Counting Blessings

Lately I have been getting dissatisfied with some of my daily routines.  There sometimes seemed a dullness that I couldn't account for.  And things pile up in circumstances that make me feel under the load instead of sitting in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6) where I am supposed to be.  I wondered what I could do to get above these things.  Then I remembered that praise and being thankful works wonders for the kind of thoughts I had been having.

Now there were several different years where I counted my miracles each day.  I put the date and each time I listed something that was unusual and exciting.  Not all of the days had what most people would consider a miracle, yet I had my share.  This time I just want to list blessings.  If all I can find is a sunny day, I want to be thankful for it.  In some ways, it is a miracle that the sun warms us and doesn't burn us up.  Much of the universe is so constructed that a tiny movement either way could even cause life to cease on this planet.  So who is to say what is a miracle anyway?

I started a few days ago because I had such a wonderful day that I just had to write it down and give it some worth.  Yes, I do praise God for each day and thank Him regularly, but just writing something down gives it an extra bit of honor  and permanency that just speaking it may lack.  It also is a key to remembering important things.  So far, I have gotten a very good series of results from a blood test and discovered that I do not have diabetes.  My granddaughter had a good report on something that could have been bad, but it turned out to be normal and will go away.  And one day I almost lost a just completed blog by pushing a button wrong or something.  The Lord saved it for me.  That was weird.  Also, I have been trying to keep my computer files clean and I lost my cookies and the computer actually told me how to get them back.

The most important part of this exercise is not the having the list, but the doing.  When a year is done, I can read it over and oooh and aaah over my blessings.  But the best benefit is in the now.  I look forward to what could be, might be happening to add sparkle to my list.  I expect something special to write down.

I guess I'm just getting started early on Thanksgiving.  I love Nov. and thinking thankful things during the month.  As I said, this is in addition to my regular praise and thanks.  I expect to see some major things on my list and if I can encourage you or bless you in any way by this blog, that would be another big blessing for me.

Former Foolishness

For as long as I can remember, I have had a phobia/superstition about the number 13.  I think it went back to the childhood silliness of "step on a crack and break your mother's back, don't walk under a ladder, watch out if you break a mirror, don't open an umbrella indoors.  These sound pretty lame.  I got over them a long time ago, but for some reason the "13" thing stuck in my mind.  If I counted how many sweaters I had to be sure I was covered for the winter, or how many slacks/jeans, if I got to 13, I had to add one or discount one for some reason.  Friday the 13th didn't bother me too much, because the number 13 was sort of a personal thing. I just avoided it if I could.

Another illogical superstition (I think I created this one because of my dislike of snow) was snowflake phobia.  I have a pair of snowflake earrings and I would never wear them until after the first snow, just because.  I also have a plain black long sleeve T-shirt with a single large snowflake on the front.  This too, I wouldn't wear until after a snowfall.

One day I read or heard that superstitions showed that I wasn't trusting God as much as I should.  I was really trusting in some things man had made  up instead of Him.

After this, I learned that the number 13 has several good things going for it.  It's a baker's  dozen, an extra, something unexpected.

As for the snowflake thing, I can now wear my earrings and black T anytime I want. If you think I'm foolish for doing these things, at least I had the desire to change.  Now that's freedom.     

Putting an Old Talent to Good Use

While I was waiting for my granddaughter to be born, I thought it might be fun to do a little crocheting.  I hadn't made any wee clothes in a very long time and some moms may not like the little old-fashioned sweater, hat, and booty look.  So I decided to do a blanket.  When we were at the hospital with my daughter, Dawn, I got a good start on it.  The center is going to be turquoise blue and it will be bordered by pink and blue granny squares.  I once made a whole king sized bedspread of those squares (see the bed picture.)  That was our first year of marriage.

Years went by and I did a few crocheted Christmas stockings.  Then one year when I was able to be home with the two boys I went nuts and crocheted up a storm.  I bought a table at our church bazaar and by the time the event came, I had such cute ornaments, some crocheted around plastic bracelets with bells or holly attached.  I made snowmen, stockings, candy canes, snowflakes of various sizes, and my own creation, a skier out of a long tube bead with a crochet hat and toothpicks for the ski poles.  These I put on a little mirror.

