Skip to main content

Catching up on counting gifts

It's been almost a week since I posted my gift list. So, there's a lot to be thankful for!

July 13: 3 gifts curled

  • #153: Ava's golden hair, framing her face, as she chatters away in the backseat on the way to summer camp and home again
  • #154: Colorful balloons being shaped into animals by an old man at the city market
  • #155: A green garden hose that watered the dry and thirsty lawn when I rolled it back up

#156: An impromptu game of bocce ball in the middle of the day with two of my brothers

#157: The city market, dinner and a movie with Patrick and Haley

July 14: 3 gifts yellow

  • #158: The sun shining through the rain clouds as I drove to visit my friend Laura and my feelings about having time with her
  • #159: A cold glass of Boston summer lager on a very hot day
  • #160: Lily, who faithfully greets me every time I return home with vigorous tail-wagging

#161: Enjoying worship so much that I lost track of time and felt surprised when it suddenly ended

#162: When everyone stayed around to keep praying after the service had ended because God was listening and we were contending

July 15: 3 gifts of stone

  • #163: The tile under my feet at Starbucks, where Karyn drank a steamer, I drank a latté and we both played Ticket to Ride, twice
  • #164: Pretending I was a stone when I sat on the loveseat with Karyn and watched The Biggest Loser for hours
  • #165: My heart-shaped rock that a very special student found and gave me when we were in St. Pierre

#166: Meeting new people who share my same love for the Bible and good conversation about it

#167: My wonderful neighbor-friend Nikki came back home!

July 16: 3 gifts hanging down

  • #168: Tree branches and leaves that shaded me during my morning run
  • #169: Baskets full of beautiful flowers
  • #170: My quilt hung over the bannister as it dries

#171: My parents came back home after a wonderful weekend of camping

#172: A chance to detox and cleanse my body in partnership with a friend

#173: Going to bed with my new book

July 17: 3 gifts learned

  • #174: The chocolate protein shake tastes better than the vanilla and that's the one that I should order
  • #175: Listening is often the best thing that I can offer my clients
  • #176: Receiving compliments is nice, even though it feels awkward

July 18: 3 gifts musical

  • #177: Just keep coming back to Me by Abby Joy Newell
  • #178: Listening to music that reminds me of when I was in graduate school as I float down the lazy river
  • #179: Mackenzie Hoover leading worship at the Rock River House of Prayer

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Transition

 It's snowing outside my window. It just started to stick a little bit. I can see it on the trees and covering the leaves. This is the first snow of the season. It means change is coming. Fall coats are no longer be sufficient. Hats, scarves and gloves become a part of my daily wardrobe. My car needs time to warm up and I should fill up with gas when it gets down to 1/4 tank. I really like this time of year. Fall is ending and winter is coming. I like snuggling in front of a fire and wearing sweaters. I like drinking hot chocolate, apple cider and spice tea, in addition to my usual coffee consumption. I like Thanksgiving, the holiday and the practice. While I welcome this change in season, I am so aware of how I am struggling in my own transition. I have spent several hours contacting insurance companies to change my name now that I am doing business as Jody Striker, LCPC. Ben is still collecting our things from the various places where we have been storing them. Th

How do I like being married?

People keep asking me how I like being married. I get it. I’m adjusting to a major life transition. People are excited for me and this is an easy way for them to enter into my joy. They ask this question and I start gushing. I say that I love it. It’s wonderful. Yes, we’re settling in well, there in the basement of my parents house. I may mention that Ben has been hanging things in our room and brought furniture out of storage to make our space more like home. If the conversation lasts long enough and becomes more intimate, I may even tell them that some of my favorite things are when we pray together in the morning and he makes me coffee to help me wake up. I like when we fall asleep with hands and toes just barely touching; in our space, but still nearby. I like calling him my husband and hearing him say that I’m his wife. Being married has been wonderfully different and also surprisingly the same. My life at work, for example, feels exactly like it did before I w

3 weeks ago today

I got married three weeks ago today. I’ve been thinking a lot about our wedding since that day. This was my first week back to work, which meant that I got to talk a lot about that day and show pictures, because everything is still fresh and new and people are anxious to know how it went. I have missed writing. Several times during our honeymoon, I almost grabbed my laptop because I had the urge to write. I never did, but I wanted to. I think that it felt too intimate to record in some ways. And, in others, I was just enjoying being lazy and carefree. I plan to write about what I remember from my wedding. (Maybe even some things from our honeymoon. We shall see…) I don’t know what I will share, but I want to make a record of my memories and experiences from that day. Just three weeks later, but the feelings are less vivid and the mental pictures are less crisp. Fortunately, our photographer did an amazing job and I am thankful that I have those images to remind me.