Let us go then, you and I...

I recently found out about a wonderful idea of Diana Strinati Baur's called Gratitude Fridays. I found out about her idea through Sandra's and Nancy's blogs and thought how fantastic and uplifting, I must be part of this club! Diana challenges fellow bloggers to take a moment each Friday to say what we are grateful for, and to link back to her blog, where she will host a list of all those participating in The Gratitude Friday Club.

So here is my first Gratitude Friday entry...although I have so much to be grateful for, I hardly know where to start!

I am grateful...

...for my awesome husband and soulmate, Dave. Our 22nd anniversary is tomorrow and, after all these years, I think he knows me better than I do...he even understands my inner child moments! He gives me space, he holds me close, his presence makes me feel grounded and safe and unconditionally loved. (And he's really good to snuggle with when watching scary movies!)

...for my gorgeous, talented, amazing daughters, M and Sara. I am so proud of them both. ♥

...for my mom and my sister (but I need some updated photos, so they will reappear another Friday)

As I mentioned last week, Diana Strinati Baur had a wonderful idea to start a Gratitude Friday Club...she challenged fellow bloggers to take a moment each Friday to say what we are grateful for, and to link back to her blog, where she has a list of some of those participating in The Gratitude Friday Club.)

Today, and always, I am grateful for...

...my Mom, a strong, independent, beautiful, intelligent, warm and loving woman. My sister Lynn and I often marvel at Mom's unflappable patience and understanding...she never takes things personally and is always able to shed new light on any problems we share with her. And she is fun to be around, with her great sense of humour and openness to new experiences! We gather at her house after church most Sundays and engage in conversations ranging from serious to silly.

...my sister Lynn, another strong, independent, beautiful, intelligent, warm and loving woman. What words can describe our connection? We have shared everything from friendship to fights (hey, what sisters haven't had a brawl or ten during the course of growing up together?!) She has come to my rescue when I found myself in awkward situations. She has provided a much needed shoulder in times of tears, and laughed with me after the tears subsided. She has, in turn, leaned on me when she needed support. We have a lifetime of inside jokes that provoke spontaneous giggle fits...we don't have to say anything to know that we are having the same foolish thought. Occasionally something strikes our funnybones at time when laughter would be untoward, and we have not dared make eye contact because we knew if we did so, we'd be unable to contain ourselves!

Each Friday, I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog. Diana is the founder of the Gratitude Friday Club, and has a list of the club members on her blog...check them out too, your heart will be lifted by the wonderful expressions of gratitude! And if you're inspired to do so, leave me a comment and let me know what you are grateful for today.

Today I am feeling grateful for music. As I commented to my blog friend Kathy recently, music has such power to lift our hearts. There are way too many songs that I could include in this entry, but just finished listening to Dobie Grey's amazing version of Drift Away, so that's what I've chosen.

I love the words to this song. I feel like a broken record saying that yet another song feels like a love song to God, but...I sing the words, that last verse especially, and my heart is filled with the power, the presence, the light of the Spirit...the light through the pouring rain.

I thank God for filling this world with music...the music of voices, of instruments, of nature...the rhythm and rhyme and harmony ♥

Lyrics to Drift Away, written by Mentor Williams:

Each Friday, I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog. Diana is the founder of the Gratitude Friday Club, and has a list of the club members on her blog...check them out too, your heart will be lifted by the wonderful expressions of gratitude!

(My apologies for being late this week...I'm backdating to Friday, but am really posting this on Saturday...oops!)

I am grateful for flowers (who isn't?!) Their beauty ranges from delicate pastel shades to bold splashes of brilliant colour. Doesn't it lift your heart to see the first blooms of spring after all the white and grey and brown of winter? Wildflowers are my favourites. Here in Nova Scotia, we are blessed with a wealth of wild flowers...Queen Anne's lace and buttercups and daisies spreading across fields, lady's slippers and trilliums hiding in the woods, water lilies floating in ponds, blue flag irises tucked into the edges of marshes, lupins run rampant along roadsides. Many of our wild flowers are considered weeds by many people, but I love them. Unfortunately, they are hard to capture on film...they end up looking scraggly in photos, instead of vibrantly full of life, or else I simply don't have my camera along when I come across these lovely jewels of nature.

Most of the following photos are of cultivated beauty, but still...aren't they glorious!? :)

As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog. Diana is the founder of the Gratitude Friday Club, and has a list of the club members on her blog...check them out too, your heart will be lifted by the wonderful expressions of gratitude!

I have such a hard time choosing just one thing each Friday! Today I am feeling grateful for laughter. Grateful for those moments when the bubbles of joy in my heart erupt out loud in a roar of laughter, over something utterly foolish or silly, over a shared joke or a private amusement. Laughter shakes the body, rocks the soul, lifts the heart. The wonderfully healing moments when I suddenly see the humour in a situation that had been causing frustration. Laughter really is contagious...who can be around a laughing friend and not feel your own laughter bubbling up inside?

