A Cup Overflowing, 761--780

A few years ago, Don Moen wrote a song entitled "Think About His Love" that quickly became one of my favorites.  I have used it often in worship.

Think about His love, think about His goodness,
Think about His grace that's brought us through.
For as high as the heavens above,
So great is the measure of our Father's love.

How could I forget His love
And how could I forget His mercies?
He satisfies, He satisfies, He satisfies my desires.

Yes, that's what this gift list is all about: thinking about and upon His love and goodness. No doubt this pleases Him -- and it profits my own soul as well.

#761  reunions

#762  a night of Buster (SF Giants), Braves, and lifelong buddies

#763  an early morning renewal at a well -- a.k.a. Cathy and Dick's deck

#764  the tinge of pink in morning clouds

#765  discontent that reveals an ungrateful heart which leads to repentance

#766  legs that ache from staying up too late

#767  a midst the sounds of morning, a buzzing bee just outside the window 

#768  my daddy -- and for the way he still makes it easy for me to love the Father God

#769  new light-green growth on the water oak extending itself from the seasoned branches

#770  my funny, funny daughter-in-love

#771  a kind morning disposition reflected in the voice

#772  the vibrant "gold" on a goldfinch

#773  chocolate cupcakes and sticky icing on the fingers

#774  winds of Pentecost that blew through our summer "book read" this morning bringing much needed healing

#775  the pause in the music

#776  a peacock by the side of the road ... and then another!

#777  the smell of morning

#778  the sound of a small critter that has made its way into my house ... and hidden

#779  for a son-in-law who seeks to follow his dreams

#780  my mom ... and homemade cookies in the freezer -- "You are amazing!"

He satisfies ....

A Cup Overflowing, 741-760

I read this earlier today: we give thanks to God not because of how we feel, but because of who He is.  And He is all good and He is all benevolent.  All the time.

#741  that my heart has been fashioned to long after God (and so has yours)

#742  a neighbor's freshly homemade blueberry jam delivered to my front door

#743  a tiny ladybug in a small hand

#744  watching a great-granddaddy teach a great-grandson to prune

#745  for advanced technology that allows 2 people on different places on the globe to connect

#746  for a little boy who sleeps well through the night allowing his grandmother to do the same

#747  the gift of rejection -- it allows the opportunity to enter into the suffering of Christ and to extend grace

#748  that I was raised in a home that taught Christ and not some other world religion ... or no religion at all

#749  for cowboys waiting to be let out of the stall

#750  season's first freezing

#751  a morning of planes and discovery

#752  getting on the floor and "playing cars" for the umpteenth time of the day with my favorite little meister

#753  kneeling in prayer with a 2-year old

#754  the way God undeniably speaks to me -- prodding me in a certain direction

#755  yet another nest of baby birds on my front door making 2 this season

#756  the sound of women's pencils scrawling gifts across a lined page

#757  a plate of goodies, cookies and strawberries, set out by a hostess

#758  hugging a friend

#759  two baby kittens playing just outside my window

#760  a father and son reunion

Eucharisteo...

A Little Dose of Humility at the Drive-Through

I pulled up to the drive-through banking and put my check in the cylinder before placing it in the tube that would send it on its way to the 2 tellers inside the small, brick building.  I could see that one of the ladies was helping a customer in the lane to my left while the other stayed busy doing something else.  Probably taking her morning break, I surmised.  Because I was in a hurry to get to Bible study (yes, I even hate to admit that fact), I started getting a little miffed that the second teller wouldn't stop what she was doing and help me out. All I needed was to cash a small $25 check.  No multiple transactions here. And so I waited ... and waited ... and waited ... getting more and more frustrated with each passing moment.  After all, I had a Bible study to get to!

FINALLY, the other car drove away, PRAISE THE LORD! and I heard the teller who had been so diligent at work say, "Ma'am, would you please press the button to send me your tube?"  Dang it.  I had been sitting there the entire time waiting to be helped and grumbling to myself for the lack of it, and I was the reason for the delay the whole time.  

