Tag Archives: blessings
Break the habit
“Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit. Talk about your joys.” — Rita Schiano Right now I could sit here and go on for hours about the cares that I am facing– which include deep sorrows, minor annoyances, and the entire spectrum of trials that lie in between. I’m almost certain you …
Love at the board
For hearts that are kindly, with virtue and peace, and not seeking blindly a hoard to increase; for those who are grieving o’er life’s sordid plan; for souls still believing in heaven and man; for homes that are lowly with love at the board; for things that are holy, I thank thee, O Lord! — Walt …
Deep roots
“The old that is strong does not wither. Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” — J. R. R. Tolkien I quoted from this poem in an earlier post, but recently its timeless words have been on my mind again. I was reminded of these particular lines by the daffodils in my yard. Daffodils …
Watch with glittering eyes
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” ― Roald Dahl Look around you today. Great secrets and enlightening discoveries may be hiding in plain sight. What are the unlikely places you tend to look past? What secret discoveries …
Always in the midst
“It is always in the midst, in the epicenter, of your troubles that you find serenity.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry An updated note, seven years later: As I go back through these posts, it surprises me how many of them I have totally forgotten. Others I vaguely remember, but the details are lost to me …
Participate relentlessly
“You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.” – Elizabeth Gilbert Two years ago today we got the devastatingly bad news nobody ever wants to get, and despite some initial hope that it might not be as fearful as it seemed at first, the prognosis only got worse and worse in …
Like an inheritance
“Avoid providing material for the drama that is always stretched tight between parents and children; it uses up much of the children’s strength and wastes the love of the elders, which acts and warms even if it doesn’t comprehend. Don’t ask for advice from them and don’t expect any understanding; but believe in a love …
Unfailing love
“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” — Psalm 33:5 One year ago today, I wrote of my joy in seeing Dr. and Mrs. Rodriguez, and having a new grandson, and all the ways we had been blessed with gifts of comfort and consolation amid all the sorrows. …
Compensating
“Grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for growing old.” — Mary H. Waldrip It seemed rather cruel to me that we learned we would be grandparents at about the same time we learned of Jeff’s devastating diagnosis. We prayed for this moment, hoped for it, dreamed of it. We are thankful that it did …
More enjoyable
“You seldom come across anything more enjoyable than a happy person.” — Frank A. Clark When I told Jeff I wanted to use this quote in a post, I asked him if he could think of any photos that would go with it. He immediately responded, “Have you got one of Momba?” “Yes, I have …
So great a sweetness
When such as I cast out remorse So great a sweetness flows into the breast We must laugh and we must sing, We are blest by everything, Everything we look upon is blessed. — William Butler Yeats Recently when I took Matt for his diagnostic testing and pre-surgical planning at the Children’s National Medical Center …
Our highest business
“We are involved in a life that passes understanding and our highest business is our daily life.” — John Cage The post that published one year ago today (linked below) is perhaps the one that has the greatest personal significance to me. Since I wrote that post, one of the three in that picture is …
Ten thousand truths
“There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.” — Henry Ward Beecher A year ago my post …
The art of counting
“Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.” — Harold Coffin I often have a problem with envy, especially when friends who are my age start describing their carefree “empty nest” travels and activities. After nearly 30 years of caretaking and managing the lives of our children (beginning when …
As the magnet finds iron
“The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!” — Henry Ward Beecher As I write this, two weeks before publication, much of the country is in the grip of yet another …
Something wonderful
“I had begun to feel that the days that stretched out in front of me were a dark, terrifying wilderness. As I wrote about moments along the way, everything looked more friendly, and I discovered that the days are only days. I received and gave love as I untangled my thoughts through the act of …
Bless you abundantly
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things …
I am grateful
“I am grateful for the beauty in the midst of suffering. I am grateful for the treasure hunt through the minefield of life. Dangerous or not, I don’t want out of the minefield. Because truth, and beauty , and God are there.” – Glennon Doyle Melton As I write this, the day before Thanksgiving, Jeff …
Only with gratitude
“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer Have you ever had a friend who seemed to give you much more than you gave her or him? At times, we feel helpless ever …
Remembering: Little advantages
“Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.” —Benjamin Franklin Just as it’s often the minor irritations that distract us and wear us down, so too the power of small blessings can transform our lives. The trick is becoming aware of …
Any tea
We had a kettle; we let it leak: Our not repairing made it worse. We haven’t had any tea for a week… The bottom is out of the Universe. — Rudyard Kipling …and speaking of reasons I love to be in England, I think the top three would be tea, tea and tea. Of course, …
The gift of crisis
“You have been offered the gift of crisis. As Kathleen Norris reminds us, the Greek root of the word crisis is “to sift,” as in to shake out the excesses and leave only what’s important. That’s what crises do. They shake things up until we are forced to hold on to only what matters most.” …
What we enjoy
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment…” — C. S. Lewis Tea. Books. Friends. Flowers. Animals. Family. I hope nobody is getting sick of seeing these and other topics here, over and over, because I have so much fun writing about what I enjoy — including anything …
Defeat Despair 