My Favorite Things

I love Friday.  It's my favorite day!  There is just something different about Friday to me...it feels different!
There are so many simple things that make me smile....so if I want to smile more often, I should do more of these things!
Here's a short list....
fresh flowers
sunshine
a fire in the fireplace
being married to glenn
friday night weaver dance parties
sinatra during dinner
wine
candles
movies
bedtime songs with my children
comfy clothes
a really good book and getting absorbed in it
laughing children
babies
a favorite song on the radio unexpectedly
quiet moments with God
helping other people to find their passion
weddings
dinner with good friends that lasts for hours
the ocean
...and of course, as I mentioned...Friday.
The first time I wrote a list like this, it occurred to me how easy it would be to have these things every day (well, except Friday!) These simple, inexpensive pleasures, when created intentionally or just noticed purposely every day would allow me to experience so much joy every day!

What is your list?  What things just make your heart ache with the love of it?
I read a blog yesterday about the ache of raising children, of seeing your boy becoming a man and being awed and amazed and somewhat bewildered by it all...
I love that ache...that tender place in my heart that reminds me of Love. 

My youngest daughter and I finished Charlotte's Web last night...a think I read it about 50 times growing up.  As we read 'The End', she looked at me and said, "that's such a sad ending." Not sad,  poignant....it's nostalgic...it's ...that ache.  The awareness of love because it's been lost.

Oh how I want to learn to Love until it aches without having to experience the losing part!

I want to be more present to my loves....I want to be more aware of my joys and more appreciative of my favorite things!

"Sunrise doesn't last all morning, a cloudburst doesn't last all day.  All things must pass away."(G. Harrison)

We all have that feeling...as the sunset fades into the dark, the final notes of our favorite song drift into quiet, the child becomes an adult, the endless hours suddenly are past years...

But the reason I love that ache, as much as it hurts sometimes is because of the reason we ache in the first place.

We are not made for the temporary, but for the eternal.

We aren't supposed to experience loss, but to remain forever in Love.
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matthew 24:35)

The ache of things I love here remind me of the eternal Love, and the knowledge that someday my heart will remain permanently filled make me cling to the moments that bring me joy here...regardless of how fleeting.

So I will celebrate my Fridays, cry over heart wrenching movies, tear up at the memories of my babies, invite more friends over for more wine and more laughing, buy more fresh flowers....even though all of this makes my heart ache and eventually fades away, my hope is in You Lord! 
Someday, all will be made new!
"Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:5)


Happy Friday everyone.  Write your list of favorite things and see how many you can create, appreciate and celebrate this weekend!