Rabindranath Tagore said: "the burden of the self is lightened with I laugh at myself." So true. How much lighter my self, my soul, feels when I am able to laugh at myself. The moment I can laugh at my insecurities is the moment they cease to have power...of course sometimes it is a long time before I can laugh at a particular feeling, but when I can, it brings such a lightness to my heart. When I voice aloud the insecurities of my inner child and in naming them, am able to see the absurdity in them and laugh them away...ah, what freedom that brings!

Laughter is such a wonderful reflection of joy, when something tickles our funny bone or utterly delights our soul in a way that cannot be expressed except in a wordless burst of laughter. Whatever the reason that prompts any particular outburst, I am grateful for laughter, without which life would be unbearable!

It's so rare to capture a burst of true laughter on film, we are usually holding on our faces a self-conscious smile while waiting for the photo to be taken. But, I scanned through my albums and happily came across a few wonderful images of laughter to share with you.

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
~e.e. cummings

I am so grateful to have faith in God and feel the presence of the Spirit in my world. Grateful for the expansive sense of joy and uplifting power when my heart is singing with happiness and laughter, grateful for the embrace of comfort and strength when my heart feels laden with burdens too heavy to bear alone. I am grateful to have found a church family with whom I can celebrate this faith openly, grateful to have found a place in our choir so I can worship through song. (Although, truth be told, sometimes choir practice is an exercise in frustration and negativity as a few people, I think, lose sense of the reason we are singing in their quest for perfection. But I just keep reminding myself of the joy I feel when singing on Sunday mornings to a very appreciative congregation. They are not nearly as critical as we can be ourselves, and seem to love our performances, imperfections and all!)

But, back to the faith issue...I could write volumes, but will simply say that trusting in God, and opening my heart through prayer, has helped me through some painful experiences the past year or two, and has also led me to a deeper appreciation of my world and all its wonders. I take time more often to marvel at the glories of creation, to feel a sense of connectedness with everything around me, to embrace and celebrate diversity. I find it easier to deal with pain and sorrow...well maybe it's not exactly easier, but I do find that emotional healing comes faster when I allow myself to be strengthened by God's love.

I realize not everyone feels the same way, and that's fine. I recall fellow blogger Jill once saying that her father taught her that it was ok not to believe in God. Which I thought was interesting, since I had to find my way to a place where it is ok to believe in God. But regardless of anyone else's faith or beliefs (or lack thereof), I am incredibly grateful for my own!

I am also grateful for gifted poets like Tagore, who can capture such incredible wisdom in so few words...

The Grasp Of Your Hand

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,

but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but

for the heart to conquer it.

Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,

but hope for the patience to win my freedom.

Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling

Your mercy in my success alone; but let me find

the grasp of Your hand in my failure.

~ Rabindranath Tagore from The Heart of God

For some unknown reason, I always feel the presence of God very strongly when gazing at a sunset...all those radiant colours in the sky reminding me of the vast complexity and beauty of the universe. Here is the sunset I was blessed with a couple nights ago:

And, as always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog. Diana is the founder of the Gratitude Friday Club, and has a list of the club members on her blog...check them out too, your heart will be lifted by the wonderful expressions of gratitude.

It's been a long day and a long draining week...I am still grateful for so many things. The renewed light in my beautiful Sara's eye, the wondrous glories of Creation I see around me every day, the uplifting and soul-filling strains of music that fill my ears, the affectionate purr and "chatter" of my big boy cat Winston, the comfort of Dave's arms, the way the Spirit occasionally graces my writing so that it touches and lifts someone's heart, seeing my best friend's face light up when we meet, seeing my sister filled with laughter and contentment in the company of her new boyfriend, and the laughter on the lips of my daughter M, my niece and their friends this evening at Lynn's party.

I am also grateful for the amazing communities to which I belong.

The intimate community of my family, in whose arms I feel the strength, courage and power that comes from being unconditionally loved. The community of people who fill my life, my heart, my soul.

The caring and fun community of folks with whom I am blessed to spend my working days. It is wonderful being able to come in to work each morning looking forward to seeing these friends.

My larger faith community with whom I joyfully worship, and who come together to support one another in so many ways. I am grateful to be a part of this church family, to contribute in ways such as knitting prayer shawls and adding my voice to choir. I am especially grateful that I am often able to join the ecumenical choir for funeral services. It is a great honour and privilege to lift the hearts of grieving families through song.

