Grateful

God has let me in on a secret. I don't know how or why I missed this for my first 39 years, but I am passing it on. God cares about my thankful heart. He longs for me to be grateful and to focus on the gifts from Him. In doing so, I am connected to Him and it changes, truly changes who I am. So...in an effort to focus on the things I love and recognize as gifts from God, I am compiling a list of 1,000 things I love. OK, I stole the idea from the wonderful book One Thousand Gifts. But if I publish my list, maybe it will keep me on track and gazing upon those things that make my heart sing.
Here are my first 14:
1. Giggling girls sleeping over
2. Candlelight dancing on the wall
3. Reading while the Arizona sun rises
4. Sleepy, tossled-hair girls descending the stairs
5. Sweet Givers who don't take "no" for an answer
6. Reese's morning happy noises
7. The first smile of the day, all teeth
8. Thank you from a child
9. Being nose to nose with Reese, feeling and smelling her breath
10. Mia's tearful, heartfelt "I'm sorry, Mommy" followed by a tight hug
11. Clouds hanging over the mountains after a desert rain
12. Masato (Reese's music therapist) singing to Reese and Reese responding with her voice
13. Faith's belly laugh at herself when she catches herself doing something silly
14. Mario singing at the top of his lungs in the kitchen while I get dressed