“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.”

–Psalm 69:30

I’m a little later than usual in posting additions to my list of one thousand gifts. I’ve been off unwrapping gifts this week and last. Our family enjoyed a special trip to our “happy place” up north, delighting in God’s wondrous creation, boating, canoeing, hiking, enjoying each other, delighting in time with some extra special friends, and just being still for while.

Thanksgiving has been especially meaningful to me lately as we have been dealing with some scary health issues in our family. Putting down planks of gratitude day after day does indeed build the bridge of trust in God, Who is carrying us across this season of uncertainty. Praise Him for His all-sufficient grace, enduring love and faithfulness.

Today is bittersweet — it would have been my mother’s 65th birthday. How thankful I am to have had her the first 17 years of my life. So many of the things on my list remind me of her because I know she would have considered them gifts, too. (Number 677, #694, #698, #700, and #710, just to name a few.)

677. chocolate chip cookies right from the oven

678. July 4th sponge bomb wars in the backyard

679. red, white and blue

680. sliding wildly down their monstrous, home-engineered slip-and-slide

681. seeing church friends on the lake as we sail the evening away

682. how she finally enjoys the fireworks this year without shrieking

683. laughing with friends as the fireworks explode overhead

684. how the stars shine in the late summer sky — God’s stellar creation contrasting the short-lived, man-made fireworks

685. the sudden downpour followed by a huge rainbow stretching across the sky

686. their prayers for my sore pinky finger

687. that God forgives much (Luke 7:36-50)

688. lessons in forgiveness from Col. 3:13

688. the pinky finger that is healing because He is Jehovah Rophe, the Lord Who Heals and Restores

689. the wisdom of Proverbs 27:6

690. DeYoung’s series on the gift of friendship

691. quality time with godly friends who sharpen us

692. cucumber sandwiches

693. cheerful daisies scattered happily along the roadside

694. tall lupines adorning the roadside in majestic shades of blue and purple

695. cool, sweet sips of peach iced tea

696. Betty’s Pies and Beth’s Fudge

697. s’mores and smiles that welcome us to our happy place

698. a comfy chair for reading near the roaring fire in a quaint cabin on a lazy, rainy Saturday

699. a pontoon joy-ride at sunset and the mama loon with her two fuzzy, grey babies in tow

700. the sun’s last rays tickling the rippling water

701. smiley faces in happy places

702. the hard eucharisteo, the bull’s-eye rash on her face, signaling Lyme’s Disease

703. the antibiotics already prescribed and administered for 10 days, and the doctor who listens closely

704. kind, godly friends who pray with us for peace and healing

705. the faithful God in Whom we trust

706. lessons in inner peace, genuine humility and deep compassion

707. how the morning light glows behind the curtains

708. tall, tall trees that bravely reach the sky and generously scent the air

709. the testy turtle that tries to top the tree trunk but t’was not triumphant

710. her scrumptious blueberry cobbler

711. how they linger to witness the popcorn piling up like snow

712. a quiet spot where even the buzzing humming-bird pauses to be still

713. bottles overflowing with cool, refreshing spring water

714. the day that would have been my mama’s 65th birthday — 7/14

715. more prayers sent up on Linnea’s behalf

716. blue skies and sky-tinted waters

717. their courage to go and our courage to let them

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