Thankful for This

Sitting out under the late night sky watching stars wink hope.
Wearing a Soldier's sweatshirt again...so I can feel him close to my heart.
Praying for him.  Leaning into God for him.
Surrendering all that was lost and broken.
Giving my rights away and laying my life down again.
Ahhh...it feels good to follow Jesus. (Even when it hurts.)
Finding my smile again.
In Christ.
Finding my feet moving along the dusty road again.
Because of Christ.
For aunts and uncles and cousins and more cousins.
For my Grandparents and their legacy that ripples out on the water.
For getting to play in the lake like a kid again.
With my cousins and all that laughter.
About how we've become our parents.
And how we can't eat diddly anymore because it makes us all sick.
Isn't that a hoot?
For Aunt Mary: her eyes like Grandma's eyes.  A real talk.  A gift to me.
For Glacier Park and the elixir she carries in the air.
A sweetness that revives my drowning soul.
How the clouds floating at the bottom of Lake McDonald make me laugh.
Everything flipped upside down.
Everything getting flipped right side up.
The kids and I howling too late over a game of Yahtzee.
Daniel saying, "The most dangerous species alive is a hungry mother."
As I open a jar of sauerkraut for breakfast and dump it into a bowl.
Daniel saying, "The most dangerous species alive is a grandmother at the dollar store."
Laughing until we cry.
Their faces enraptured.
Joy.
Just...
Facing judgement with grace.
Facing hatred with love.
The Bible box.
The Word, Friends.
The Word.
Working through an argument by looking through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus.
The Good News that He died for me when I hated and despised Him.
When I was cruel and unkind.
When I was silent.
When I was screaming obscenities and raising my fist to His face.
"MY WAY!"
Yes.  She who has been forgiven much loves much.
So...
For my precious Savior and my priceless Salvation.
That  I love You, my Jesus.
I.  Love.  You.
For the Shoulder's hand in mine all the way home.
For a deep and grateful sigh that we've come through another one.

Because of Jesus.

Bernadette