If only I could sing like Julie Andrews

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens… Just the kind of images you can count on if you purchase greeting cards at Big Lots, and they certainly made their way into the lyrics of the classic Sound of Music songbook.

I wouldn’t put wet flowers or mewling cats into my own Fave Things list. It’ll be very obvious as you read my list below that I’m no songwriter. But I am grateful for (almost all of) the gifts below:

– Chopped chicken liver from the deli at Sunset Foods.

– A Sunday afternoon nap after church. I wish I could take one every day.

– The sight of the faces of my kids and my son-in-law.

– The sight of my grandson’s face.

– A glass of wine shared with my husband.

– Movie night.

– Silence.

– Sore stomach muscles because I’ve been laughing and laughing and laughing.

– A new book to read (right now, I have two: an advanced reader’s copy of Scot McKnight’s Blue Parakeet and Margaret Feinberg’s The Sacred Echo.)

– A song on a CD passed on to me by a student at Trinity. Don’t know the title, but there is a line in there about honeydew melon and pumpernickle bread that is genius. The image crawled into my skull and took up residence this weekend.

– Memories: tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of my mom’s death. My heart has been leafing through the photo album of the events leading up to her passing. I am grateful for the peace with God she discovered in the days before her death.

– The incubation stage of a possible writing project.

– The parables. They continue to undo and remake me.

– Prayer.

– The scent of summer merging into autumn.

– My morning commute. (Just kidding about this one.)

– Clean laundry.

– Grace.

What are a few things on your list?