A year later....

Happy New Year!

I see that my last blog post was written a year ago last month , and really, I am surprised that so many words can stay bottled up for so long.

This blogspot has been eluding me, and for some strange reason I located it this week, deciding it was time to write again. I talk all the time in my head, but rarely do the thoughts escape onto the keyboard. (it used to be paper, but that will probably be the next extinct item).

Last year I found an idea on Pinterest that gave me pause-"I can do this one!, " thought I.  First of all, I hate crafty things, and secondly, I am not that great on follow through...or has nobody noticed? 

It consisted of making a jar of blessings acquired and noted throughout the year, as a testimony to God's faithfulness and exercise of gratitude. I decided that should I follow through on this exercise, I would document it, and praise God for His gifts to me all year.

I did write my papers of thanks through the year, God did faithfully grant me blessings and gifts, and I am acknowledging it here, January 1, 2015. 

As a Grammy to many grands, one of my heart's desires is to always be showing them the path of faithfulness of following and loving the Lord God. It has been a road not unlike parenting- you walk on it and wonder if it is even making any difference. You often fail, but trust God to keep you up and on that path , by His grace.

Ethan lives the closest to me, so I tend to see him more often than some of the others, and he is often watching Grammy's antics.He knew about the blessing can because it was always in the same spot by the coffee, and always had a pen and tablet next to it for notations as needed. We'd talked about my goal and he even reminded me on occasion to write something down. 

Well, coincidentally(or,as we Christians often say, providentially! ) Ethan stayed with me last night while mom went out with her friend.

This morning was the great reveal! Opening of the Blessing can(It was a pretty jar on Pinterest, but I used an old Peaberry Coffee can from Traders Joe!)

We were ready! " Sit next to me so I can read them too,"  says the boy. 

So we alternated the readings and were reminded of all the little moments in life that pile up and become bigger moments and then a full year! 

A couple of the notes I didn't even remember writing!! and they were in my handwriting.

Occasionally a different handwriting appeared....

Those were particularly noted in my Grammy brain as lessons given and clearly received!

There were some moments that, as time moves on, will be more cemented in my mind  than others, as these two:

and there were ordinary events I remembered to be grateful for, one lesson I need to continue learning....

But as Ethan and Grammy shuffled through the pile of notes and notations, perhaps the paper slip that meant the most to me personally, was the one I had NO IDEA was in the can. It had been slipped inside by a little boy who was learning the secret of happy living through our blessing can:

2014 was a good year, after all.
Shall we thank God?