pursuing LOVE...and JOY...and WHOLEHEARTEDNESS!

June 28: 3 gifts eaten #88: my mom's homemade granola with fresh blueberries and dried apricots #89: chicken parmesan with big clumps of melted, stringy mozzarella cheese melting into the marinara sauce and coating the pasta; and interrupting consuming it to sing patriotic songs with Rockford Rotarians #90: left-over cake from when the neighbors came for dinner, cold and delicious now that the caramel and condensed milk have really soaked into the chocolate cake #91: my sister being brave enough to share how she was really feeling #92: me being brave enough to just let her and not try to make things better right away because I felt uncomfortable with her pain and honesty #93: listening to Starlight Radio while sweating intensely next to the river at Dinner on the Doc #94: watching a little girl with beautiful red hair listen intently to the music from the front row #95: leaning in as unfulfilled longings keep trying to weigh me down #96: choosing to find joy in Je...

June 25: 3 gifts today in someone older than you #79: My mom's wisdom and receiving it over iced passion tea, sitting in sunshine #80: Incredible faithfulness to the LORD over decades #81: A steady confidence in God's love and goodness despite difficult circumstances June 26: 3 gifts in fabric #82: my TOMS! #83: my jean jacket keeping me warm when the air conditioning in my office makes it way too cold #84: falling asleep under a quilt that was skillfully and carefully made June 27: 3 gifts framed by a frame #85: my LCPC which allows me to do what I love for a living #86: my Make Way Partners sponsored child, Abraham, who smiles out at me from his picture when I pray for him every morning #87: French pictures and prints that excite my imagination I have been thinking a lot about answered and unanswered prayers in the past week. I am grateful to say that God has been answering almost all of my work-related prayers in record time. I terminated with three clients in the past few w...

June 23: 3 gifts found around a table #69: Sharing a meal with family, twice. Lunch with Karyn and Ava and dinner with Mandy and Kingston. #70: Me and Dad sitting in folding chairs on either side of Patrick. The three of us huddling in front of Mom's computer for statistics discussing what kind of statistical analysis is used for a survey research design. #71: Conversation. Listening to ideas and sharing ideas. Laughing or feeling frustrated. I like meeting around the table and talking things through. #72: Girls Night Out with my sister-in-law Mandy! #73: Sharing cupcakes and a girly movie. June 24: A gift in water, in words, in white #74: A gift in water was watching Karyn jump into the waves in Tsunami Bay at Magic Waters with Ava jumping in the waves just behind her. It was almost as if they were in tandem, though I don't think either of them was really watching the other. Like mother, like daughter, I guess. #75: A gift in words was when I was finally able to talk with my f...

June 18: 3 gifts from your Heavenly Father Wonderful time to drink in His presence and feast on His word. This was a day where I had extra time to devote to the LORD. I spent several sweet hours with Him. His nearness which was my good, my comfort and my delight. Perseverance to stay dependent on Him for strength and wisdom over the course of my whole day. I was feeling tired and unsure of what to offer my clients, but He sustained me and directed my words. June 19: 3 gifts you became today in serving A Barnabas. A son of encouragement. A listening ear. A heart of compassion. June 20: A gift bent, beautiful, loved A gift bent down was exchanging a kiss and a hug with Ava, Noah AND Kingston before I even left for work. What a great start to my day! A gift beautiful was celebrating progress and healing with a client who has known deep pain. Hearing that person talk in a way that made God's transformation within them become visible on the outside. Seeing the seed of hope begin to grow...

June 14: a gift unexpected, unwanted, unlikely A gift unexpected was when one of my clients rescheduled for later in the day and I got to take an hour long nap on the couch in my office! A gift unwanted was when I felt tired at the end of a long day and was tempted to skip going to the House of Prayer. This helped me to celebrate the period of time that I did have to be home before going to R2HOP. I savored some dinner while reading a book and then visited with Karyn. A gift unlikely was reading The Voice of the Martyrs magazine and being encouraged in my faith by reading their testimonies of persecution and perseverance. June15: 3 gifts in His word The example of David , "who obeyed my commands and followed me with all his heart and always did whatever I wanted him to do." 1Kings 14:8 I want to be like David in my obedience and love for God. The encouragement given to Cornelius , "And the angel replied, 'Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoti...

June 11: 3 gifts painted My favorite gift painted hangs in my office. It is a picture that was painted by my maternal grandmother Helen McCarthy and I received it as a final gift from her after her death. Grandmems painted this picture of her studio space and it specifically focuses on her potter's wheel. I love this picture because of its' warm colors and the subject of pieces of clay in process. This is similar to how I think of my work as a counselor. Every one of my clients is a unique, piece of God's art that is in process. Every day that I work, I sit down before Him and ask Him to take my hands in His and move them to shape and impact the person before me in just the right way. I hang this picture as a reminder to me that this is His work and that I am only a partner to the master potter and as an encouragement to my clients that they are in process and there is One who oversees each step and carries them to completion. I have several small painted gifts that I...

When my service engine soon light went off and stayed off Sunshine that was so bright that I couldn't see and my eyes were watering Watching the new neighbor go out back with a broom in order to take care of a snake Kids riding bicycles as fast as they can June 10: A gift at 8, at 12, and at 2 Waking up early to eat breakfast with my family and celebrate Karyn's birthday! We ate waffles and bacon and drank coffee. Delicious and fun! At 12, we were floating down the Kiswaukee River on tubes. The sun was warm, the river current moving and we were a glob of tubes all attached to each other. At 2, we were still on the river. At that point, we had encountered our first shallow areas where you can get grounded on rocks. Or worse, your tube goes on without you and you are forced to scramble over rocks, against the current. But, all of this was really funny to watch and experience. The highlight for everyone else, at my expense, was when I crashed into a tree branch, flipped out of...

Well, I'm taking the dare. I'm jumping in late, but I want to start counting 1000 gifts in 2012. I have printed off the June guide sheet. Here goes: June 1: 3 gifts orange . Wow, orange is not a color I pay a lot of attention to. Interesting… Cupcakes with orange buttercream frosting at Ava's end of the year show Orange flowers in bouquets at the grocery store Dried apricots packed in the snack bag for our trip to Ohio June 2: 3 gifts funny . Just having Patrick back in my daily life is a gift funny. He is bursting with one-liners and I find his perspective very entertaining. I am so grateful for this season that we have together before he gets married. I am even glad that I get to help him finish his last college class. Riding to Ohio, ( in my car!) with dad and Karyn, to pick up Patrick Playing 3 to 13 with my family and laughing together Realizing we don't even own My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding after planning to watch it all week long June 3: 3 gifts from...