Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard  

  A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life.   It's the small things in life which truly mean the most.  Simple abundance . . . it's the best.   

 

I love all of my grandchildren so very much.  I have eight now. Seven grandsons and one granddaughter. Five of my grandsons know who I am and care about me.  I have frequent contact with them via modern technology, for which I am very grateful. Anthony and Doug and their wives are such great parents. They have/are getting their boys through this Pandemic in amazing ways, as are many parents. Being able to know these boys is one of my life's greatest blessings, and I know that it comes only through the dedication of these two fine sons of mine. Forever grateful.  I am forever grateful. 

 

My father was/is very musical, playing more than one instrument. I am very musical, playing the clarinet and wishing I could play the piano. I have two sons that are very musical also.  My middle son Doug got a new guitar a couple of weeks back and is getting back to his guitar playing. He used to play in a Worship Team. I have always felt he is very talented in this area.  (Amongst many talents!)  He's been sharing his practicing with me, laying out recordings for me, etc. and sharing with me. I love that he  loves me so much he wants to share these things with me. I really miss my children so very much.

 

This is a photo I took at my son Doug's and his wife Kayla's wedding.  Of course Eileen wasn't married yet so Tim is not there, and Bruce wasn't married yet either so Sara is not there.  Can you believe that was about fifteen years ago now! Time really flies. Mom was still with us. Anthony still had his hair. And there were no grandchildren yet. Although truth be told my first one had already made his presence known as Anne & Anthony were expecting. 

I am so grateful for a brother who made sure we got to this wedding by renting a car and driving us there and for a mother who paid for hotel rooms for us so that we could stay overnight. There were two weddings I was unable to make it to because they were held out of province and we just didn't have the money to rent cars and stay in hotels, on top of the airflights to Canada. In retrospect I probably should have gone into debt so that we could have been there for the other two.  Unfortunately that was not an option. Hindsight is always 20/20.

  

Church on Sunday even though we cannot leave our home/area to go to church. I am so grateful for a church leadership who prepared us as a church body for the past two years to be able to cope with just such an eventuality. Each week we have been well fed spiritually.  We have had online firesides and devotionals through the blessings of modern technology. Through the blessing of having the Priesthood in our homes many of us have still been able to partake of the sacrament. Although it has been a challenge in many ways to stay focused on the Saviour and His Gospel, many of us have found ourselves drawing even closer to Him, relying on Him more than ever, coming into an even deeper communion with Him and our Heavenly Father.  

I found this buried in a bag underneath our stairs yesterday.  We keep our potatoes and onions there. It must have fallen from out potato bin into a bag I had filled with other things. Yesterday I took that bag I had filled with other things and decided to go though it to see what was actually in it and what was usuable for us now.  Finding this sprouted potato was a complete surprise and made me smile.  What a wonderful demonstration of  faith. This little withered potato had sprouted roots and was growing more potatoes, despite being in a place it should not have been and probably had not expected to ever be, and being in dire circumstances with the highest possibility of complete and utter failure. Still, it had the faith to do the thing it was created to do. We have planted it in the garden and, God willing, we will get  tiny crop from this small and amazing seed of faith.  We need to have faith like this potato. We cannot see the end of our picture, but we can still have enough faith to do the things we need to do, here and now. We can still have hope. We can still bloom where we are planted. 

 

Its not always easy to keep up with all of these things, but we try.  Sometimes it is more difficult to practice these things with the ones you love than it is to practice them with the ones you don't love.  Do you suppose that is because with the people you really care about more  all of your heart is invested?  Or perhaps it is because we know/believe that they will love us anyways, despite our weakness and failures. 

 

New Books.  Maybe I can eak out fifteen minutes a day to do something more creative. We shall see. That is my hope.  

 

Wonderful little conversations with my mother's first cousin Polly.  She is in her 90's and she always makes me smile. I am so grateful for this older woman and her fine example to me and many others. Family is everything. I think she is a pretty amazing woman and I love her very much.

I have had loads of small and wonderfuls this week, like most weeks. I am grateful that I have a grateful heart. I wouldn't want to be any other way. 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *If peace 

is what you really want,

you will choose, peace.

~Eckhart Tolle •。★★ 。* 。  

 

In The English Kitchen today a fabulous Pizza Night In. 

I hope that you have a week filled to overflowing with blesings. Don't forget along the way! 

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And I do too!     Stay safe!