Gratitude For What's to Come

Green Pastures and Still Waters

Invitation for the New Mummy

Birthing New Creativity (404 Pages)

Hope for Tomorrow

Expressing gratitude grounds us in the moment like smelling that aroma of the morning's first mug of dark-brewed coffee. We feel grateful, and we sigh.

Yet, gratitude can also bring us hope, something to look forward to in the future even when the future is as uncertain as the path of a retreating glacier full of rocks and debris that we seem to collect slogging through tough times. Gratitude lets us release the rocks and see the beauty of life unfolding.

Joining other grateful bloggers in a weekly activation of the gratitude attitude, Tuesday is reserved for cultivating universal "thank yous" of life, living and loving. If you blog, join us in this community expression and link your post in the comments. If not, simply write what you are grateful for today...if you have one, you can find seven!

Gratitude for what's to come:

1. More green pastures and quiet waters. Psalm 23 reminds us of where God will lead us. And then I look out my window and see the horses lying down in green pastures along Elmira Pond. I am grateful for the good peace to come.
2. A phone call from Nae. Funny thing about being grateful for this is that she called while I was writing! I'm so grateful that she is my lift-me-up and that I can always look forward to joy when we giggle about what our eyebrows are doing as we age gracefully. And yes, the secret to graceful aging is giggling like a child.
3. A new crop of family babies. Like rich soil, the Mills heritage is yielding a new generation. I am so grateful to have two young grand-nephews and and to more in mommy-pods. My nieces remind me my sisters-in-law (can I just drop the in-law?) and how we had showers and babies and toddlers together with such hope and expectation. I am grateful that hope yet lives.
4. Birthing a new kind of creativity. It's not all about babies, and I'm grateful for the expectancy of raising books like they were my new brood. My first manuscript is headed to beta-readers and I am thinking of this as kindergarten. I am grateful for what I will learn from this new path in life as a full-time writer.
5. While I am grateful for babies and new creations, I am equally grateful not to be a grandparent. It may sound counterintuitive, but that choice is such a personal one and no longer my own. I am grateful for daughters and a son who have the independence to carve out their own lives and the strength to say to the older generations, not now. I am grateful for free-range, grown children and the future moments we still have to share.
6. Traveling friends. Sounds like a circus act, and maybe it will be just as exciting. I am like a little kid waiting for the parade of elephants and lion tamers to train through town. My friend gets on Amtrak tonight and will be at Elmira Pond tomorrow night! I am excitedly grateful.
7. Venison pasties. The rutabagas are balls ready to be plucked from my fall garden in time for that deer or elk I know my husband will harvest soon. He's hunting as I write. I am grateful for having harvests yet to look forward to and old recipes to renew.

Don't let the sun set without being grateful for something to look forward to tomorrow! Keep hope ever lifted high and gratitude tucked in your pocket.