Bushels o' Blessings

As the Thanksgiving holiday week winds down and we gather our feeble forces to return to the work of common days, exchanging the extraordinary for the ordinary and trying not to complain, we can still find bushels o' blessings hiding from us, revealed as we shine the Light into all-too-familiar corners of our busy lives.

So as I continue on my journey to and beyond One Thousand Gifts with the Gratitude Community at A Holy Experience, I discover the abundance of Thanksgiving does not end just because the holy day is past....

Thanking Him this day for:

426. ...Keith's beautiful and delicious pies, a gift he shares with my family and his each holiday. In fact, Keith may make his dad an apple pie tonight to celebrate his 77th birthday tomorrow


427. ...the grace of gathering with family and dear friends around an overcrowded Thanksgiving table


428. ...the joy of meeting new people at Thanksgiving this year, especially my brother's significant other, Ari, and her two young people


429. ...for chill days made warm and cozy with roaring fires and cuddly kids and dachshund


430. ...for finishing grading the last essay late last night for my Brave Writer MLA Research Essay Class


431. ...for having a break from work until early January


432. ...for having my daughter home for five days straight for the Thanksgiving holiday break


433. ...for the beginning of Advent: lighting the first candle, reading the Scriptures, praying the prayers, seeing the Light dispel the Darkness each evening as we gather together in anticipation


434. ...for the lovely Pumpkin Biscotti candle from my Secret Sister at Class Day which I very much enjoy burning on cold mornings during prayer


435. ...for a Hobbit-sy boy who brings joy and laughter into our house at the most suprising moments


436. ...for the return to work after the Thanksgiving holy days, and all the learning we do together as a family


437. ...for trees emptied of leaves by abrupt, brisk winds, leaving their branches bare


438. ...for a frosted lawn this morning that looked for a moment as if snow had descended overnight


439. ...for a cuddly boy who still fits snugly into my lap as we whisper about "feeling faith" versus "knowing faith"


440. ...for wise friends who know when to encourage, when to nudge, and when to give a swift kick. You know who you are....

I am thankful also for nearing the end of the November PAD Poetry Chapbook Challenge, and I'm sure many of you are also thankful that I won't be posting a poem each day for a while...or at least not until NaPoWriMo in April....

Walking in grace this day,