3 december 2021

it gets dark so early now. it is 3:30 pm and already dusk. granted, clouds did roll in this afternoon, but at 1:15, it was so sunny, and now, 3:30 and heading toward dark. we have another eighteen days of shortening daylight. and then it always seems that we don't really feel the days lengthen until we are through january - even though the earth is continually tilting, be it ever so slowly. the way the earth tilts away from the sun is such a strange phenomena. here in montana, we live far enough to the north to really feel the shortening of days. and whoever the decision makers are with the whole daylight savings thing make this darkness set in even earlier. i'd be all for doing away with daylight savings and just going with straight time all year round. seems like all of us would have happier bodies and minds without the twice-a-year switch.

we have had some sickness to fight in our house these past few days - and i feel like i really need to cook us some veggie-filled meals to help bolster our immune systems. maybe a stir-fry is in order tonight or tomorrow - if i have enough energy to chop and fry . . . maybe frozen veggies this time - just because they are already chopped. 

the other morning, the sky put on such a display. i am quite certain the light and the color were a happy birthday wish for ben, and also, that the maker of the whole sky and all of this was sending a blessing to all of us in this in-between sort of time between fall and winter, between thanksgiving and christmas, between night and morning, between longer days and shorter, and whatever all we might find ourselves in between. 

a few weekns ago, a friend asked a question on her facebook - to really know you, what is one thing i need to know about you?

so, i started typing an answer:

i speak or write to find out what i think . . . it is hard for me to process things in my head . . . i need to see or hear the words in order to process . . . so, sometimes, what i say or write initially is hard or extra passionate or some kind of extreme . . . but even if i sound adamant and domineering, i am truly open to having conversations that make me think differently or more broadly.

 

and i thanked her for the question, because in typing those words, i literally just completed a thought that i have been trying to form about myself.

 

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and now - two more thoughts on gratitude.

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as we express our gratitude,
we must never forget the highest appreciation is not to utter words,
but to live them.
~jfk

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you will be enriched in every way
so that you can be generous on every occasion,
and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
this service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people
but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
2 corinthians 9:11-12