I had a wonderful time at the bazaar.  My two boys came with my husband and oohed and aahed at my table of wonders.  Unfortunately, most people were interested in ceramics and fabric stuffed letters and such that year.  Nearly everyone stopped and complimented my creations even though most didn't buy.  I did manage to sell a few things.  Through that experience and another craft show or two, I learned that you just don't know what the public wants. It all ended well because my mother-in-law bought all my leftovers for a  huge tree she was decorating at the country club and I even got to see my works on display.

Once, several years ago, I got coral baby yarn and tried to make one of those long filmy scarves that were all the rage.  I did mine with granny squares.  They were all coral, but the lines between the squares showed and I never wore it.. So that was my last project until this wonderful baby blanket. I figure, it will be warm, washable, and soft.  I'm sure baby Amelia will like it.  I'm expecting it to be done by Christmas.

I know that at least one of my readers knits.  Do any of you crochet?  Have you had any successes or flops lately?     

A Little Fall Dancing

In my last blog I mentioned going to football games.  Going to the first High School home game was always such a thrilling time.  I remember one year, we were so excited because we had just purchased a clothing item called legotards.  They were opaque, thick, colored stockings that were like panty hose (except panty hose weren't invented yet.)  If you guessed they were tights, you are right.  That name wasn't invented yet, either.  So we put our new leg warmers on and our wool slacks.  We wore wool sweaters which often made me itch.  And then, we wore jackets.  At the game, some bold girls had blue legotards on with plaid wool Bermuda shorts.  What a fashion statement!

I love the chill that was in the air.  Some of us had homemade confetti cut from newspapers.  We bought a bag of the colored, expensive stuff and mixed it with the newspapers to have quality and quantity. Whenever there was a touchdown or a great play, we threw our confetti.

The High School band always got me going.  If I grew cold, I could dance up and down to the beat and warm up.  I didn't really understand football then.  I don't get it now either.  But that didn't stop me from having fun.  I knew our cheerleaders and I always cheered along with them.

I had just seen the movie West Side Story.  It was this year, I believe, that I walked home from the stadium with music in my heart.  I ran a few steps, twirled around,  and then threw up my arms into the air like the dancers in that movie.  From one corner to another, I danced my way with glee.  There wasn't much traffic along the way, and I wasn't in the popular set anyway, so I had no fears of looking like a fool.  I wasn't hurting anyone and I remember it as one of the few truly free times in my life.  That's what the autumn air did to me, back in my youth.


On another note about fall, I was driving down a country road recently and the yellow trees ahead of me started to drop leaves in a shower of glory.  They were small, yellow bits that shifted on the breeze as they fell.  It was like soft early snowflakes, only yellow.  As I approached, the leaves just kept falling and flowing in an enchanting style.  Then I passed them and the trees were lovely, but normal.  How I wanted to just drive into that new place of extraordinary beauty where the leaves seemed to be dancing to their own tune.     

Tribute to October

This is the first day of October and I would just like to thank God for making this whole beautiful month.  I admit that it does contain a day that used to ruin the month for me.  But no more.  I want to celebrate!  I can't afford to waste a single new day. So here then, is my tribute.

October has blue skies and just a bit of chill in the air.  There are football games and I remember putting on my wool pants and warm top to walk to the first game of the season.  (Yes, we walked everywhere back then, but I did not carry a potato.)  I don't know where my kids got that part of the story.

October causes me to switch clothes from one closet to the other and get out all of the pretty wool skirts and the lovely sweaters. Too bad they don't make the pretty died-to-match Bobby Brooks sets anymore that we used to wear.   I also love and look best in the dark, rich fall colors like red, deep yellow, dark green, brown, and purple.

You can't go far without noticing that the leaves are changing swiftly.  I saw a brilliant scarlet today bunched in with the usual yellow.

There are pumpkins, pretty gourds, Indian corn, and squash. I even like the little fairy-like spider webs you see glistening in the morning rays.

You can go to the apple orchards and get cider and donuts.  (Dawn, sorry that you came back and won't get too many fresh apples.)  We can still find some and there are berries.

One more thing I love is candy corn.  It just is so pretty and jolly and yummy. 

So welcome October.  Oh, Lord, "You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance."  Psalms 65:11 NKJ