One Thousand Gifts- A Guest Post

     I was leafing through some emails- Things I Knew I Needed to Get to- when I stumbled upon my friend, Carmen's guest post submission.  In one giant sweep of emotions, I knew without a doubt, that this needed to be my first post of 2012.  

We've got plenty of time to catch up on my blogging hiatus (everything's fine) and Life Lately.  

Thank you for this post, Carmen.  Happy New Year to you all.  

This is a Guest Post as part of a series on Good News here at yourstrulyh. Please email me at holls_y@hotmail.com if you are interested in participating.       

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       Good news. I’m so glad that Holly picked this as her guest posting series because, doesn’t the world deserve more good news? Isn’t the world starving for good news? I’d say so.

     I blog at Life Blessons, where I’ve tried to make it part of my mission to take time to share more of this good news, whether it’s celebrating what I’m learning in my faith, what I’m mixing up in my kitchen, or even just taking a leisurely stroll with my husband through the woods near our house where we say naught a word but simply drink in the scenery.

     So as I contemplated what to write for this series, I started thinking about the fact that good news is all around us—if only we have the eyes to see it, to notice it, to embrace it. 

     It reminded me of Philippians 4:11-12, where Paul writes, “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation…”

     The fact is that Paul had to learn these things. They do not come naturally to any of us. If we want to find joy in our life—to see the good news swirling all around us—we have to learn how to do it. 

     In the book One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp decides that the way she is going to learn this is by keeping a list of all the things she’s thankful that God has given her each day. His little gifts of sunshine and a warm griddle and the dancing moonlight. Little things. As I read through this book and her list, I kept waiting for the big stuff she’s thankful for. The revelatory ones. 

Honestly, I started to scoff a bit at all the little things that made her list.
     Then I read this: “The miracle of eucharisteo, like the Last Supper, is in the eating of crumbs, the swallowing down one mouthful. Do not disdain the small. The whole of the life—even the hard—is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole.”
     Learning to seek out an attitude of gratefulness in even the smallest of things… I hadn’t realized how important that is. Because there are always small things for me to be thankful for: the artwork on the wall that makes me smile, the healthy pumpkin-oat muffins I made for breakfast, the cardinal that skips along outside the window. We need not wait for the big things to give thanks, to see that there’s good news waiting for us at every turn. 

     It reminds me of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas story, when it says, "The Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day."
      Yes, seeking out the tiniest of details and seeing them as gifts from God and thanking him for them helps my heart to grow bigger, each and every day. 

“Joy is always given, never grasped.
God gives gifts and I give thanks and I unwrap the gift given: joy.”

— Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

Carmen lives with her husband in Georgia, although she misses home-sweet-home Ohio and all her dear best friends there, including Holly! She chronicles what’s going on in her life—the lessons and blessings of it, what she likes to call her “blessons”—at Life Blessons.

Love and anyone who uses the word infinitesimals is okay in my book, 

H.  

Something you've probably never seen before

Holy Smokes.

I was looking for something reminiscent of this.

In an attempt to capture that sentiment, I "Google Imaged"the words "animals in a hurry" and came up with this.

Love. it.

In short, we're busy.  Too busy to blog, that's right.

Life is weird right now.  Good, but weird.  There is clean laundry everywhere and no hangers.  I'm living in a house 1/2 full of pumpkins with christmas decorations waiting in the wings.

Tomorrow is the day.  It all gets put in it's proper place.

Fingers crossed.

Today, our kindergarten aid was putting up a snowman bulletin board.  I caught the curve of the orange carrot nose out of the corner of my eye, and said, "For a minute, I thought that was the beak of a turkey!"

Shows how much I know.

Oh, and by the way, stop whatever you're doing right now (cause we all know you're multi-tasking while you're reading this).

Just stop.

And go see the new muppet movie.

At one point, I actually could have cried.

Love and what day is it again?
H.

And if you've seen the snail/motorcycle thing before, I probably owe you a dollar.

photo: funnypk.com

Small Talk

The weather here has been gorgeous.  We are actually getting "a fall." Some years, it seems as if our weather is in the 70's...and then it is miserable and rainy/sleety for a month...and then it's winter.  The same was true for last spring.  40 degrees....then 6 weeks of rain/sleet...then 90 degrees.  Bah.

Then there are days when I need the heater in the morning and the AC at night.

But this year?

Thanks be to Autumn.

This morning, I asked Tim if he wanted something delicious for breakfast.  I suggested french toast.  He decided on (homemade) breakfast burritos from the freezer.

He is (sometimes) easy to please.  He is a good husband.

And then he sang The Saturday Song.  We are convinced that Scarlett knows exactly what day Saturday is.  The Saturday Song is what keeps her on schedule. She must have a mental calendar of some sorts, lest the days blur together.  It's hard being a dog.

I decided on French toast cause I'm culturally diverse like that.  Bananas and berries included.

I would like to open a restaurant that serves only french toast.  I would call it The French Toastery because adding "ery" to things just makes the food sound that much more delicious, in my opinion.  But then I could only think of like, 3 kinds of french toast.

And then I drank coffee from my favorite mug which looks like this only this picture is old and you can tell because I'm up and dressed in this picture and I'm not up and dressed today because it is 10:30 on a Saturday plus I dyed my hair sort of red which I think I forgot to tell you and it is more sort of brown than it is sort of red in this picture and that's how you can tell it is an old picture. I think.

