Having just finished the book One Thousand Gifts, I’m starting my own list of one thousand gifts. I’ll post them as they accumulate and keep the running list on this new tab, titled All is Grace.

1. the aroma of fresh bread baking

2. soft, pink, ever-so kissable cheeks and strong little girl arms that hug me almost too tight at bedtime

3. improv puppet shows with an orange, hairy Mr. Nobody puppet and lots of little animal puppets drinking lemonade

4. little girls learning to sew

5. warm chocolate chip cookies on a cold January evening 

6. words read aloud, together, that take us high into Swiss Alps with a little girl and her grandfather

7. a Jesus follower who faithfully lists endless gifts and serves up words that transform me

8. the scent of her hair as she slumbers beneath a heap of blankets

9. haphazard, random snowflakes falling on a warm January morning

10. playful little girl voices trailing up from the basement

11. good asthma test results from the lab

12. stories about hermit crabs that make us smile and laugh and wonder