Thursday, May 22, 2008

I'll Have An Order of Gratitude, Please

I've had a few people on the brain lately. This little baby, and the family she belongs to. Yum. The family is yummy, and the baby!! Oh. Beautiful.

Oh... And THIS little baby. Another really amazing family- such a rich heritage and such a promising future of security and love for this precious boy.

And I've been thinking about my friend who allowed me to take a chance at wrecking her Singer sewing machine. She's been on my heart, and I'm grateful for her. And my other friend, cheri (Yes, I really do have TWO friends!) who not only let me use her Pfaff, and jam it up (I swear I didn't do anything weird-- there's just something weird going on with sewing machines around here...) But now that her Pfaff is jammed up, she has offered me her other machine to wreck. That's pretty ballsy. And kind. And not that smart. But, I sure appreciate it.

Then there's the garbage guy who comes around every Thursday. Man, this guy loves his job. He's always got a big grin on; he hurls the heaviest cans of poopy diapers with a big, happy smile, wave, and practically throwing candy and balloons at the kids. What kind of person has such a good attitude?! Inspiring. For a few years now, I've been meaning to bake something nice and bring it out to him and his happy gang on a Thursday morning. I'll just transfer that to my guilt list of good intentions...

My neighbor. He hasn't killed the tulips that the wretched neighbors before him planted, and I really love looking out my kitchen window at those tulips, remembering the wretched neighbors who planted them, and appreciate this quiet, pleasant man who is now the keeper of the tulips. He may not be a stellar gardener, but he doesn't hurl abuse at us either. I like that about him.

Marie. And Marge. (and Becky, and someone from Brian's school staff, and Cheri, and Ruth, and Rose....) They have passed me packages of fabric at church and out of church that are just utterly delicious. The sort that I have to quickly shove into my undies before their descendants notice what is being given to a non family member. Now, that's a love language that I can identify with. (the fabric gifts, not the undie-stashing.)

My kids. I don't know how or why, but they're good people. Sweet people. Beautiful too.

And one more thing. My heritage. Three days ago I attended the funeral of Mr CG Peters- the minister of the church that I and my family attended throughout my childhood. It reminded me of the predictability and stability from whence we came. It reminded me of virtues like steadfastness, dependability, faithfulness.

It's easy to get bogged down- I practice it daily. Balance would suggest that the teeter for this totter is to employ its opposite: Gratitude.

It's a better attitude.
What are you glad for today?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for thinking of me Joyce - and for your thoughtfulness Sunday........you are a very special person and I'm SOoooooooooooo thankful God brought you into my life.
Lisa

Anonymous said...

good post.

I'm grateful that I get along with my sister in law (Leanne) and that I get to take my kids there for lunch today. They're always so happy at her house!

Roo said...

:) i agree. gratitude is an addicting additude. what am i glad for today? well, i'm sure there are a lot of things but the biggest and foremost thing that pops into my head is ...MY NAP. i'm so thankful for sweet sleep.

svea said...

i am soo grateful for the SUN!!! I lay in my front yard on the grass with my girls for almost an hour today.....SIgh...love it, and your whole post made me happy. you make me smile too Joyce.

and I am totally with you on Cliff the garbage guy. What a breath of fresh air to see someone with such a joyful attitude doing something most of us would loathe to do. there is a lot of Jesus shining through him. I have wanted to bake him and his guys something too for a while. you mentioning it brought it back to mind, so i am gonna try to do something cheery to reflect back to them how cheery they make me feel watching them cart away my junk with such grace. Kinda like Jesus eh? taking our crap with such joy and enjoyment. There is a picture for you, JOyful Jesus taking the trash of my life with a smile on his face. AHhhh thanks for such thoughtful food for my head today JOyce. Hugs and more hugs to you!

Anonymous said...

I am grateful for so very much (unless I'm in a bad mood, then I'm grateful for nothing : ) like this country, freedom, my hubby, kids and grandkids, the list is endless...thanks for reminding me Joyce : ) L-lew

Valerie Ruth said...

Oh - my boy got second mention! now you'll have to meet him in real life.

I remember CG Peters

I'm thankful for husbands who are willing to wake in the middle of the night for a "shift". And for babies who are both boob and bottle trained so Mum can get a couple more hours of sleep.

I'm grateful for reminders to be grateful.

Anonymous said...

I'm grateful for the very wonderful mothers day gift I received in the mail this week of the most beautiful grandbabies...including the ones whose mother made the book, Leah my daughterinlaw who went to all that effort to bring such joy to me. Roselle