The beautiful peak of autumn's splendor has come! Thank you Lord for your gift of color and brilliance every year. 

50 Blessings

Our challenge today at church was to list 50 blessings- things to be thankful for in order to look on the positive side of life and remember all the things which God has provided for us.

...

1. My awesome husband! He's a go-getter, a hero, a veteran, and a great dad. 

2. Our firstborn daughter, 20. She loves her boyfriend, horror movies, choir singing, hiking, and The Office.

3. Our middle-born daughter, 18. She loves her BFF's, soccer, horses, sunbathing, and Nike sportswear.

4. Our son and youngest child, 11. He loves Marvel movies, beef stroganoff, mango juice, and UNO cards.

5. Our home in small-town Wisconsin where we've lived for over 20 years.

6. Diet iced tea. 

7. My air conditioning unit. 

8. Lake Hayward, with its deep drop off point that makes your feet feel chilly.

9. My friends who manage to drag me out of my house once in a while.

10. The aspen tree and pine forest behind our backyard.

11. The field of long grass in our backyard; the way it sways in the breeze.

12. Laundry hanging on the line in the summertime.

13. Daisies.

14. 80's music.

15. Our choir cantata that I sing in, and our director Holly.

16. Black cherry diet soda.

17. Refillable plastic water bottles.

18. Coffee.

19. The maple tree in the front of our house, that has grown from a sapling over 15 years.

20. Our dog, Lexie.

21. Facebook and Twitter (when I can use them without addiction)

22. My blue bedsheets, the super-soft ones.

23. Ibuprofen pills.

24. Maxi pads.

25. My laptop, which I use for writing and for wasting too much time.

26. Marvel movies. 

27. The 'oldies' radio show on 101.7 that plays good 70's and 80's music.

28. Disney movies.

29. Amazon.com's Kindle program and various other websites, (including this one!) which have allowed me to publish my mediocre writing- and improve my writing abilities to where I've published my own novels.

30. Books. Lots! Of! Books!

31. The Sherman and Ruth Weiss Community Library.

32. Miller's Market.

33. Backroads Coffee.

34. Hayward Coffee Company.

35. DiGiorno's Stuffed Crust Frozen Pizza.

36. Snap Fitness. (So I can eat DiGiorno's pizza, drink Backroads' frappes, and eat Miller's subs!)

37. Bath and Body Works' shower gels and hand soaps.

38. Maurice's clearance rack.

39. Walmart's clearance rack.

40. The song of the Red-Winged Blackbird, especially when springtime begins.

41. The song of Eastern Grey tree frogs at night.

42. The full moon, which rises over the eastern skyline from my backyard.

43. The stars on a clear night.

44. Lilacs in June.

45. Fall- the turning colors, pumpkin patches, apple pie baking, and cooler days.

46. Thanksgiving time, when Ben and I have our birthdays, which leads into Christmastime.

47. Christmastime.

48. Kohl's store in Rice Lake.

49. My Dodge Caravan which is still driveable and has a working A/C and heat.

50. Our church. And thank you to Chad, for challenging us to make this list! :)

A Prayer for My Daughter, on her Graduation Day

Dear Lord, help. There's a cap and gown hanging in my younger daughter's room.

She's graduating soon, and I can't believe how fast the time has gone. She's ready and excited…and so am I, but it's bittersweet. Because since the day she was born and wrapped her tiny fingers around mine, and I could see that her eyes were brown and not blue like her sister's, I knew she was a unique person of her own. Once again, I understood the concept of unconditional love—including Your love.

Thank you for making me her mom…and trusting my hands to care for this little human's life when I had no clue what I was doing.

This parenting journey has been the hardest, funniest, most terrifying, inspiring, holy mess…and there are a lot of parts I messed up that I wish I could do over. Please forgive me for the times I was exhausted and bitter and wanted to give up. Forgive me for yelling a lot. Forgive me for not paying attention. Forgive me for forgetting things.

Forgive me for all of the mistakes I made as her mom. And please help her forget this stuff—or at least help her forgive me if my failures screwed her up. Hopefully, you can turn the consequences into something positive—like the development of grit and resilience. She is a very strong, vibrant, and determined girl, and I thank You for making her that way.

I look back at it all, and could not be happier with this gift- 'my Christmas present' I like to call her, since I went to the hospital in labor with her on Christmas Day, and she was born 10 minutes after midnight. She is my pride and joy, my middle child. 

I love her so much. Thank you, Lord, for giving me this wonderful young lady for me to raise.