Grace Notes - Counting the Gifts 685-697

"You say grace before meals.  All right.  But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink."  ~ G. K. Chesterton

Continuing to count the gifts of His grace . . .

685.  Clematis showing buds ready to burst open

686.  Bulbs breaking the surface of the soil after winter's sleep
687.  A walk down the lane with my camera

688.  A deep settled peace that has remained throughout a long hard season
689.  Beating a deadline
690.  Grandchildren praying for Grandma's knee to bend
691.  Climbing four stairs the normal way (not step together, step together)
692.  I lay down and slept . . . I awoke for the LORD sustained me Psalm 3:5
693.  This cheery little fella singing his heart out

694.  Temperatures rising, days getting longer
695.  Climbing a whole flight of stairs . . . taking it to a new level
696.  Another gorgeous going-down of the sun

697.  An early birthday card from my dad that has me completely undone

"If" for Daughters . . .

 a special Birthday Message by Emily Matthews

"If you find happiness in simple pleasures

And see the rainbow, not the falling rain,

If you have faith to keep right on believing

In miracles that no one can explain . . . 

If you look until you see the good in others

And keep your spirit honest, true and free

Then you'll be not just happy and successful

But the woman only you were meant to be."

Over the years you've grown into an amazing woman

and your birthday is the perfect time to tell you

how much you're loved 

for being the wonderful daughter 

you are.

Happy Birthday

If you knew the full story of my relationship with my father, the wonder of these words to my heart would be clear.  When I was barely a teenager my dad walked away from the LORD and his family.  Daddy's little girl was devastated as were my siblings and my mama.  Though he walked me down the aisle when I married, there then came a long stretch of time when we were estranged  . . . years, many years, more than a decade.

Then as the LORD began to bring healing to my heart, as I did a lot of forgiveness work and breaking of judgments, as revelation came about things he had suffered as a child, compassion welled up in me and I began to see the good in him.  At some point we reconnected and over the last few years He has called nearly every Sunday. As the call ended, I would always say, "I love you, Dad".  He would respond with "yup, g'bye' . . . and after many months, he began to mumble "yup, love you, too".  The subject of faith has remained closed all this time . . . but, hallelujah . . . those words on the card that HE sent me . . . If you have faith to keep right on believing, in miracles that no one can explain . . . and so I keep right on believing . . . 

Linking with the thanks-givers for Multitudes on Mondays . . .