I stumbled downstairs for coffee, and oh.
Sunrise. The view from my kitchen window looked like this, and promised "more to come."
It's time to sing Your song again.
Whatever may pass or whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes.
(You can listen to it here while you read the blog!)
The glory washed over me,
as I stood by the mailbox, camera in hand, (click, click)
waving sheepishly to a vanload of Amish neighbors on their way to work, (oh,there she is with that camera again.)
Something in me rose to the challenge of that simple song:
"Let me be singing when the evening comes."
Let me be singing? Well, who would hinder me?
Oh. Only me.
Bless the Lord oh my soul, oh my soul,
worship His holy name.
sing like never before, oh my soul,
I'll worship Your holy name.
And then I resolved to keep watching, all day long, for the ten thousand reasons I had to keep singing. No matter what. And, I chose a tool to help me "see," to help me remember.
Yep, my camera. In my very ordinary day, I found the following reasons for joy, for gratitude, even for singing.(No there aren't 10,000 photos...I will just share a handful of the 62 choices!)
I am grateful for eyes to see them.
These heart shaped leaves always remind me of God's unfailing love for me. Again, I'm grateful.
I share books with her children. ("We LOVE them," Annie exclaimed with unexpected fervor on a previous visit.)
And she sells me strawberries.
to shop so locally,
to know every employee by name,
to find most of what I need in a little place I can almost see from my backyard!
By the time the soup was bubbling, it was time to fold laundry, and then I grabbed a few minutes of porch time. Oh, I am so grateful for porch pause. And someone reminded me to keep singing.
I don't have words for how grateful I am for birds and for all that they teach me. If a house wren can bubble out a melody of joy mid-morning when it has spent hours building a little nest out of sticks it has carried one at a time in its mouth...I too can overflow with gratitude.
And then it was time to hit the road. Those quiet morning moments were made possible by a Cave Camp held at a local cavern, and today it was my turn to pick up the guys. They hung out at our house for the afternoon, after some Father's Day shopping and an ice cream treat. (I forgot to take a picture, but I didn't forget to be grateful. Mint chocolate chip was the special custard flavor today...ahh.) I also forgot to pick up the caulking we'd just bought for one of their projects; we walked out of the store and left the tube on the counter. But somehow, when we were home and discovered it, I didn't lose track of gratitude. I was able drive down that road one more time and retrieve the caulk, grateful that I had a vehicle, grateful that the boys were fixing a leak, grateful to have a more open afternoon....(remember those disappointing changes in the plans for the day?)
And so my ordinary day continued.
I heard lots of laughter, and that wren sang all day long. I delivered noodle soup, and we gathered at the table to fill our own bowls. I sent a few e-mail messages, and watered all my houseplants and outside planters. Tomorrow's caving clothes and gear accumulated in the kitchen, and I washed a pile of dishes.
Soon it was evening, and those strawberries were still waiting, so I listened to a fascinating World Book Club podcast and the berries turned into jam. Lots of jam.
And when the day ended, I was still grateful for my life with its berry box full of reasons for gratitude, spilling over and adding color and flavor and sweetness to what was a very ordinary day.