don't be silent; sing His praise

Psalm 30:12 

That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Sunday Gratitude List:

* little girls in the loveliest feminine dresses for church, complete with white sweater, white tights, and new white flats.  They don't always deck out so, but it makes them so excited when they do! I try to memorize every giggle, every twirling spin, every delicate little-girl feature.

(I read on Simple Mom's blogging tips last week that I'm not supposed to write with exclamation points, unless it's my general style of writing.  Sorry, friends.  I guess it is--at least when it comes to my children.  They excite me!!)

* a freshly mowed lawn

* white-crowned sparrows coming to the feeders and delighting my Peter

* all natural vanilla bean chocolate mint ice cream

* Peter picking tulips and putting them in a vase for Momma

* freshly laundered sheets

* baby soft cheeks to kiss

* a strong husband to hug

* a litter soda bottle over the plexiglass feeder, solving our squirrel problems

* Peter feeding the squirrels dried corn cobs, to keep them happy

* Barilla PLUS multigrain elbow pasta (no mess involved when two year olds eat this with spaghetti sauce, and it takes great.)

* little girls giggling in the tub

* sisters kissing and hugging

* sisters playing with dolls (not an everyday thing around here)

* big boys saying I love you

* I've been collecting skirts for myself from thrift stores for about a year, after growing to hate the jeans, jeans, jeans mother-at-home uniform. I like being a woman! I've worn jeans all this time only because they make mothering easier, and it's cheap to find tops that match.  It has been difficult to find new-looking coordinating tops for my skirt collection, but I've made progress on my last two thrifting trips.  I can now wear skirts at least three times a week, and still comfortably mother and do chores.

I picked out skirts that looked brand new, were machine washable and didn't need ironing.  I wear flat shoes at home, but sometimes change to slightly healed shoes to do errands.  I wear nylons or tights if it's cold, or paint my toes and wear black or brown sandals if it's warm.  I've collected:

- 2 long jean skirts (different styles)

- 1 knee-length jean skirt (I don't wear the knee-length if I'm going some place to sit down, like someone's house or to church, because knee-length skirts aren't very modest once you sit down.  But grocery shopping in it or mothering in it are fine. My husband likes it.

-  2 below-the-knee flowing polyester skirts with black background and lots of pretty flowers (solid black tops or short-sleeved black sweaters coordinate with these, because the flowers provide so much color).  When the weather turns quite humid, I'll abandon all polyester, except for church.

- 1 light-weight cotton broomstick skirt in various shades of green (I finally had to break down and buy a white, short-sleeved sweater top for $7 at Walmart to go with this one.  I couldn't find anything at thrift stores after looking for a year.)

- 1 dressy below-the-knee rayon/spandex/polyester blend skirt in black for church  

* Last night Peter spilled a quart of lemonade all over himself, all over me, the counter, the dishwasher, and the floor, just as I was about to prepare dinner.  It delayed me twenty-five minutes because the clean up was so extensive.  As I was down on the floor cleaning, I noticed that all the appliances needed a good Windexing, the baseboards needed a good wiping, and the inside of the dishwasher needed a good cleaning.  I was immediately downcast about the messiness--wanting to sob really--but then the Holy Spirit put a picture in my head.

I imagined an immaculate home with all deep cleaning caught up--walls, baseboards, appliances, windows, blinds, ceilings--but it was devoid of children, of laughter, of plentiful hugs, of children's books, of children's paintings and drawings.  Suddenly, I stopped wishing I had time for deep cleaning. And I gulped down tears, thanking the Lord for my four wonderful blessings! Shame on me for caring about deep cleaning when abundant blessings--the best kind of blessings--flowed around me.