Hi Friends and friends!
I used to love to play softball when I was a kid. My last team that I played on when I lived in Berea was called Friends and friends. So, when I write that, I think of softball in Berea.
Happy Thanksgiving! I went to a sweet meeting at Middletown Preparative Meeting this morning – 18 people and Roscoe were present. Sweet sharing and lots of snacks, even Candace Davis’ George Fox cookies.
I want to share a story for Thanksgiving.
As I was peeling eggs last night for making deviled eggs, this thought came into my head: I wonder if I could come up with 2018 gratitudes. I focused on peeling eggs and thinking about all the many many times I have peeled eggs. My Mama always wanted deviled eggs for every occasion but she did not like to peel them and I don’t mind so I would do that. Every occasion included family birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other event that came along – deviled eggs. And she always wanted to make not just a few deviled eggs but 3 dozen at a time. That is a lot of deviled eggs! My friend, Audrey, watched me making them recently and said I made deviled eggs faster than anyone she has ever seen. I said, “Audrey, I have made a LOT of deviled eggs in my life.” So, I started my gratitudes with every time in my life I have peeled an egg. A good start. By the way, my Mama was adamant and did not call them deviled eggs. She and my grandma who also loved to make and eat deviled eggs always called them dressed eggs. They wanted NO DEVILS IN THEIR EGGS!
Next, I cooked some pumpkin. I love pumpkin and bought a bunch of “heirloom pumpkins” from Wolff’s that looked more like squash to me but nevertheless….I cooked a bunch of it. And I had an idea of what I was doing. I almost never cook by recipes, just never learned that way. Most of the time it works out; sometimes it doesn’t. I made a huge mess. Then I had to clean up my mess. Kinda an apt metaphor for life. So, the second step in my gratitudes was to be grateful for every single mess I have ever made and for cleaning up messes.
I went along this line of thinking for a while being grateful for all the times I took walks, went dancing, and more and more and more. But once at the stage of gratitude for messes, I clearly got beyond the intended 2018 quickly. I don’t even know what the number is that I finally got to… but a LOT of gratitudes.
AND I am so very grateful for faithful folks in my life and all the many things I do and enjoy!
Big love and blessings galore
Jennifer