0 Blessed.

If you read my ramblings regularly, you know that I'm a reader.  I love everything about reading.  Books.  New books.  Old books.  Fiction.  Non-fiction.  E-books.  Physical books.  Textbooks.  Math books.  Shopping for books.  Shopping for more books.  Rearranging my bookshelves.  (I have four.)  Attacking the page with highlighters, colored pens, and sticky notes close at hand.  (I blame college for this habit.  Before college, I thought it sacrilegious to mark in any book other than my bible.  Ironic, right?)  Those mixed feelings you get when finishing a book--when you're excited to be done but sad at the same time.  The simple act of flipping through the pages in a book.  Sharing favorite books with others.

My sister tells me I'm crazy.  Normal people don't need this many supplies to read.  :)

 

2014 has been the year of reading.  Today, I finished book number 66 of the year.  It was a book given to me by one of my mentors during my senior year of college.  I just got around to reading it today, two years after graduation.  Better late than never.  

This weekend also saw the start of another book.  This is a book I picked up several months ago at Mardel when it was on sale for $5.  I've read such good things about it in the blogosphere.  And, I have not been disappointed.  

    

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp 

The author writes about her journey to live a life that embraces grace, thanksgiving, and joy.  Though life's circumstances are not always ideal, she starts writing a list.  A list of one thousand gifts.  One thousand things to be thankful for.  One thousand things to praise God for.  One thousand moments in time.  Fleeting moments that should be savored.  Moments that can too easily pass by without our noticing them.  Moments we have to train ourselves to look for.  

I haven't finished the book yet, but I started writing my own list today.  My own journey towards recording one thousand gifts.  It has made me more mindful of the small things.  More present in the moment.  Washing dishes wasn't just another chore on my list of things to do today.  It was an opportunity to count blessings.

1.  The warm glow of the lamp, cascading over the back of the couch.

2.  Spending the morning snuggled under my "couch blankie."

3.  Colored pens, highlighters, and Bible study time.

4.  A silent house punctuated only by the tick of the clock.

5.  Birds chirping their little tunes outside my window.

6.  The flicker of a candle on the kitchen counter.

7.  Gummy Vitamins :)

8.  Warm toast with butter and honey.

9.  A vase holding a dandelion, plucked from my front yard.

10.  A smile sparked by soap bubbles wafting through the air.

11.  Twist ties stored in a tiny, Fiesta pitcher.

12.  Drinking ice water from a mason jar.

13.  Sun catchers hanging in my kitchen window.

14.  The low hum of the hard-working air conditioner in the middle of summer.

15.  A Saturday morning spent tickling the ivories and singing songs of praise to God.

16.  Sandwiches cut into tiny triangles.  

17.  Pouring rain and lightning in the distance. 

18.  Napping during rainstorms.  

It's probably too soon to say this, but I think this book and this list might be changing my life.  I want to live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving.  I want to notice the small moments, filled with blessings.  I get so busy during the school year that I miss out on so much.  I need to become intentional in my thanksgiving.  And, joy unspeakable that won't go away will surely result.  I need to carry this into my classroom.  I need to record the tiny triumphs that happen every day.  The types of things that can be easily overlooked.  

Blessed.  Incredibly blessed.  

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