Being Thankful for Wonder and Awe

Dear Reader:

I remember Thanksgiving of 2014 was an important one for me…since I had just made the decision (after much prayer) to continue writing the blog after a week’s interval of not writing .

I knew I had made the right decision because my heart was so full of gratitude for Thanksgiving that year. My faith was renewed and I realized that we should never let anyone steal our joy when it comes to following our passion.

On Thanksgiving, that year, I received some pictures from Joan Turner…(John, Mandy, Eva Cate and Jake- always go to Joan and W. T.’s house in Huntsville, AL (John’s parents) for Thanksgiving.)

*Covid 19 almost stopped this tradition this year…but at the last minute everything fell into place and they are so happy to be going to see all the Turner family and spend Thanksgiving.

The first picture I got from Joan that Thanksgiving of 2014 was a leaf that 4-year-old Eva Cate found in Huntsville and thought was so beautiful…she wanted me to see it too. I remember smiling at the leaf and later photo of her holding it proudly for having found such a “beautiful treasure.”

I remember thinking I wish I could capture that moment in my memory and never lose it…watching a grandchild fully appreciate and immerse themselves into the God-given gift of nature at its most beautiful. A picture that symbolizes the wonder and awe of childhood at its best.

Wonder and awe. I do believe that people who never grow old never lose that sense of wonder and awe…instead they stay delighted at all the hidden “treasures” that continue to amaze and delight us…if we never close our eyes to new possibilities of learning and adventures!

In that same post six years ago Honey sent me a copy of a newspaper article she thought I would like…I re-read it yesterday and decided that everyone would like this interesting twist on thankfulness and gratitude.

Giving thanks (by Kim Ode/Star Tribune/Minneapolis.)

*Kim recognizes that a strange contradiction/relationship exists concerning gratitude. She says:

” Being on the receiving end of someone’s thanks has us walking on those particularly puffy clouds that fill the autumn skies.

Yet when it comes to extending gratitude, we sometimes drag our heels, playing a game of “You First.” Expressing thanks might make us feel indebted, even weak, which is a feeling most of us try to avoid.

We’re missing the point.

The crazy thing about being thankful is that it’s the shortest distance between feeling okay and feeling great. The sensation doesn’t light up the sky, but is more one of quiet satisfaction. We actually feel a little lighter for having breathed deep and clambered to that higher road.

It doesn’t even matter what we say, but what prompts us. It’s not the feat, but the humility.

November is the one month when there’s a day specifically set aside for gratitude…for being thankful for a job, for family, for recovery, for friends, for favors extended, or a second chance. Some years it may stand for just having made it to November in one piece. And speaking of pieces….

Come Thanksgiving, make sure to thank those who make the pies…for all the pieces of pie made available to us. We should always be grateful for pie.” 🙂

So until tomorrow…Let us be thankful for wonder and awe...because these God-given gifts are in such abundance…they will last us a lifetime…if we don’t stop looking for them… every single day.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Sadly as I had my outfit ready to go and my lucky Tiger token…I was “All In”…but the game wasn’t. Just chalk up one more disappointment in this bizarre pandemic year…2020 can’t leave soon enough. Hopes and prayers for 2021!

Look at this gorgeous succulent (Bromeliad)! I have never seen anything so beautiful…Susan Cadwell shared the photos with me yesterday that she took earlier…unbelievable!