My mug says, "Hello."

Well, not LITERALLY says, "Hello."

Although that would be cool.  Kind of like The Sorting Hat in Harry Potter.

It is written on the front.  The word, "Hello."

In case you can't tell.  Cause sometimes, it looks like it just says, "Hell."  Which is funny but probably not as cool.

I beat the Adventure Mode on Plants vs. Zombies, and I'm fully aware that's the most exciting news you'll hear all day.  Maybe all week, even.  If you are looking for a good way to waste every spare minute you have at night, plants vs. zombies is it.

We are supposed to bring a dessert to church tomorrow.  I like that our last name is at the end of the alphabet because that means at potlucks, we always end up being asked to make a dessert.  No can of baked beans for us!  I'm thinking salted caramel bars.  What say you?

An entire Saturday, and my only responsibility is to bake something delicious.  A good day in my book.

I am listening to sad music right now.

Sometimes, on sunny days, I like to listen to sad-sounding music.

Noah & The Whale- Old Joy
The Shout Out Louds- Go Sadness
Deathcab for Cutie- Passenger Seat
Over The Rhine- Latter Days

What's your Saturday looking like?

Love,
H.

Hit the Brakes

Sometimes, I read someone else's writing, and I say to myself,

"Self, that is exactly what I've been feeling.  In fact, I couldn't have said it better mySELF."

Example A.  

Thanks be to Layla.

And now, I shall go play MarioKart.  Because we keep saying we're going to play, and yet- we never do. I mean, come on guys.  Those banana peels aren't going to hit themselves.

Wait, you mean you aren't supposed to hit the banana peels?

Love, and you coulda fooled me.
H.

It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out

Husband of Mine,
    Do you remember when we drove up the coast of California during the dead middle of summer and the whole world smelled like strawberries?

Good. Because I do, too.

And I am holding on closely to those days.

Love and if I were a color, I'd be blue,
H.

No Need to Convert a Believer

     When Tim and I first met, he was living in a rental on the outskirts of town (a.k.a. middle of now where). On Sundays, we would throw open the windows and nap.  And life was easy.  Probably the easiest it will ever be.

I can remember lying awake with the sunshine pouring in and absolutely not wanting the day to end.

     A few weeks ago, we had some unseasonably warm weather.  We napped with the windows open and the breeze blowing through the curtains. When I woke up, I absolutely could not stop taking pictures.

     I think back on Those Early Days before we were married as if now, I can hear the voice of God saying, "Just you wait, it's about to get So Good."

Love,
H.

Completely Intertwined (a guest post)

This guest poster is one of my best pals.  Her strength and amazing outlook encourage and inspire me.  

I started to put things in bold/italics to emphasize some of the great points in her piece...and then I wanted to put EVERYTHING in bold/italics.  It's that good.  

Thank you dear friend o' mine.  A thousand times, thank you.

"Good News"

      I  have found that good news, along with many things, is defined differently with the ebbs and flows of life.  Things that are good news to me in my current stage of life...I'm gonna define that as the things worthy of telling someone else...are things that I wouldn't have given a second thought, or even considered something negative, not that long ago.  But I am reminded daily that no matter how bad the circumstances are, there are pieces of "good news" in every day - you have to just change your perspective.

      Currently, my marriage is a complete and utter mess, with me doing everything possible to save it and not getting much back in return.  Here's a few tidbits of good news that I've had in the past few weeks - remember, this is stuff I've actually been excited to call and tell someone.

1.  My husband let me touch his leg in church.

2.  He's actually answered my phone call today.

3.  He entered our house, sat down, and stayed for 5 minutes.(My husband moved out in May.)

4.  The divorce papers he told me I'd be receiving today didn't come.

     Now, some of you who read this probably are thinking how sad all of that is.  And, let me tell ya, I could easily think that too.  But I make a conscious choice on a daily basis to change my perspective.  And let me tell ya, those four things listed above were all pieces of good news, things I celebrated.  I have to say, I am not always a cup half full kinda gal.  But I'm learning with God's help, that although that might not be my natural tendency, it doesn't mean I can't choose to be that way.  It is so much easier to wallow in your sadness and give yourself a million "woe is me's".  And ya know what, sometimes life just sucks...no other way about it.  Trust me, I have lived some of that since May.  


     Honestly, though, I can tell ya, life is 100% easier when you choose to look for the good news in your own circumstances.  So if you are low in "good news," change your perspective on your life circumstances and try again.  The good news is in there,  I promise.  


     This might sound super cliche, but to be truly happy, healthy, and whole, you, with God's help, have to be positive and at peace with life's circumstances.  I don't mean that in a way where you don't want there to be changes, because trust me, I want my circumstance to change more than anything and I pray for that continuously.  I have found that hope and trust are completely intertwined.  The more I trust God to move, the more hope I have.  And we have to remember that God always moves...not always (or ever) when we want, but He never fails to be right where we are right when we need Him.  


Hallelujah!

Source: get-thinspiration.tumblr.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

This guest post is part of a series here at Yours Truly, H.  The theme is Good News.  Please email me at holls_y {at} hotmail(dot)com if you'd like to participate!