Counting

1) The endearing little boy that I get to work with. Him, with the big brown eyes, and little, cool hands that slip into mine. Who asks me to carry his Batman lunch kit, and tell him how to spell everything hockey. Who knows that there is more than one kind of race car. I always seem to fall for the little guys...

2) The aggravating, confusing boy that I get to work with. Him... my personal grace grower for the week. Who hides inside his anger and likes to be outside all alone. I struggled to understand, and finally just lowered myself to the ground and suggested we build a city out of the dirt he was playing in. Soon, that city evolved into an ocean, and he was narrating to me his own version of Jaws. That he would ask to hold my hand on the way to the park, that he would ask for me to come out and watch him, that he would be touched... is the greatest blessing of all.

3) Campfires and bannock with friends. To be taught and to learn. To listen and to laugh. To accept and to comfort. To realize that even though I may go far, that these will hold me close and love me truly for me.

4) Adventures with friends. A picnic on the third hill. For bike rides and sore muscles. For hamburgers and chips. For fields dotted with hay bales gleaming in the evening sun. For laughter and a checked table cloth to sit on.

5) Family. For a father away, for a mother at home. For siblings who laugh and play. Watching movies, playing Wii, chasing the cat, and doing chores.

6) The garden. For rows of lettuce, fresh peas in the pod, beans ready to be picked, and much more to come.

7) Life. The freedom that He gives. That He enjoys giving me good and perfect gifts. That creation is in His hands, and that He had the creativity to make it all.

8) Him. The bestest blessing of all. The One whom I struggle to know and yet see all around me.

9) You. For taking the time out of your day to read this. That you care about me and the random happenings in my life. Thank you!

10) Counting my blessings. Truly, I can see what He has done. And this is only from one week!