Not exactly a poem, just some things I have been reflecting on. I generally get this way just before winter.I think it's good to remind ourselves,even with all of our petty little problems. How truely bless the lives we live are.

THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR,

The sound of birds singing in the morning.

The sound of children laughing.

The smell of clean fresh air after a rain.

The petals of a rose covered in dew.

The softness and sweet smell of a little baby

and the innocence of it's smile.

The soft chortling sound of a mother hen

as she cares for her little ones.

The taste of a sweet, perfectly ripe peach.

Watching butterflies float from flower to flower

and chaseing them around the yard.

Lying in the grass with my children

watching the clouds go by.

The breeze caressing the trees as it gently

blows across the land.

One loan frog croaking in the early hour.

The fireflies flittering across the yard

playing hide and seek in the moonlight.

The whipppoorwill calling to it's mate,

a sonnet of love in the dark of night.

The stars twinkling in the heavens like

countless sparkling jewels arrayed on black velvet.

Awakening in the night wrapped in my husbands arms

with only the sound of our hearts beating

very seperate one from the other, uniquely different

and yet with a unity that only the loving God

of this universe could provide.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), October 18, 2000

Answers

Bonnie,

How beautiful! You know, I just added a post this morning about my crazy, hectic, out-of-control lifestyle. I was asking for some suggestions on what to do to get things turned back around and slow things down a bit.

This was just perfect. It couldn't have come at a better time.

Thank you for helping me to remember how truly blessed I am and what things are REALLY important in life.

Greenthumbelina

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), October 18, 2000.

Bonnie, that was lovely. We really do have so many things to be thankful for -- we just need to be reminded to stop and enjoy them once in a while. I've been getting home from work at about two in the morning with my new job, and even as tired as I am by then, often look up at the sky and thank God for the beauty of the stars He made - - and that I'm getting to see at a time when I normally would have been sound asleep in bed! Right now it's raining, gray, and chilly out, but this kind of weather seems to soften the outlines of the hills and forest that we can see from our house -- and that's beautiful, too. And I'm thankful for the lovely warmth of our woodburning stove -- it's such a comforting kind of heat.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), October 18, 2000.

Thank you, Bonnie! It's the best to just look at the things we sometimes become too accustomed to and see them in the light of what they really are....gifts! I'd like to ad something, the rare wild flower that has the tenacity to bloom through a crack in the pavement in the midst of drought....I love that.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), October 19, 2000.

I'm thankful to the Lord our savior, that I can worship Him freely, and homeschool my children without fear.

-- Judy Livengood (allsmile@ctnet.net), October 20, 2000.

I'm thankful for Josie, my wife and friend of 40 years, our children and grandchildren. Most of all, I'm thankful to wake up in the morning, draw a breath of air and marvel at creation and what we've been blessed with.

-- Harry (wrp@trib.com), October 22, 2000.