50 Gifts on a Sunday

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been writing down fifty gifts each day...as I learn to be more thankful. It is helping me through a difficult emotional healing journey, and reminding me that God is caring for me...and He always has.  These are the gifts that I wrote down yesterday.

1. The cats' excitement for their food every.single.time. even though it's always the same.
2. Moss on tree trunks, making the world greener.
3. White flowers budding on trees.
4. The Trisagion--"Holy God. Holy and Mighty. Holy Immortal One, Have mercy upon us."
5. Reading Psalms responsively.
6. Sitting next to my husband in church.
7. Hymn 145 (Episcopal Hymnal)--"Now quite your care and anxious fear and worry; for schemes are vain and fretting brings no gain. Lent calls to prayer, to trust and dedication; God brings new beauty nigh; reply, reply, reply with love to love most high."
8. The purple of Lent.
9. A season of penitential preparation for the joy of Easter.
10. The church bell ringing loudly...after being silent for over a year!
11. Passing of The Peace.
12. Young adults at church.
13. The Nicene Creed.
14. Making the Sign of the Cross and remembering that I am sealed as Christ's own forever!
15. "In this bread there is healing, in this cup there is life everlasting, in this moment by the Spirit, Christ is here with us" (Eucharist hymn).
16. The Body of Christ--the Bread of Heaven.
17. The Blood of Christ--the Cup of Salvation.
18. "But God, who is rich in mercy,
19. Out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses,
20. Made us alive together with Christ--
21. By grace you have been saved--
22. And raised us up with him
23. And seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
24. So that in ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2).
25. I am "created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be [my] way of life" (Ephesians 2:10).
26. "God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned" (John 3:17-18).
27. Gaining 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks--I have still lost over 36 lbs!
28. BBQ chicken in the crockpot on potato rolls.
29. A short nap this afternoon.
30. Avoiding illness by drinking a ton of water.
31. Never having a car payment, yet always having a decent car.
32. The beautiful prayer shawl the Needle Guild presented to me today.
33. Book recommendations from a retired priest.
34. Encouraging notes in the mail.
35. Elderly people at church warmly caring for me and asking how I am doing.
36. Talking with friends at Weight Watchers' meetings.
37. Seeing a man care for his blind partner.
38. Sean doing laundry again this week.
39. Confidence that this week won't be made worse by pain and bleeding.
40. No more money spent on feminine hygeine products!
41. Symptoms of hormonal changes in my body letting me know that my ovaries are still working.
42. Pantry, fridge, and freezer full of food.
43. Turning my watch forward--a week late (I didn't realize until today).
44. Folding clean laundry with Sean.
45. My white v-neck t-shirt which fits nicely now that I've lost some weight.
46. The red blanket with white stars that a former neighbor made for me.
47. A phone message with a book recommendation.
48. A red, silky pillow I made reminding me of a precious time in my life.
49. The red St. Luke's Episcopal shopping bags.
50. Sean cleaning the cat litter.