Returning to Gratitude....

"Sourgrass" photo from wunderground.com

I haven't posted to the Gratitude Community at A Holy Experience since the last day of January. So on this rainy/haily/snowy day, I again am gathering thanks as we used to gather bunches of the yellow clover flowers we called "sourgrass" when we were growing up. There are so many--they're so beautiful--and I can't be content with sharing just a few. They need to be in thick bunches, stems sticky with juice, bright sunshiny blooms crushed together in little, dirty hands. That's the way gratitude works, after all: once we pick one, we see more and more and more at hand, ready for the plucking. And the sharing.

So again I rejoin the pilgrims on the pathway to One Thousand Gifts, thanking our Lord this day for:

491. Rain seeping deep into the earth, springing spring on this first day of the season

492. My beloved husband whose artistic talent leaves me awed on a daily basis and whose love surrounds me each day

493. The shy daffodils peeping their heads out along our front porch

494. The prayer books being printed and hopefully on their way to us!

495. Lenten disciplines shaping my heart to His

496. Tiny flecks of snow drifting down this morning, still a rare sight in Southern California

497. Studying C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves and Scott's Ivanhoe with my oldest son this week

498. My day of quiet and solitude last Wednesday in which I met with my Father for extended times of prayer throughout the day (and basked in the spring sunshine)

499. The most beautiful, joyous, and quirky wedding I've ever attended, and being still rather sore after (unwisely and wonderfully) dancing the afternoon away with church friends--such freedom in dancing, especially to The Beatles, Black-Eyed Peas, and the B-52s!

500. Reaching #500, the halfway mark on my journey to One Thousand Gifts, knowing also that my copy of Ann's book is wending its way to me as I type....

Joyfully halfway to the goal (and hoping to exceed it),