My blogging community, through which I have made some wonderful connections. In spite of never having met my blog friends in person (except for dear Maria!), I feel like I know many of them quite well. I am grateful for their warmth and caring through some rough patches, and grateful that my own blog has bytimes given them strength in return. Links to my favourite blogs are on my sidebar, blogs through which I have been inspired, amused, entertained and enlightened. Thanks my friends!

Found this image online when I googled community...I love it:

As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog. Diana is the founder of the Gratitude Friday Club, and has a list of the club members on her blog...check them out too, your heart will be lifted by the wonderful expressions of gratitude.

I am infinitely grateful for that small but mighty act of love called HUG. What a rush of comfort, strength, and belonging floods through us when we are wrapped in the embrace of someone we love. I honestly can't say which is more wonderful, getting a hug or giving a hug! In moments when words just can't be found, what a blessing that our body language can come to the rescue with a hug. ♥

Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.
~ Jacques Prévert

Everybody needs a hug. It changes your metabolism.
~ Leo Buscaglia

I read this quotation on my friend Barb's blog earlier in the week, and it inspired today's entry:

Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things.
~ Saki

Well I'm not going to tell you hundreds of things, but I will tell you one story. The story of how my favourite tea came to be called "crappy tea"...

Once upon a time...I was picking up some produce at Avery's Farm Market and I noticed that they carried a few types of Just Us! tea. One in particular, called Organic Lemon & Honey, sounded very tasty, so I picked up a box to try. It was indeed tasty, so the next time I was at Avery's, I picked up a box for my friend Valerie, too.

Sometime later...I was at her house chatting with her husband Mark. (We have a running joke that he's my "real" friend, because of all the times I've ended up visiting him in her absence when she's been called away for some pastoral emergency or another. Valerie once said it was really a friendship test...if I could put up with her goofy husband, I must be a true friend! In truth, I enjoy his company very much and have grown enormously fond of him, especially after we all spent so much time together in Newfoundland.) Anyway this particular day, Mark asked if I wanted coffee or tea or anything. I said a cup of tea would be lovely, and followed him into the kitchen. He said, "do you want regular tea, or [picking up a box from the counter] this crappy tea?" It was, of course, the box of lemon & honey tea that I'd left at their house on a previous visit. I laughed and replied, "Hey, I brought that crappy tea! And yes, I will have a cup of that crappy tea, thank you very much!" So I had a lovely cup of crappy tea, and we carried on with our visit.

Naturally I had to share this story with Valerie when next I saw her and, as I knew she would, she found it just as funny as I did. And so Just Us! Lemon & Honey tea is now, and will forevermore be, referred to as "crappy tea" in our little world. The incident hadn't stuck in Mark's head at all though because a few months later, Valerie and I were talking about having crappy tea and he asked why do we always call it that. "Well (snicker, snicker), you started it", we replied...and reminded him of the story.

Just the other day, I read the back of the box...

...and discovered that, lo these past many months, I've been using an improper technique - gasp - henceforth, I shall stop swishing the teabag about and instead patiently wait for the flavours to unfold as it steeps.

Today, I am grateful for the relaxing warmth of tea, for the many stories shared over cups of tea, (for inside jokes!), and for the wonderful metaphor tea provides for living: that it is best enjoyed when all its delicious flavours and aromas are allowed to unfold and mingle as they will...

As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog, where you will find links to the other Gratitude Friday Club. Let your heart be warmed and lifted as their stories of gratitude unfold...

A short and sweet note of gratitude today...I am grateful for cats.

The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.
~French Proverb

These wonderful little creatures bring such joy and comfort into our lives (along with furballs and clawed up furniture and constant demands to be let in-and-out and in-and-out!) There is something inexplicably soothing about the presence of a cat. Their individual personalities are a source of amusement (or should I say bemusement?!), wonder and delight.

Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience.
~Pam Brown

Here is our regal Winston, who has laid claim to my pretty butterfly rug:

And when our feline friends lean into our arms and grace us with purring...ah, whose heart is not flooded with warmth and love?

Are we really sure the purring is coming from the kitty and not from our very own hearts?
~Emme Woodhull-Bäche, translated

If purring could be encapsulated, it'd be the most powerful anti-depressant on the pharmaceutical market.
~Alexis F. Hope

If we treated everyone we meet with the same affection we bestow upon our favorite cat, they, too, would purr.
~Martin Buxbaum

If there were to be a universal sound depicting peace, I would surely vote for the purr.
~Barbara L. Diamond

M and our tiny Polly, doing her best impersonation of a scarf:

This week's entry wrote itself...and a day early at that!

It all began with my friend Valerie's weekly email to her church family. (For those who don't already know this, Valerie is the minister at my church, which is how we came to know each other and then grew into being best friends.)

