August 12, 2017, and seven of the beauties I didn't deserve

Lately, I've been getting behind.  I see the book lying there and grab it, hastily scanning my kitchen table for a red pen to jot with.  Sixteen hour days don't motivate you to go home and write deathless prose, to paraphrase Frank McCourt in Teacher Man.

But I still have an entry for almost every day of the last more than two years.  I hope to continue to the end of my five year journal. 

I was looking through it tonight, thinking of the days represented by the sentences I left.  Someone's house fire.  A tragic death.  Moments of turmoil in my life.  Moments of wonder.  Me bemoaning the fact that I eat too much, two years in a row on the same day.  It's good I've conquered that
problem so completely!  (If you think I'm serious, see my last blog.)

Sometime this last year I switched to focus on the best part of the day, the part that I'm most grateful for.  That's when  I started writing in red.  Now, instead of a few sentences about what happened, I try to capture the beautiful moments of the day.

1.)"Breakfast at the Cock-a-Doodle with Lily, Brian, and Byron."

2.) "Swinging on the bench by the river talking to Grandma H.  My life is so crammed with beauty!"

3.) "The Somalian's brother saying he would never forget me and complimenting my modesty." 

4.) "Chris and Christine teasing me about being high on marijuana."  

5.) "Walking to the river with DaRion and the Laurel girls, then popping in at the guys." 

6.) "Dr. Halloran's final text...'you helped me immensely'"....."Dr. Dickson thanking me for helping him Sunday night with the info..."

7.) "Crying over God's love and the church bells by the river."

The book will be finished on August 12, 2017, if I live that long and don't forget about it.  But already I think it must reflect more beauty, more "saved by the grace of God", than anyone deserves in one lifetime.  More good, more blessings than I should have ever known.

So, while my sad comments about over-eating haven't disappeared, I know that God is with me, that he will be faithful in teaching me, whether quickly or slowly, how to fight each battle that comes my way.  Sometimes he delivers, and sometimes he gives the power to fight.

But enough to know He is with us!