But you know, I had to laugh about it as I sat there waiting for her to complete my transaction.  Isn't that the same thing we do to God?  There He is with all the resources to help us, ever willing to help us, and we get miffed because He seems preoccupied with something else.  In reality, what He is often doing is just waiting on us to our part.  To join Him in the transaction.  

A little dose of humility never hurt anybody.  In fact, it can prove quite helpful ... especially as one heads in to teach Bible study.  

Just an ordinary moment...

A Cup Overflowing, 721-740

You know what I'm figuring out?  That there's a definite correlation between my thanksgiving and my attitude.  And evidence points to the need to pick up my pen and count more often.

#721  "The Way" by E. Stanley Jones -- I picked this little treasure up for 25 cents and what a blessing!

#722  peace ... as of a weaned child with this mother

#723  six nursing home residents "sunning" on the front porch

#724  rain streaks cascading in the distant sky

#725  the deafening sound of rain pounding the car

#726  streets lines with blooming confederate jasmine ... oh, the fragrance

#727  quaint seating and anniversary dinner at The Pink House in Savannah

#728  afternoon coffee among eclectic decor -- Coffee Fox

#729  what fountains are made for ... little children's energy

#730  church bells in the city

#731  the way evening shadows fall

#732  a mother's face watching her son pitch in the major league for the first time

#733  that ALL things came into being through Christ (John 1:3) -- and that includes ME!

#734  two lizards ... mating on my deck -- birds do it, bees do it, even little reptiles do it

#735  a fawn in the backyard

#736  a good night's sleep

#737  the end of the storm

#738  a 2-year-old cuddled in my lap and my reading the same story "again" and "again" and "again" ...

#739  a Sunday morning blessing

#740  for this journal of 1,000 gifts -- God's love-letter to me

Yes, that helps immensely.  Attitude adjusted...

A Different Kind of Sunday Morning Prayer

When I sat down for my "sacred space" yesterday, I heard the "click-click-click."  If you keep up with my posts, you might remember the one I journaled a few weeks ago about the Unwanted Guest.  As far as I could tell, there was (is) some kind of critter making its home under the armoire that houses my computer -- though I have not heard it since I had the exterminator give me a couple of sticky pads.  However, yesterday's noise alerted me again to the situation.  But this time, it wasn't coming from my left, but from my right.  And knowing I could in no way concentrate, I got up to investigate.  

I first looked in a bag hanging on the back of the Jefferson rocker.  Nothing in there I could see.  So I attuned my ears a little more, determined to find this source of irritation.  And there it was.  A very small caterpillar, not more than a quarter of an inch in length ... caught in what seemed to be an invisible web.  Quite frankly, I didn't know a small insect could make such a noise. But I guess if I were to find myself in the same situation with an 8-legged creature hovering above me, I could make some pretty hefty sounds, too.  And that's exactly what he was doing.

I know this may sound really strange, but something about the whole scenario intrigued me; so I got my coffee from the table next to the couch and placed myself cross-legged on the floor, and for the next 15-20 minutes, I just sat and watched.  

Though there was some pity for the little creature that was caught, it was, actually, all quite interesting.  When the caterpillar would stop its clicking sound, the female spider would come down her web.  When she got close to her captive, he would begin his noise making again, and she would retreat back up the web to her mate (who would scurry away from her). Then I noticed something interesting.  The caterpillar was slowly being lifted off the floor.  Yes, somehow the spider was pulling him up toward her.

Like I said, the whole thing was so fascinating to watch.

It would be easy to surmise that my quiet time that morning was a total waste.  But I beg to differ.  Could it be that it was not only NOT a waste of time but a moment of sacredness as I entered into the moment ... the "now"? As I partook of the Creator by stopping to partake of His creation?  

Sometimes I think we confuse praying with prayerfulness.  For sometimes prayer happens without any prayers.

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always... 

Luke 18:1

Just an ordinary moment...