The blog and I have been a bit stranger-ly (word?) lately. I could throw out a bundle of reasons why, but really, is a blog full of reasons why I haven’t blogged lately truly any better than no blog at all?
So, no excuses. (Although, I have to say, near the top of the list would’ve been my recent trip to Wichita to visit my sister and brother-in-law and that’s one dandy of an excuse, if I do say so myself. It just stands to reason that a girl’s not going to spend time in front of a computer screen when, instead, she could be going crazy during a game of Nertz, dying of laughter on the floor of a store because she’s got a ring stuck on her finger – seriously stuck! – playing Guitar Hero, shopping, eating and laughing and laughing and laughing with two of her favorite people! See, good excuse.)
Anyhow, in an attempt to once again make the acquaintance of this online entity I like to call Tag(g)lines, tonight I’m going to go with the most obvious of all possible blog topics for this particular week and spend a few minutes thinking about where my Thanks-giving will be directed this Thursday.
Oh, but first, random memory! I was a darn good kid in church in my younger years. Quiet, I mean. (A great deal of the credit, by the way, goes to my grandma for the “quiet book” she made me. I still have the pink cloth book and, in fact, came across it just a few weeks ago. I hope I have a daughter someday who can enjoy it during church…) But another reason for my general well-behaved-ness in church was my creativity in sermon-endurance tactics. Decorating the bulletin, for instance. Imagining new adventures for Nancy Drew. (This tactic went into operation after I became too old to actually read my Nancy Drew books in church.) Trying to learn the alphabet backwards. But one of the best…
Making lists of things I was grateful for. I’m not kidding…for a good several months or so, this was how I made it through the sermon. I kept a running list from Sunday to Sunday. I’m sure it started out with the expected “my family,” “my friends,” “my Nancy Drew books”…But eventually I expanded my horizons into things like “Mom and Dad letting me wear pants to church today,” “leaves to jump in,” “being a girl instead of a boy.” And for some reason, I so clearly remember adding spoons to the list at one point.
I don’t know how I got the idea to start that list and I’m not sure whatever caused me to stop. (Perhaps I started listening to the sermon? One would hope.) But I want that attitude of thankfulness to make a resurgence in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an entirely ungrateful person. But sometimes it’s just too easy to complain. And I hate it when I catch myself stuck in a rut of complaint. The best remedy I can think of for such an annoying state of being is moving into an “attitude of gratitude.”
And so, here we go…(Mind you, this is by no means a comprehensive list and it won’t be even close to that list I had going as a kid in church. These are just the 20 things – ’cause 20’s a nice, even number – that stand out to me this particular Tuesday evening…)
~ Mom and Dad. They are the best parents ever, and also, increasingly, two of the best friends I can imagine.
~ Grandma and Grandpa Flessner. I love my grandma and grandpa so much! If I could take Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa and combine them all together into one person, that’s the person I’d want to be!
~ Siblings! Yay, I really like them. A lot of people love their siblings, but don’t necessarily like them. I’m so glad I can truly say I not only love, but also genuinely like, all three (+ my brother-in-law makes four!) of them.
~ And speaking of, the knowledge that God not only loves me, he likes me too. It’s crazy, really, but so comforting.
~ A wonderful couple months of writing. Yay for the storycrafting retreat and my new Ponderer friends.
~ Amazing friends. Sometimes I bemoan the fact that none of my best-est of friends live here in Des Moines. Then I remember how blessed I am to have such amazingly close friendships even at a distance!
~ The wisdom of Francis Chan.
~ The wit of Jon Acuff. If you haven’t read Stuff Christians Like, you just have to. Hilarious.
~ The brilliance of Ted Dekker.
~ Old music loves – Coldplay, I will never get tired of you! – and new music raves – Needtobreathe, how could I have gone so long without knowing you?; Seabird, how fun!; “Mona Lisa” by Grant Lee Phillips, I could listen to you over and over and over (oh wait, I have!).
~ Coffee and Diet Coke with Lime and Mint Tea, thank you for helping me write!
~ A new bed so comfy it just has to be what beds in heaven will be like.
~ Working for a great ministry and truly fun coworkers.
~ My faithful and reliable Macbook.
~ The fact that of all the times I’ve tripped and fallen while at the gym – ’cause I always read while I’m on the treadmill or elliptical, see – I’ve never seriously hurt myself!
~ Susan May Warren’s Noble Legacy books. I just re-read this series and loved every page!
~ The holidays!
~ Pretty scarves. Oh, and a new black dress I bought the other day and the as-of-yet unidentified occasion when I’ll get to wear it! I just know something will come up…
~ Peanut Butter Panic ice cream.
~ And the supper I’m about to eat once I figure out something to make…
