Counting On into 2014

Here we are... well into 2014 now, or at least 3 weeks in - and I am having to remind myself after all the excitement of Christmas and blessed absence of routine - I am reminding myself once again to actually stop... to breathe it in... and to count on - listing the gifts, not just in my mind and heart - but to write it out loud... to put ink on paper, old school style - and keep a record of how He shows up... every day. Because, every day, He shows up!

But oh how quickly we can forget!  I can... I forget to look for Him and so I so often miss seeing Him.  Through the full lazy weeks of the holidays - I found myself counting the blessings one by one, taking snapshots in my mind, and oh how they counted - but I fell out of the habit of numbering them, scrawled out in black or blue, across a page - etched in memory and in mind.

This is my second January - counting on.  I remembered this little slacking off from last year, and I recall how once I began again to write it down... how it all came back into focus quickly. 

I am nearing the end of counting one thousand gifts all the way through two times... and I know - I will begin again (again!)

We took a little break in December and hadn't posted from my list... so I will just pick some random gifts to catch us up!

Count with me, won't you?

#1720 - The house is all festive and decorated for Christmas

#1722 - Celebrating Advent for the first time!

#1723 - Our Jesse Tree!

#1725 - Techno Gloves (you know, for iphone use!)

#1727 - Stuffing with 'stuff' in it... (this year I made stuffing and added sauted onions, celery, garlic, sage sausage, apples, and cranberries! Quite the change from our usual plain ol' Stove Top! I know, I know... well - I know NOW!)

#1729 - I won a set of Freeset bangles and Ann's new book on Advent!

#1731 - The Beauty of a Thick Frosty morning...
#1732 - ...and not having to go anywhere in it (so no scraping or being out in the cold!)

#1736 - Helping to lead worship and prayer at Soar... leading them into an encounter with God! (In other words, my Honey and I together - stepping into our God-Sized Dreams!)

#1740 - InMercy Phase 5 - FULLY funded - in a crazy short amount of time!

 #1744 - The Lighted Christmas Parade

#1758 - Baking!  I skipped all holiday baking for years (because I was trying to eat better... which I still am- but, the cookies!) I splurged this year and LOVED sharing the yumminess!

#1760 - Not doing Christmas Cards this year - and more importantly not feeling guilty about it!

#1761 - Making a list of NOT To Do's this year! (Thanks The Nester!)

#1763 - Jack is feeling strong and healthy and they are READY for a New year!

#1766 - My Girlie looking through her Graduation scrapbook - the one handmade gift I made this year for Christmas!

#1771 - Mom going with us to a Christmas Eve Candlelight service and driving around looking at Christmas Lights afterwards!

#1774 - The pink painted sky at sunrise - before everything is WHITE and Frosty and fogged in!

#1776 - Stillness - Quiet throughout the house!

#1777 - His whispering to come and sit with Him... to start the New Year - and every new day - off right!

#1779 - Coffee with a friend - at her house, in our sweats, by a fire... now this is friendship!

#1783 - Ringing in the New Year with long term friends... eating and playing games and laughing real - and ringing in the New Year at 10pm because apparently we really are getting old!

#1784 - Home... intertwined with skin and fuzzy brown fleece, wrapped up in between 2013 and 2014... welcoming in the New Year alone, together.

#1787 - My OneWord365 - Vision
(My Call? To be a Visionary!)

#1791 - My Honey being the one to ask if I want to go watch an(other) episode of Downton Abbey... and then another!

#1795 - A New Calendar and Bossy Day Planner to fill out! (Yes - it's the little things, my friends!)

#1796 - Seeing the Bald Eagle return for the winter months at the Park where I walk each week! Soaring low over my head... so majestic!

#1797 - A cozy blanket, my Girlie, and an afternoon of Netflix

#1800 - Making handmade cards from last years' calendar!

#1801 - #Jeanuary - raising funds and awareness for Sex trafficking - bringing freedom and changing the world, one girl at a time!

#1802 - Holding my Grown girlie... stroking her hair as she drifts off to sleep after a full day of classes and homework and work... all cuddled up and close.

#1806 - A walk with My Honey...

#1807 - A meeting regarding Human/Sex Trafficking - seeing so many local ministries getting involved and making a difference!

#1808 - Downton Abbey - at 11pm - because we can (and again- because My Honey suggested it!)

#1810 - Green Smoothies (I am doing a 30Day challenge - so I am trying all sorts of new recipes!)



I've got a few more... but you get the idea! I haven't listed the obvious for a little while... but those get jotted down too! What about you? Do you count on... write them down... point them out, numbering them one by one?   Are you counting gifts and finding blessings?  

I promise you it is true... once you start looking for the gifts, you will find them all around you! Join in... count on... see how it can change your perspective and lighten your load in simply counting off the ways He is pouring on and all around!



Linking up with Ann Voskamp in Counting (beyond) one thousand gifts...