little things that are so cute… puppies, kittens, baby rabbits, baby bears, etc… well, except baby narwhals
  19. laughter- not at the expense of others but wholesome laughter might just bring the world together
  20. sense of humor- glad I have one, even if I am the only one who thinks I’m funny
  21. those who have sacrificed- sometimes I wonder why I live where I live…. how did I get to be so blessed?  Then I think about it …. not just happenstance that we live the way we do… some fought against much so we can have much freedom
  22. antibacterial items- can you imagine surgery without it??   that’s what I’m talking about
  23. the beauty of seasons- all goes back to creativity… I love red/orange leaves and the bright gray sky just before a good snow..and a loaded tree of cherry blossoms…. and the heat of sun on the concrete in the summer
  24. clay- maybe you have to be me to be thankful for it but it provides me with hours of entertainment
  25. computers- can’t imagine having to type this blog on a typewriter or by hand…. also am thankful that they have gotten smaller and smarter
  26. spices-cinnamon, garlic, salt, pepper…… just to name a few ……without them it would just be sugar toast for breakfast, bread with spaghetti….you get the picture
  27. chocolate-enough said
  28. peanuts- peanuts make peanut butter…. protein and yummy
  29. fruit-something good for you and tastes good too…. bananas, fuji apples, grapes, kiwi, raisins, watermelon, actually all melons, strawberries, cherries(my personal favorite)….. shall I go on?
  30. A Loving God- anyone who makes a way for you to get to them must love you a lot…. thankful that the Creator of all did that for me…. and for you…. so when I am thankful, that is who gets my thanks… without the Creator and his grace, all of the other things are pointless.

The challenge is on…. can you list thirty???

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Posted by on November 25, 2009 in Faith, Fun, Life Stories

 

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I’m forgettable…. that’s what I am…

24 Mar

Not too many weeks ago, I was watching American Idol and Simon told one of the contestants that she was forgettable. Ouch…  I hurt for her.  What a terrible thing to say to someone…..I can’t remember her name but ….. Okay, I guess he proved his point… ugh.  simon_cowell_pauls__457703a

I think it bothered me so much because I’ve been in that forgettable boat lately too…. twice on facebook and once in person.  While shopping at the nearby Meijer one day I ran into a high school classmate.  He passed right by me having no clue who I was.  After I freaked him out by calling him by his name, he said with a smile, “Nancy, I haven’t thought about you in years” … Now  you might be thinking that I’m going overboard with the whole forgettable thing with just that one comment but bear with me here….

Then on facebook, two of my guy friends who I spent time with and just adored in school  … one even gave me a nickname and called me by it for years… well, they acted (or ” for realled”) as if they didn’t know who I was… I will have to say that my ego was completely bruised.  I thought that all of these guys would have the same  memories as my memories.  I thought the one would automatically call me by my nickname again.  I thought the other would have thought about the whole 8th grade crush thing because I was pretty obvious about it.  Better yet,  I thought the other would strike up conversations about the church events that we went to together or the pranks we played on others… I will have to say that I was disappointed to see all of their little chat conversations with others were way friendlier than those that they sent me….  I’m thinking they either truly don’t remember me or don’t remember how connected we were… or at least how connected I thought we were … No, I’m not playing the violin of pity (well, maybe a little) as I write this, because I realized that the American Idol girl and I are still not in this forgettable boat alone… this is not some little fishing boat… we are talking an enormous cruise boat… the SS Forgettable… large enough for everyone to get on board… forgettable
Pretty much what I’m getting at is that everyone is forgettable.  Think about it…. can you name your great-grandmother’s maiden name?  What about your great great great grandfather’s name?  Do you know how many siblings your great grandmother had?  What about a former President?  Do you know the names of  Abraham Lincoln’s children or at least the name of the one son that lived through adulthood?  Okay all of this may sound pretty depressing or hopeless but hang in there… good stuff is coming….

Unless you have an extraordinary place in history (and even if you do, Mr. Lincoln) being forgettable is inevitable.  In Genesis, the story of Joseph is told.  He saves Egyptians and Israelites from lack of nourishment during a drought and is deemed a legend/hero and yet when you read the first few lines in Exodus you’ll see that a new king took the throne and didn’t know about Joseph… Joseph, pretty much a hero, was forgotten… it’s just going to happen… but there is some hope and some good here.

Luke 13 was part of my reading today… It begins with Jesus telling a parable about a tree and how the land owner tells the caretaker to cut down the tree that is bearing no fruit… the caretaker pleads with the owner for one more chance to help the tree produce at least once before it was cut down… the meaning?  It is simple …..A tree that produces no fruit is forgettable… worthy of being chopped down… a tree that produces fruit lives on and on…and we are not talking a physical fruit tree but a spiritual one…

Makes you think about the fruit that you may or may not be producing…

I am a product of a person who was producing fruit…I won’t forget that tree nor the nourishment it gave… ever… and hopefully I will produce fruit too and  nourish it in the same manner continuing the cycle…

So, we’re all forgettable … that’s what we are….. but our fruit always seems to remember where it came from… leave the forgettable to the naked trees and take advantage of the second chance…. go produce!

Luke 13

6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8” ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.‘ ”

 
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Posted by on March 24, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Life Stories

 

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