A Thousand Gifts

I was always planning on writing this but, following yesterday's somewhat downcast post, today seemed like the right time.

Even the cheeriest and most contented of us are prone to melancholy and covetousness. And the remedy for both of these is thankfulness, reflecting on the countless gifts that God has bestowed upon us. So I was delighted when I discovered 'A Thousand Gifts' over at A Holy Experience (more in the links below). I started keeping a gift-list of my own but recently it has waned. So I've decided to maintain it here as a regular feature, perhaps posting once a week. I can always do a giant paste job if I someday decide I want the list in its entireity.

So here is the list so far. I hasten to add that *all* blessings are here, from the great, more 'obvious' ones to the tiny surprises that put a smile on your face when you most need it. Some of them may seem trivial to you but that's the beauty of the list - it's personal. I also love that the gift-counting is normally done on a Monday - the day of the week when I most need to count my blessings. Join me?

Gratitude: A Thousand Gifts (idea from here: http://www.aholyexperience.com/2003/06/gratitude-community.html; http://www.aholyexperience.com/2006/11/gift-list-thousand-things.html)

Just one, personal rule: blessings, small or big, in the here and now. No looking to the past or dreaming to the future.

#1 The gift of quality time. A Saturday spent in a garden cafe and on the Serpentine

#2 A father's quiet satisfaction following a birthday of food and fellowship

#3 'Posy pins' that brighten up outfits and match more colours than expected

#4 A cool breeze in June humidity

#5 Belgian chocolates on a rainy morning

#6 Happy hair set free after more than a decade. Flawed and crazy but loved anyway

#7 Rain daisies

#8 Strawberries and raspberries picked from the garden

#9 Tiny green tomatoes hinting at the bounty to come

#10 A church that speaks the Truth and advocates genuine separation from the world; that presents itself so without fanfare that one could only be there for Him

#11 The miracle of seeds

#12 Bobbin Bicycles

#13 Hiccups in the day that breed patient persistence, even in blistering heat

#14 A shiny, red bicycle with a wicker basket and bell

#15 Forgiveness

#16 Teatime book club

#17 Rambunctious toddlers whose giggles and shrieks pull you out of the bluest of moods

#18 Trailing petunias hidden among the tomatoes

#19 Catching up with old friends

#20 A new devotional to challenge and encourage

#21 Homemade banana cake

#22 Debuting a handmade skirt from a good friend

#23 Rain

#24 The grace to keep my mouth closed

#25 Realising that it's not all about me

#26 Balcony gardens in the middle of Soho; someone is growing oranges

#27 Brightly-coloured badges with kites and flowers

#28 Jasmine cupcakes

#29 The conviction of this quote: "Do not seem, by what you profess to be, to look towards heaven — while in fact you are rowing towards hell by what you do ... Do not pretend to love God, and yet love sin"

#30 The wooden tulip on my windowsill

#31 Pleasant co-workers

#32 The lifting of tension and the promise of a discussion

#33 Mother and daughter gardening on their Soho balcony

#34 A child's wonder; touch everything, poke everything, inspect everything

#35 Honeycomb

#36 Those who cultivate beauty anywhere

#37 Curls

#38 Wild raspberries growing in clusters by the roadside

#39 A necklace exchanged on a whim that matches almost everything I own

#40 Wind in my hair

#41 Lunch with a good friend to resolve a conflict (see #32)

#42 A job where Fridays mean the promise of rest

#43 Lots of news stories commissioned

#44 The satisfaction of hard work

#45 A job I genuinely enjoy

#46 Cherry blossom cupcakes

#47 The God-given resolve to part with things I should have given up long ago

#48 Delicious home-grown potatoes (fluffy with Flora) hiding beneath a mangled, brown plant

#49 "School fairs" with welly-wanging and sweets

#50 Packed lunches

#51 Humility

#52 A father who cares for our greenery when I forget to

#53 Laughter

#54 Pedalling while someone holds the seat

#55 Free chocolate

#56 Polka dot passion fruit chocolate

#57 Good food and good company

#58 Potential conflicts handled gently

#59 Faraway penpals

#60 Discovering West Square and resting there between church services

#61 Hotdogs and cheesecake for tea

#62 Old hymns

#63 Passionate prayer without shouting and fanfare

#64 A kind stranger who offers advice without scorn

#65 The rush of excitement when you realise he's let go of the seat

#66 Learning how to ride a bike at the ripe ol' age of 25

#67 Discovering that those wild raspberries (#38) may be something else altogether

