An Echo of Thanks

“Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo,” Barth said. So much grace surrounds me. There are so many echoes.

I’m grateful for the wool Pendleton blanket that lays over my lap as I write. I’m grateful for our window-filled sun room at the back of our house, with the black-iron stove in the corner offering flame and heat. I’m thankful for Miska leading us through yoga this morning, for the strong mountain pose as we greeted the rising sun, for our dog Gus lying beside my mat and snuggling close any time I sat for more than a moment. I’m grateful to have Wyatt home, the sound of his guitar filling the house. I’m thankful for Seth, his strong, broad shoulders and the unbidden hug he gave me this morning.

I’m grateful for how, if you get going on your morning run early enough, you can smell Bowerman’s baking their blueberry donuts all the way down James Street, the aroma so thick and potent you want to lick the air. I’m grateful for so many memories of watching the Macy’s Day Parade with my grandmother. I’m grateful for Chris Stapleton’s astounding album Starting Over. I’m grateful for the plants in my study (the Snake Plant, the Chinese Money Plant, the Succulent, and especially the Lemon Cypress that suffered at my novice hands, going brown and crisp). I’m grateful for crunchy peanut butter. I’m grateful for a few friends who make me feel less crazy.

I’m grateful that the Love that Holds the World holds me, holds you, holds all of us together. I’m grateful that this love remains the deep truth even when we fight against it with insane fury.

11 Replies to “An Echo of Thanks”

  1. If you look long enough at your life everyday there are many things to be thankful for. Thanks for that reminder.

    For me it was just to be able to go to the local supermarket and pick out the vegetables I needed and the milk! We havent been out much since Corona ravaged our part of the world too- from March 2020. So these little things count.

  2. Dear Winn and Miska. I always am blessed by your stories and though I’m late, Happy Thanksgiving. In my devotions this morn I read about Chet Bitterman who was a young man in love with Christ, a missionary with Wycliffe translators. I’m very familiar with them. I would remind myself again that “You are great and You alone are God.” I have been blessed with the peace of God in this mixed up world. I don’t know how people live without Him. Much love in Christ, Lillian

  3. Winn and Miska,
    As always, I get so excited when I see your posts!
    Thankfulness is the best solution for the discomfort in this world.
    Just finished my Zoom yoga…gotta keep moving comfortably!

  4. Winn, I, too, am excited when I see your post, as I read Jan’s reply. Sounds like you are getting used to the climate of the new move! From your good writing, I can feel the warmth you write about. I read in my devotional that,” thankfulness and trust are like close friends who are always ready to help you.” I am thankful for God’s goodness when our world seems to be spinning out of control. He always makes the storms quiet and reminds us to “be still.” It sounded like you were all home for Thanksgiving. What a blessing. I am thanking Him for friends like you. Keep writing, I enjoy reading your words. May God richly bless you and your family.

  5. Winn,

    I waited to read this until this Monday after Thanksgiving. Maybe I knew I would need a sweet dose of gratitude to help me carry the blessings of home, the company of my brother and flatmate, and long catch-ups with friends far away, into the week after. As always, the topic was perfect and the honesty and beauty of your words touched me.
    My dear friend Beth often says,”I am grateful for being grateful!” I am! And, I am thankful for you and your writing.

    Wendy

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