Anyway, her email went like this (with the reminders of upcoming events edited out):

"Good morning

Blessings
Valerie

I listened to Simon and Garfunkle's The Sound of Silence this morning, and am inspired to write a second gratitude entry this week!

I think there is much truth in the lyrics to this song...the metaphoric words of the prophets are most often written in places where we forget to look, and whispered in the silences we don't take time to listen to.

This song about the sound of silence kind of ties in with my previous entry, although a different way of listening to the silence. Not listening for your own sake, but listening for others. Listening for the voices of those who have grown silent, weary of having their words fall on deaf ears. Those of us living lives of wealth and privilege do too often bow and pray as lip service only. We go to church on Sunday morning, we hear the words about what we are called to do, but we do not always listen, and certainly we do not always act. In fact, we often simply return to our comfy lives and think no more about the ways in which we might help others, or the ways in which we might change the world. In fairness, it is hard to sustain a belief that one person can make a difference, so we get disheartened and feel helpless and overwhelmed at the size of the problems facing our world.

I am grateful for an employer who is engaged in charitable efforts, who offers us opportunities to respond with action. One such opportunity arose last week, when volunteers were requested to participate in the United Way Day of Caring. I, and several others from my department (I work for the provincial government) were allowed time off to volunteer and were assigned to a work team that would be painting sections of a men's shelter owned by the Metropolitan Immigration Settlement Association (MISA). A small act of helping, but every small act is a step in the right direction. Here is the story, and a couple photos of our team.

I am grateful for rainbows...

This morning, in particular, I am incredibly grateful for the rainbow that arched across the sky above my backyard. The graceful curve and brilliant colours brightened my cloudy heart.

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
~ Genesis 9:13 (NIV)

Leroy bet me I couldn't find a pot of gold at the end, and I told him that was a stupid bet because the rainbow was enough.
~ Rita Mae Brown

Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.
~ Lord Byron

What a privilege to be here on the planet to contribute your unique donation to humankind. Each face in the rainbow of colors that populate our world is precious and special.
~ Morris Dees

Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail.
~ Navajo song

As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog and check out the other Gratitude Friday Club blogs...

So my hubby, Dave, has been wanting one of those little fibreglass Boler trailers for years, decades even. They are not easy to come by, at least not ones that are in good condition AND a decent price. (Not to mention that over the years I've mostly just laughed and said yeah right, I'm not going camping in something that's barely bigger than a breadbox.) But, after all these years, the universe has finally smiled upon him. A guy in a neighbouring community was selling his 1972 Boler, and we happened along just at the right time to buy it.

Now you might wonder how Dave convinced me to go along with this purchase...well, he started threatening to build some kind of camper himself. Suddenly a factory made Boler, no matter how small, seemed like an attractive option! Therefore...

I am grateful that we now own a real camper, albeit tiny, and not a homemade contraption.

I think we'll enjoy camping in our new (old) Boler. It's actually pretty cute, although it would be nice to paint it something more exciting than off white (something less egg-like perhaps?) And if it turns out I hate it, we can always sell it in a year or two for the same or higher price - they are just that much in demand. Seriously, it's like some kind of cult or something...and now we're part it, oh dear!

These campers seem often to be referred to as an "egg on wheels" (you'll understand why after you check out the following photos.) I was just reading an article on the history of the Boler, and it said the creator Ray Olecko "was looking for an unusual name for the trailer, and thinking that it looked a little like a bowler hat, he decided on Boler!" (So Valerie, there is a connection to the hat after all!)

Here are some photos:

If we are peaceful,
if we are happy,
we can smile,
and everyone in our family,
our entire society,
will benefit from our peace.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I am incredibly grateful to live in a country, like Canada, where it is easy to feel peaceful, to be happy, to smile. O how I wish the same for everyone in this precious world of ours...

Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous.
~ George Bernard Shaw

Let us not be afraid to walk the arduous path of peace...

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
~ Mother Teresa

Let us be living reminders that we all belong to each other...

Let us join our voices and hearts and prayers together...Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog and check out the other Gratitude Friday Club blogs...

A belated entry this week, since I haven't been able to access my blog for two days. And a short entry too because, well I'm feeling crappy right now and haven't the energy to write up anything meaningful. (Hoping I just have a cold and not the flu, but the fact that I have a fever does not exactly support that theory...will keep you posted.)

I am grateful for ... humour :) My friend Andrea sent me the following...definitely made me laugh out loud - enjoy!!

HELL EXPLAINED BY A CHEMISTRY STUDENT

The following is an actual question given on a University of Arizona Chemistry mid term exam.

The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls
enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase
until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in
Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes
over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.
The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct..... .leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+

As always, each Friday I invite you to click over to Diana Strinati Baur's blog and check out the other Gratitude Friday Club blogs...