#68 The smell of summer heat

#69 Free lemon frappuccino samples

#70 A red geranium springing back to life

#71 Ruffles and polka dots

#72 Pins tacked onto the noticeboard in the shape of a heart

#73 Blue skies, golden sands, turquoise waters

#74 Palm trees in Britain

#75 Bunting

#76 Cornish pasties hot from the oven

#77 Fellowship with others who believe

#78 Full moon over the sea

#79 The Cornish Hen

#80 A tiny tropical-looking Baptist church, gleaming white and palms, that preaches the Truth

#81 Honeycomb ice cream

#82 St Ives

#83 Cream tea in the home of Rodda

#84 Flea markets

#85 English countryside that takes your breath away

#86 Real fish and chips after a long, tiring walk

#87 Good wholesome fun

#88 Porridge for breakfast; cake and custard after dinner

#89 Laughing til it hurts

#90 The smell of country air

#91 "Singing buses"

#92 'My song is love unknown' by Samuel Crossman

#93 Strangers' love for my curls. Natural beauty is the best beauty.

#94 Words of wisdom every evening

#95 The satisfaction of a structured, balanced day

#96 Red Birkenstocks

#97 A chance to visit Land's End

#98 A church like no other that fits no box

#99 A British grapevine rich with fruit

#100 The way runner bean shoots twine up bamboo

#101 The much-needed reminder that being cheated on is not the worst thing that could happen to you

#102 The way a garden gently gets on with it while its owner flaps and squawks and obsesses over their own, ultimately unimportant troubles

#103 Toy Story 3; just a lovely, lovely film

#104 A week spent nourishing my country heart

#105 The quiet beauty of the English countryside

#106 A humble picnic of 'slanted ham' under a tree, complete with wasps and hungry ducks

#107 Croquet on the lawn

#108 My first non-stop cycle around our local park

#109 A mother's joy

#110 New plants to enjoy

#111 The sheer bliss of camping, even in the rain

#112 A brown paper package bestowed with a smile (polka dot ribbon and a heart tag)

#113 'Outside In', possibly the cutest shop ever

#114 Suffolk. 'Nuff said. A beautiful, beautiful county

#115 Framlingham Castle on a grey day — pure period drama poetry

#116 First-time fishing, on a Wind In the Willows-esque riverbank

#117 Toasting marshmallows on a roaring campfire under shooting stars

#118 Absence that makes the heart swell with fondness and grow with a love that awes and terrifies

#119 Missing them so much you can feel the lump in your throat

#120 Ten hours of quality time after two weeks of separation

#121 Being held, purely and tenderly

#122 Listening to him share his heart and rejoicing in the simple beauty of free, relaxed conversation

#123 Discussing the Word together

#124 Cycling in the sunshine

#125 A compliment for Trudy and an inquiry as to where I got her

#126 Columbia Road, which sums up everything I love about London

#127 Quality girlie time involving lots of cake and laughter

#128 A row of incredible shops housed in cute, coloured Victorian buildings: Jessie Chorley and Buddug, Beyond Fabric, Ryantown, Vintage Heaven, Treacle, random cute shops of the Outside, In (see #113) variety, a shop selling tweed hats, and more

#129 Beautiful, fresh flowers everywhere, accompanied by cheerful market-stall banter, and calmari fresh from a hole-in-the-wall — eaten with mayo and a lemon wedge in a polystyrene cup

#130 A pretty, vintage-looking floppy-bow Alice band that makes my curls come alive with a romantic prettiness I can't keep running away from

#131 Dinner at Roshan's like old times

#132 Tiny cupcakes that melt in your mouth

#133 Browsing people's unwanted treasures

#134 Discovering 'Cakehole' by accident and having afternoon tea in its chilled, 'English Granny's house' surroundings

#135 Secret Britain

#136 The perfect vintage birthday tea party in Cakehole, complete with white old-fashioned tablecloths, Scrabble letters spelling out "Happy Birthday Naomi" as centrepieces, and cup-and-saucer place settings

#137 A pretty new dress from Dahlia

#138 The surprise of a little cupcake with a single lit candle

#139 Gourmet breakfast (the best bacon, scrambled eggs and pancakes ever) in the park by a fountain on a grey, rainy morning

#140 A beautiful bouquet of flowers including pink gerberas

#141 A surprise birthday raspberry cheesecake with '26' spelled out in pomegranate seeds

#142 Birthday dinner at 'Yum Yum' in Stoke Newington — choosing somewhere new and genuinely-looked-forward-to for once, instead of an old-time place for the sake of it

#143 Steaming coconut rice spooned out of elaborate silver pots

#144 More beautiful flowers including stargazer lilies and carnations

#145 Joules wellies at long last