awakenings

It finally happened.  The creative bug bit me and I have to tell you it felt so good to make something again.  It's been over a month since I touched a paint brush.  Over a month since I let myself go and felt that rush of adrenaline at creating something pretty.  I was overdue.

It's not completely finished.  I still want to frame it.  It's going in the hallway up our staircase, so I can have that song in my head all day long:)  You've heard it right...by the David Crowder band??

It's one of my very favorite songs.  I especially get choked up with the lyric "I am like a tree...bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy".  What an image!  His love so strong that it bends us...oh that's powerful!  I got the idea from this blog...she had the lyrics written out on a chalkboard.   

 

Okay so today was a new day. Yesterday was with riddled with sadness.  Today I woke up in a better place and I swore we would do something fun.  Seek out the sun a bit and enjoy the warmth of Virginia, so with a pool bag in hand we headed to a local swim club.

A few months ago I won a give-away from this precious gal.  You've probably all seen this book in blogland. I know many of you have read it, but I'm just getting around to it.  When I first started I was a little overwhelmed with the heaviness of the the first chapter.  The author...the amazing Ann Voskamp, is one of the most poetic writers I've ever read.  Each sentence is a meal...if that makes sense.  It's heavy.  It takes some chewing and when I first began I wasn't hungry enough.  I gave up and put it aside.  I have no idea why I picked it up again and threw it in my bag today, but I devoured it.  It was like an arrow to my heart. 


In a nutshell she talks about giving thanks, and how thanksgiving always precedes the miracle.  I can't even begin to scrape the depth of what she said or how she says it.  She masterfully weaves an understanding of how important making note and paying attention to the gifts that God has given us is.  How realizing what makes us happy and what we love can in fact be a prayer lifted up to Him on a daily...hourly basis. 

I've always done a pretty good job of this. I appreciate the little things in life.  I pay attention. I'm thankful.  Really I am, but lately with this move I feel upside down. Like my focus is on my lack, instead of my blessings. So when I started reading this book it was like an awakening moment. This is my answer.  This is what I need to be doing!!  My inward focus is robbing me from my miracle. I have to start with thanksgiving. There is so so much to be thankful for.

So with that said my list begins.  I've seen a lot of you write your lists and it's time to start my own.  I'm sure it won't take long to exceed one thousand gifts....just a few at a time at the end of my posts. I may never stop:)  They are for me, but you can read them if you want.

 

1.  hawks that soar in the sky and remind me of His ever watching eye.

2.  the sound of the wind whispering in the trees. 
3.  sunlight filtering through the clouds

4.  my children's eyes that light up when I play with them...if only for a minute.

5.  wrinkly pruney pool toes.

6.  critters that sing in the night outside my window.
7. tight hugs around the neck when we say our good nights. 
8.  paint encrusted fingernails:)
9.  finally meeting the gal that lives right next door...she talked my ear off today.  sweetness:)
10.  blog friends who carry me with their prayers and cover me with their words of blessing!

Have a blessed day.