Entering His Gates

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.

Ps. 100:4

The burning fury of Cairo's summer may not be good for growing vegetables and flowers, but thanksgiving by thanksgiving, blessing upon counted blessing, gratitude is growing.

Thankful For...

11. Grace, full, free, overwhelming me with undeserved favor. The breeze that invites the leaves to dance, the joy of true forgiveness, the baby, soft in my arms - All is Grace.

12. Laughing, with heads thrown back and smiles abounding and bellies aching and tears coming because we cannot contain the joy.

13. Sunday nights, and soup and salad and homemade bread, and friends, sharing laughter, sharing tears, sharing hearts, sharing lives.

14. Eyes - “Windows to the soul,” someone said. And I think that maybe he was right, and I’m thankful for those windows through which to see the joy, the sorrow, the laughter, the teasing, the understanding, the encouragement, the soul life of another.

15. Flip-flops and flashes of red, smiling at me from my toes. Can toes be happy? I think so.

16. A pair of pearls, creamy pure, set in silver, belonging to Mama, on my finger - a gift to her from my great-grandmother and a reminder to me of the godly women who walked before.

17. Spanish, and the way it rolls off my tongue, soft and fluid, full of feeling, and secret conversations in public because we understand something that they do not.

18. Books, and how within two covers lie a world to be discovered, imagination’s playground, a journey, a grand adventure.

19. The power of a story to shape a soul.

20. The Sweetest Story, and how the One who was spurned by the life He created wrote a story of Redemption so grand and complete, and how He stepped down from His glory and paid the highest price to buy a wife who was a slave and how His life and his death and his perfect love made her a bride most beautiful.

21. Dirty dishes in my sink, because they tell a story of a meal shared, fellowship enjoyed.

22. My Dad, and how he lives Jesus and seeks first the Kingdom because he learned it from his dad, and generations of dads and children, passing on a legacy of following Jesus, of loving Father, of loving

His people, of loving His Word. A legacy of lives lived in the reality of the Kingdom.

23. Carolina Basketball, and the love of the game, and March Madness, and baby blue t-shirts and Tarheel tattoos, and strolling down Franklin St, and lasagna at the Rathskeller, and the Dean Dome electric with the energy of the fans. And how all of these mean family and laughter and memories.

24. An old and dearest friend, and how the hours and the years forged a bond so true that she hears what’s unsaid, sees what’s hidden, loves despite the faults that she knows too well, laughs at the memory that only we share, calls every week, and the cord of life we’ve woven won’t be undone by hours and months and miles and oceans that lie between.

25. Hymns, old and favorite, tapped out on a keyboard, whispered in a prayer, sung soft with a sister, written in an email.

Counting blessings