The sun still shines and we chat about blessings.......

Good morning all!

Do you need to know that I am allergic to the washing machine? Maybe not. The spin cycle has become mega unpleasant. It is the small stuff, people, the small stuff. 

On to other stuff now. I did not edit the above photo. 

The skies are that blue today, and the sun is out, although not tropical. This September has been very warm. The leaves, though, are starting to turn, and as it is now officially Autumn, this should not surprise one. It is all a plot, you see. I have this super efficient heating system now and it is too warm for it to burst into life. The plus side is the fiscal reward, though! 

There is a great deal to sort in the garden. So much to cut down or back and yet so much is still in flower, albeit a little ragged. Do I pull out the colour? Hmmm. The dahlias, though, are in full bloom, and we have no shortage of flowers around here. I look at them and think, right, which colours are missing? I must make a list for the sales next year, and then I forget where the list is and the next year we have the same conversation with ourselves. 

We really do not need any more plants in the beds. They are officially full, and I have another 6 small lavender plants which will need replanting one day as well. I love having plants with a beautiful scent around me. 

The attempt to maximise the use of space in the house continues. The problem is the size of the rooms. They are so small ( a very common British problem), that just put in a bed and a chest of drawers and the room is full. I was reading a thread on sewing machines on Facebook last night, and the talk turned to the size of the sewing room. Well, the original post was about a new custom built sewing table 6ft by 8ft. And I grinned, because there is a small bedroom in this house that size and all three of my children have used it at one stage or another, as they have grown up. And loved it too. And then someone commented that she was envious because she had to squash her stuff into a sewing room measuring 12ft by 14ft. 

There is not a bedroom in this house that size. 

In fact, that would class as a humongous room here by most people. 

It is all relative, isn't it - this may be small, but it has been our home for over 24 years. HOME. People come here. The welcome is always warm. Small is not bad. 

 AND the new carpets and bathroom are the first in all those years too. We make the best of whatever there is, it is ours, and so help me, my gratitude is truly unending. 

It really is. Small is just fine. 

(Caveat: I do dream of more storage space though! There is nothing wrong with dreams.)

And now onto another thought regarding gratitude. Thankfulness. 

There is a trend at the moment for people to say "I am so blessed". "We are very blessed." "We are thankful for our many blessings." Maybe not a trend, but it somehow seems to be so much more present right now in a secular sense. I am delighted that many blessings have poured out onto everyone. However, there is a correlation, and that is that, should those things NOT be happening in your life in a secular sense, then you must not be as good as / not be as favoured / have done something wrong. Or that is how it can be, and is perceived at times. 

I am very blessed. 

"I am very blessed" sounds as though Someone has blessed me, and I happily receive those blessings, of course, and my life is indeed filled with multiple blessings, of a different kind. But would it not be better to say "I am very thankful" when referring to secular things? 

"We have been blessed with a beautiful home."

"I have been blessed with a wonderful husband."

"We have been blessed with amazing jobs."

Hmmm. 

I go one step further. 

"I am blessed with good health." 

Right. So what does that do to people with health challenges? 

Me?

""We have been blessed with 3 children"

Think about it. 

We are, or should be very thankful for these things. 

Very, very thankful. 

There are so many other examples, believe me. Thinking through them is just so important. We are thankful. We are filled with thanks for... We are so grateful. 

I do not take the innumerable blessings in my life for granted. The good, the bad - one day they will all be understood as blessings, I am sure. It is just that my heart aches when words aren't thought through clearly. My life is full of blessings. I have indeed been very blessed. Not with or by dishwashers, although I am very fond of mine. But by so much more, which happens to include my home, the people in it, community I live in, family, friends, church, love....the list is endless. 

Anyway. Just a little something to think about. 

Aquazumba, here I come. I am so thankful for aquazum...........