So my Sweet Cousin
Anna threw this blogging challenge at me, and I am so grateful she did. I have wanted
to get back to blogging, but my life has been in complete chaos for nearly a
year and writing was the last thing on my mind. Now that life is stabilizing a
bit, I decided it’s a good time to get back into it and Miss Anna came up with the
idea of blogging our gifts, those little things that bring us joy when we see
them. What a great idea!!!
Ann VosKamp is one of
my very favorite authors of all time. She
wrote the book “1000 Gifts” and along with it she created the Joy Dare
challenge. That is what Anna and I have decided to follow. Ann’s style and
content capture my heart and make my soul scream “YES!!!” She believes in an
Attitude of Gratitude and that is how I strive to live my life. The last year
has made that incredibly difficult. My partner of 10 years moved out, leaving
me with the entire responsibility of the house and yard, along with the
heartache of the ending relationship. Our parting is for the best, for both of
us, and I don’t mind being alone, caring for the house and the yard. The
adjustment period has lasted much longer than I anticipated both emotionally
and financially, and many times I have been overwhelmed, nearly ready to give
up.
Finally though, I am getting back to where I want to be, so when Miss Anna sent me the
message last night about counting our blessings together, my heart and mind leapt
at the chance. So, welcome to my new and
revised blog, counting out the gifts God has given me….
We missed the first
10 days of the challenge and thought that going back and trying to catch up would
be too much to start with, so we will start with the 11th and go forward from
there…
So Today is January
11, 2016, and today’s challenge is 3 Yellow Gifts of Fresh Mercy.
The first gift of yellow
I can think of is my Mama’s yellow finches. For so many years, my Sweet Mama
fed these finches outside her kitchen window. They brought her so much
joy. In the winter, the finches lose
their yellow coloring and turn a dull gray/brown. But in the early spring, when
the snow starts to melt and the earth starts to warm, the finches start to
change back to yellow. Slowly she would
see the signs of new, bright yellow feathers emerging from beneath those dull
colored ones. And when she did, she would pull a stool over and lift up her
beloved grandbabies to show them. “Look”, she’d say, “when the finches turn
yellow, you know that spring is here” and they would look in awe at these
beautiful little creatures and watch as they brought the signs of spring.
Today, living in her home, I still feed the finches, and we still watch for
those yellow feathers to peek out, telling us that warmer weather will soon be
here.
The second gift of
yellow that I have is the shirt that my roommate was wearing this morning.
Seems silly I know, but I saw that shirt and couldn’t help but smile. It was so
bright and sunshiny looking on a day I knew would be freezing cold and a Monday
to boot. It amazes me how something so little can bring such joy.
The third yellow gift
was tougher to find. I am not particularly fond of the color yellow so I don’t surround
myself with much of it, but after much thinking and pondering, I figured it out...
Minions.. little silly yellow cartoon minions are a phenomenal gift. They make
me laugh, and not just little giggles, great big belly laughs and how can there
be any greater gift than that.
So there are three of
the many wonderful gifts I am grateful for today. Check out my cousin’s blog
over at
A Messy Indulgence and see what she is
grateful for too. And come back tomorrow for the next set of gifts... until then God Bless~