You just got to love Ann Voskamp.
Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. (And her love for Jesus and God!)
This is what she wrote today on Facebook:
"!! Happy July 1st!
"Make it the best month yet? Count gifts, find joy -- right. where. you. are! Scavenger hunt for God's glory!
"(All research concludes that writing down just 3 things you are grateful for, you increase your happiness by *25%*! Who doesn't want *that*!? And giving thanks in all things is a God-command for our *joy*. Let's DO this thing!)
"Hang on the fridge for the whole family to take the #JOYDARE too! Print July's Joy Dare here: http://bit.ly/1dNbtNj "
Here it is. I printed it. Now taped in my #1000GIFTS Journal:
So. Three gifts loved. I love so much. But let's focus on today.
My Garden. I love my garden. I love gardening. Susan called her "Gardenia," my mistress. This photo is from June 29, 2014.
Here is what Gardenia will look something like in September:
Gardenia is bordered on three sides with Zinnias; I love these! They attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Inside the garden: five tomato plants, three basil plants, two eggplant plants, beets, lettuce (two kinds), arugula, oregano, tarragon, cilantro, parsley, butterfly bush, cucumbers, jalapeno plants. Can you sense I might be excited???!!!
Of course, I just LOVE my dog, Freddy. A Mini Labradoodle. He doesn't know he is getting a bath and haircut tomorrow.
And I LOVE cooking! You can read about the beginnings here. Last night I made this amazing Grilled Chicken with a Mint Jalapeno Sauce. OH MY GOSH!
Here is the recipe:
Thankful I Am for these three gifts loved.
I have written these words before.
And these words have appeared elsewhere.
I want them to find a home here, too. Here, because I have so much to thank Ann Voskamp and her book, "One Thousand Gifts," for. Bringing me closer day-by-day to God and Jesus. Being grateful every single day. Counting my gifts--the gifts given to me every single day.
Thankful I Am for many gifts about my parents.
The photo makes me smile. They are quite young. And smoking! And maybe have had a few glasses of wine! They gave smoking up in time. My mother became a director of Christian Education later in life and unfortunately passed away at the early age of 54 from cancer. I will be writing about My Mom over at My Mom's Bible, a place where I plan to market my new website, Christian Totes & T-shirts."
"Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the
greatest of these is love." (Corinthians 13:13)
Love.
I inherited the gift of love
from my mother and father. My mother and father also
taught me the importance of a smile. In thousands of
letters my mother wrote to me she would close with “Keep
Smiling.” And I have learned the importance of the gift of
a smile; how a smile can change a person’s day, if not life.
When my dad passed away
in 2006 my two children said to me, “He loved us so much.”
Love.
When I spoke at my dad’s
memorial service, I said: “My sister Michelle spoke of The
Perfect Child. I think in my father’s heart, in his soul
and spirit, Michelle, Darlene, Dennis and I are all The
Perfect Child as you, too, his family and friends are The
Perfect People. Darlene spoke of The Lucky Ones. Yes, we
four are lucky to have been blessed with a father filled
with such unconditional love, a man who never spoke an ill
word of anyone, his heart always filled with love for his
neighbor. And Dennis spoke of our Dad as The Greatest and
certainly he was for who could say what I want to say to
you now; who could say this of their Dad–how many children
could say that when they made a new friend, when I made a
new friend, I always said to this friend, I can’t wait for
you to meet my Dad, you are going to love him, and
invariably, she or he did love him, and my Dad loved them
and he would then always inquire about them, their day,
their joys, their sorrows, their dreams.”
My father, Alfred, also known as
Fred, and who Susan (my wife) and I named our Labradoodle
after; in his honor (Freddy), was known as the epitome of
a gentleman and his biggest joy in life came from loving
his family and grandchildren.
Yes. This is how I want to be
remembered. I loved. This is my legacy. And I believe my
photography reflects this passion, a love of life, nature,
beauty and a calling to share this vision.
This is my
ministry.
An admirer of my photography
writes: “You have shown me to see the world with a
completely different set of eyes. Every single day you
bring beauty, joy, depth, and new perspective into my
life. I cannot thank you enough for being the beautiful,
kind, loving, gentle, and soulful man you are.”
Another
writes: “Thanks You for making my life more beautiful with
each of your photographs.”
"Your amazing photographs warm my heart and fill my day with
moments of beauty. Beauty that continues to stay in my heart
and mind even after those moments have passed. I can’t imagine waking up someday and not being able to look
at the unique way you view the world and make it burst from
the screen or how you’ve capture the very essence of a person
or place.”
Love.
Surely MY PARENTS taught me about faith, hope, and love.
Thankful I Am for the Gifts About My Parents.
Thankful I am for "3 Gifts Tasted."
Italian Meatloaf. Check out a recipe over at Bruce's Kitchen.
Roasted Green Beans with Vidalia Onion and Walnuts.
Turmeric Rice.
Thankful I am for "3 Gifts Tasted."
Thankful I Am for the gifts budding and blooming.
The Hydrangea in the corner of our yard.
We have four or five Hydrangea bushes in our yard.
This one pictured, a Lacecap, come summer, will bloom into this:
Thankful I Am to see the Blue Thistle rising from the garden:
We have many of these and they get quite tall. Five feet and up! One of my favorite bird photos is of an American Goldfinch on a Blue Thistle:
And Thankful I Am to see the Crocuses bloom! Certainly THE sign Spring has truly arrived!
Thankful I Am.
Thankful I am for 3 Gifts Opened Up.
The garden gate. At long last opened. The snow now melted. And me--back in the garden getting it ready for planting.
Gardening is so much about patience. And I know what I plant will once again bloom as it did last year:
Thankful I am for the warm weather allowing us to open our back door to the back yard so we can play with our dog, Freddy:
Thankful I am for the warm Spring sunshine coming through the opened shutters in our sitting room:
Thankful I Am.
Thankful I am for a gift hiding.
All day the sky above our home was dark and gray. And then I looked up. The clouds parted. A patch of blue sky.
Thankful I am for a gift held.
A cross. A gift from a friend. People say the cross appears often in my photographs. Often I am either looking out of windows or into windows. Here are two photographs illustrating this point of view:
Looking in:
Looking out:
Thankful I am for a gift heard.
It was a windy day, too. And chimes rang out in our backyard.
Thankful I am for a gift hiding, held, heard.
Thankful I am to see the rhubarb rising up from the soil.
I love rhubarb strawberry pie! And you?
Doesn't this photo look like something from outer space?
Thankful I am to see the coral bells rising up after having been covered with so much snow the past few months!
They were a gift from a friend a few years ago and they started out so small and fragile. And now look at them. I love photographing them as they seem to change every day!
Thankful I am to see the peonies rising up next to the side our our house.
The peony is one of my favorite flowers. I photograph them all the time in all stages of their life. Here is a photo from last summer:
Thankful I Am.
