It’s been so long since I’ve written consistently, I don’t know where to start.  Life bubbles up around, books waiting to be read and reviewed, photos long to be posted and shared.  Summer days find some paradoxical mixture of leisure and frenzy and I long for the routine of the school year while simultaneously denying its return.

As is the habit, though, the best place to start seems to be with giving thanks, by continuing to list the gifts, even when it begins to seem routine.  For this wonderful listing of gifts serves as its own sort of journal of our lives and these crazy, joy-filled days.

1895.  a new day

1896.  fresh starts

1897.  a clean fridge with one less glass shelf

1898.  cold a/c

1899.  school ordered for next year

1900.  playing cards with my kiddos

1901.  painting with the second born

1902.  summer fruit

1903.  children working and playing so well together

1904.  sounds of a summer storm

1905.  another cast removed

1906.  a water slide that won’t inflate

1907.  starting early

1908.  a found wallet

1909.  a truly restful Sunday

1910.  enjoying the Olympic trials with my girls

1911.  just spending time together

1912.  vegetables chopped up in large summer salad

1913.  warm bread out of the oven

1914.  more work done alongside the children

1915.  more furniture painted, given fresh face

1916.  watching husband splash and play with our children at the local pool

1917.  third born turning 9

1918.   Legos, nerf guns, purse and dress – gifts for a girl of varied interests

1919.  {accidentally skipping a number in listing the gifts}

1920.  being bone tired and falling into bed after a long, hot day

1921.  hot summer days

1922.  time in the Word

1923.  staying up too late talking with my beloved

1924.  house picked up

1925.  hours by the pool

1926.  children learning, in a non-dangerous way, that not everyone who claims to be a friend really is

1927.  swim lessons

1928.  budgets

1929.  80* mornings

1930.  all of these hot hot mornings

1931.  laughing hard over Haiti tales

1932. wondering when she will be home with us

1933.  July 4th

1934.  freedom

1935.  sleepy, slow moving kiddos

1936.  watching the youngest find confidence in the water

1937.  teacher friend who encourages, pushes, never gives up

1938.  kitchen scrubbed clean

1939.  dad who comes to help bury hamster on a hot summer day

1940.  spending the evening with my parents

1941.  getting our money’s worth at the pool

1942.  another restful Sunday

1943.  husband home, time together

I hope you are also finding time to remember the gifts He daily gives.  What a wonderful legacy to list His gifts, and look back on His hand, His presence in each day.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara