Mindfulness....

I was in a really terrible mood all day. I mean REALLY terrible. Can't say why, exactly, but nothing pleased me. I cleaned the downstairs, did laundry, baked chocolate chip cookies, knit, and even watch a bit of an old movie. Still miserable -- sometimes the world is just too much with us, I guess.

So, I decided I needed to clear my thoughts by taking a walk and being mindful. As Thich Nhat Hanh said:

 Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future.

If we can acknowledge our fear,

we can realize that right now we are okay.

Right now, today,

we are still alive,

and our bodies are working marvelously.

Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky.

Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.

And the miracles I saw changed my whole outlook... 

Deer Trail Down the Bank..

Joe Pye Weed. I saw this as a specimen in New England. Here, it is a weed!

A bird's nest, empty, blown from a tree. I collect them. What a gift!

This lovely let me photograph it and then flew above my head as I walked. Angel? 

 

By the time I arrived back home, my spirit was quiet, my legs tired, a gentle moisture from the rain on my face. I was alive. My body worked. All is well.

First Day Musings -- Every day is a miracle

We can see a thousand miracles around us every day. What is more supernatural than an egg yolk turning into a chicken? S. Parkes Cadman

The past few days have been challenging and, yet, joyous to see how miracles unfold.

1.) Marvel how a man can live for many days while his brain bleeds.
2.) Celebrate an unknown child's simple infection instead of grieve the suspected cancer.
3.) Discover a simple antibiotic can give a kitty back its jump.
4.) Dance in the sunshine of a glorious winter day.
5.) Rejoice that the wrecked car was not a student sent home early because of bad weather.
6.) Rejoice that the same wrecked car didn't result in injury of the unknown driver.
7.) Amazement after following the request of Him and finding the reward returned four times over.
8.) Relishing surprise packages from friends made but never seen in person.
9.) Giggling an afternoon away with gal pals.
10.) Breathing.

What a glorious life we live. We just have to notice. They are all around us. Miracles.

God Makes Me Laugh!

The final tally:

18 hats, 1 vest, 3 scarves, 7 hand-tied blankets, 2 prs. hand knit mittens,

3 hoodies, 2 prs. of socks, and 20 pairs of bought gloves

for a total of 54 pieces.

Wookie is trying to figure out which pile he wants to wallow one more time....

The charity knitting goal this year was 55 pieces. I have 36 knitted items and, as I had permission to add the 20 bought gloves, I am over the goal! Yah! Now, let me tell you how funny God is.

My selected group was the Santa Train. I love love love the story of the train and wanted to really participate. But, would you believe I discovered this morning that I had overlooked the delivery date by one week? And, would you believe that today I met a woman who feeds and serves the homeless in the next county below the mountain? She told me of the families, yes FAMILIES, who are living along the Yadkin River in boxes or tents. It broke my heart.

Then, a little voice in me said, "So, you see why you missed the date? Give them to her."

And, I did.

I am so giddy with happiness that these things are going to someone who needs them. And, my friend Vicky, who was crocheting for the train with me, is sending afghans, laprobes, and scarves with me. And, a box of sweatshirts that were too small for her sister-in-love and have just been waiting to go to the homeless shelter somewhere is now snug in my car as well.

The dear lady and I were talking today and she said, "God just had you there waiting for me." I think it was the other way around. Either way, it is just as it should be.  

A Case for Miracles

snowdrops, allposters.com

As we watched our movie "The Bishop's Wife" today, I was reminded of how we seem to overlook the miracles around us every day. Just waking in the morning is a miracle. A baby, financial reversal or avoiding a wreck are miracles. And, yet, how many of us really stop to think about it.

When I was a young teen, we moved to Florida. Daddy had become bedfast from Rheumatoid Arthritis and the only suggestion the doctor could make was to go to Florida or Arizona. My parents couldn't afford the gas to Arizona, so we loaded a mattress in the back of the wagon, helped Daddy in, and off Mother and Daddy went, leaving us with family and friends.

On the third morning, Daddy called us at Grandmother's house. He called. He dialed and held the phone. He could stand, close his hands, shave, and feed himself. A miracle. Two weeks later, the house was on the market and we were in a rental house in Lakeland, Florida. And, Daddy had a job and was able to work again. Two weeks. A miracle.

The agent who helped us find the house was a concentration camp survivor, as was her husband. Adolph and Mona Richmond survived Dauchu, came to the U.S., and built a new life for themselves -- sole representatives of two large German Jew families that were now gone. They had endured things that I was too naive to understand, but I did understand they could never have children and they had numbers tattoed on their forearms. They "adopted" us and treated us as kindly as any grandparents. They were our miracle; we were theirs.



While these seem like small things in the scope of what we consider miracles, they point out that gifts are around us every day. At this time of year, we pause to consider the wonder of a Babe that came that we might live. Let us also remember the many blessings that we have daily --- hope, food, shelter, love, and good health. We are the rich beyond the things we can hold in our hands. It is the things we hold in our heart that matter.