monday gratitude.

Right now I’m in a season of waiting. It’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before. I think about our baby throughout the day (and sometimes night) and my emotions are a jumble of wondering, happiness, fear, excitement, sadness, and delight. God gives peace, moment by moment, but still I wonder. How long? What twists and turns will this adventure take?

I’ve come to realize that a whole lot of life is waiting, in some way or other. And when I look back on the waiting seasons, I think I’d have to say my biggest regret is what I missed out on along the way because I was so focused on just having what I wanted.

And so I’m starting a Monday gratitude list, which is really just another way of saying that I’m trying to pay attention. I want to look around me and see what God’s given me today, to see what He’s doing in and around me today. This morning I read about Abraham in Romans 4, that “he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” I like that. I can’t control much about life right now, but I can give glory to God. Today. So that’s what I’m going to do.

1. cold air and slushy-snowy-rain on Saturday
2. waking up early and braving the weather with Anna for a cozy breakfast at Drip
3. how happy Fiestaware dishes make me
4. my kids’ sheer delight in trick-or-treating with their friends
5. Amie: “Mom, will you keep an eye on Dad tonight so he doesn’t eat all my candy?”
6. homemade apple pie
7. our friend Jim is one year sober
8. God can change a life in the blink of an eye
9. taking communion with my son
10. the way crocheting calms my mind
11. making something pretty and useful with my hands
12. the liveliness and chaos and challenge of Monday mornings at Classical Conversations
13. playing Yahtzee with my dad
14. Lila, which I still can’t stop thinking about
15. the cup of piping hot tea beside me
16. Quiddity podcasts
17. warm socks
18. laughing with my kids
19. this aching-happy thrill of waiting for our baby