I begin a new month with sweet praises to God in Christ. Slowly the slender rays of sun seem to show up fewer hours of the day. I longer a little longer when I feel the warm rays on my shoulders and continue my daily thanksgiving to God.#1743-1745 Gifts Summer:: Hot, wet days; Ice tea on the back porch; the Garden!
#1746-1748 Gifts Cut:: Cucumbers from my vine; Peppermint leaves for tea; Bunches of flowers.
#1749-1751 Gifts Yellow:: Merigolds; Coriopsis; My chair by the front door.
#1752-1754 Gifts Cool:: Ice Cream; Warm:: Tepid Tea; Sun soaked:: Me!
#1755-1757 Gifts Autumn:: Cool Evenings; Browning leaves; Changing light.
#1758-1760 Gifts Growing:: My faith in Christ; Mounds of basil for pesto; Lush Tomato Vines.
#1761-1763 Gifts Given:: Christ's life so that I might live; Soldiers' lives for my freedom; Unconditional Love from my Lord.
#1764-1766 Gifts Made:: Cucumber and Tomato with herbs - all from the garden; Masked:: Strong odors from farmer's fields masked with hanging herbs in our kitchen; Marveled:: God's abundance that never ends.
#1767-1769 Gifts Framed:: My sister's drawings; mirrors in old frames; The sunset framed by my 15 pane window.
#1773-1775 Hard Eucharisteos:: Getting up at 0-dark hundred on Sunday to drive an hour to church; Sitting in doctors' offices waiting for hubby and re-visiting and more visits - all for cataract surgery follow-up; Listening to people's stories that are enduringly hard.
#1776-1778 Gift of Words:: Scripture as I study daily; Hubby with complements almost daily; Prayer that slips from the tongue when I wake at 4am and wait to return to sleep.
#1779-1781 Gifts Scented:: Potpourri to lighten up the bathroom; Scrawled:; My signature on official papers; Started:: A new ministry in a small church in a tiny town.#1782-1784 Gifts Drawn:: Water from the pond for plants; Scribbles from a two-year old; A young mother with an extraordinary gift of drawings that come from scripture.
#1785-1787 Gifts Paired:: Two Parables in Luke 15:1-10: Shepherd and his sheep and A woman and her lost coin; Bread and Wine for Holy Communion: Christ's body and blood; Hubby and me!
#1788-1800 Gifts Shared:: Life with Hubby; These personal graces with anyone who wants to read them; The Good News of Life with Jesus Christ.
#1801-1803 Gifts Ugly-Beautiful:: Dried Coreopsis; Sedum Autumn Joy that our little bunny sat in and made to flop flat; Our pile of laundry that will soon be sparkling clean.
#1807-1809 Gifts in Conversation:: New faces with new voices and new stories; JOY-filled comments about the cooling weather; Great ideas that stimulate creativity.
#1810-1812 Gifts of Salvation:: My own; Hubby; Kyle who is now with the Lord in heaven.
#1813-1815 Gifts of Information:: God's Scripture; Catholic Encyclopedia; Friends.
#1816-1818 Gifts Rattling:: My dehydrator when drying apple chips; Receding:: Destructive flood waters in Colorado; Reclaiming:: Odd pieces of wood filled with flowers.
#1819-1821 Gifts Quiet:: Meditation on Scripture; Early morning sunrise; Breathing
#1822-1824 Gifts Funny:: Children's wisdom; Hubby's stories; comic strips
#1825-1827 Gifts Finished:: This month's eucharisteos; Hubby's cataract surgeries; my bag of chocolate ship cookies.
#1828-1830 Gifts Flourishing:: Autumn Joy Sedum; My herb garden: Basil; ME!
#1831-1833 Gifts Unexpected:: A huge spider web early in the morning; Uneven:: pavement
#1834-1836 Gifts Shy:: Little children I am meeting for the first time; memories of me as a child; An elderly woman who is embarrassed by her tears.
#1837-1839 Gifts Shelved:: Dozens of books; Gifts waiting to be given away; Future blog-notes I no longer have time to write.
#1840-1842 Gifts Shining:: Bright round sun on this clear morning when we are driving to church at 6:30 am; The gleam of the eucharist goblet; The Lord's presence as we sing to Him.
