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As a new periodic blog feature, “grace notes” will occasionally capture my jottings of incidental gratitude for sacramental moments in the shards of daily life. My hope is that this practice will make me (and you?) more aware of the constant flow of amazing good we are perpetually steeped in, which we are surrounded by all the time. It is here only asking to be noticed and amplified. See how all of life is poetry?

So now in the New Year, I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good. My list continues with:

• watching videos about tiny houses with our younger daughter on New Year’s Day
• eating holiday leftovers
• the pungent pine aroma of vacuuming up Christmas tree needles
• wool pencil skirts with high boots
• wide wale navy corduroy blazers
• flannel jammies in January
• the quietude of a cold winter morning
• that God gives me everything I need– I already have it and am inseparable from it
• Matisse cut-outs
• cream colored Irish cabled turtleneck sweaters
• unread novels
• cranberry walnut bread
• snarls combed out
• cold rain that is not snow or ice
• baked macaroni and cheese
• snow in farm-field stubble
• good conversations while driving
• thick bacon
• black crows dotting ice covered tree branches
• focusing on productive goals
• sharing something in confidence
• good audio books while driving alone at night
• languid Saturday morning in bed
• carving clay
• creme fraiche in scrambled eggs
• cookbooks from the library’s new book shelf
• grandmothers both strong and sweet
• taking out the trash
• gift baskets from houseguests
• shoveling snow for someone other than yourself
• book clubs getting you to read great stuff you wouldn’t have known about otherwise
• fig jam on an egg sandwich
• fleece blankets in your lap while reading
• friends buying a new home
• inevitable progress
• all good you’ve ever had remains with you
• dreamless sleep
• husbands that do the dishes
• a dentist you like better than the previous one
• fact finders and fact tellers
• renewing a library book before it is due
• solar incentives
• grassroots groups resurging
• international FaceTime is so easy
• spontaneous plans
• the smell of almond cake baking
• remembering what you want
• saving money
• wearing jewelry you haven’t worn in a while
• sandwich from the food truck
• someone groaning with pleasure over something you’ve cooked
• making your bed everyday
• loving your neighbor as yourself
• a wad of dollar bills
• giving people flavor experiences they’ve never had
• people willing to wait patiently on line
• expectation speeding our progress
• cleaning paintbrushes in dishwashing soap
• claiming what you’d have be true
• making empowering choices that are good for everyone
• the blessing of enough
• time to work some ideas through
• scientific research
• a big bag of clementines
• pussy hats
• non-violence
• that God is with me “whithersoever thou goest”
• generosity to strangers
• reflective listening
• the “spotlight effect”
• divine Truth changing the universe
• patience personified
• spiritual activism
• free shipping
• corrugated cardboard
• abstract art
• friends dropping by
• dying in her sleep at 89 happy and active to the last
• green smoothies
• joyful diligence
• new opportunities
• asking how God sees Himself/Herself
• picking up regularly
• doing something you’ve thought of for a long time
• long distance errands
• a cribbage game after dinner on a weeknight
• reblooming orchids
• resolutions

What have been some of your grace notes this month?

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