I have a dear friend that suggested I keep a notebook to write down ideas as I think of them.  It was a great suggestion so now I have little notebooks EVERYWHERE!  It helps that I love paper and pens and little notebooks!  It’s also a very good idea for me because like a friend says, “I have a mind like a steel sieve.”   Really… it’s pretty scary how quickly an idea enters my brain and even more quickly leaves it.

So today I opened one of my many little notebooks and found a page of blog ideas.  For the life of me I can’t remember what in blazes I was talking about.  Here are a few…maybe someone out there will know what I meant!

Lottery commercial?    Other than wanting to win the lottery I can’t think of what that would mean!

Sicko?   Not only is that one disturbing I can’t even vaguely remember the context!

James and Peter?  My brother and my son…well actually I know it’s in reference to the books of the Bible, but I can’t recall what exactly I was supposed to write about.

Ugh!?  That could mean a lot of things…it’s my most commonly uttered phrase.

The good thing is that as I went page by page through my little notebook #1, I found sermon notes and quotes and some short journal-like entries that reminded me of what God is doing in my life.  You can assume from this blog that my memory is not so great right now…big and little things tend to get lost in the confounding amount of stuff I need to deal with daily.  It was good to be reminded that God is at work…He is blessing me even as I walk through my valley.  And I can see now that my valley has a decidedly upward slant to it.  That is encouraging!

One of my favorite notebooks is full of a numbered list of things I’m thankful for.  I started this one after reading Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts – so blessed by this book!  Here are some of my thankful things:

#11         the sound of a soccer ball being booted

#19         mums and pumpkins

#32         laughing that I just realized I started this journal upside down and backwards

#119      date night with Peter

#128      Allison’s mismatched socks – everyday

#134      Lizzie wearing three shirts all day and then how cute she looked trying to take them all off at bedtime – hysterical!

#167      first cup of hot cocoa in a Christmas mug

#224      joy in my sorrow

#266      friends who loan me cars

#277      giant snowflakes falling

#278      Zach texting me funny quotes out of the blue

#279      Emma sitting on my bed late at night just to talk

Even as I sit here, I can think of at least 10 more things to add to my list.  I’ve not been as good at writing them down as I should…I forget to be thankful so easily.  In this very difficult single parent life, I’ve found that I’m much happier and peaceful when I focus on the things I can be thankful for rather than the things I want to run from.  Since I can’t really run away from anything, I’m learning to be grateful…and I’m finding that God is so very good to me and mine.

So I guess I won’t be able to write a blog entitled “sicko” which is probably a good thing in the long run…and maybe someday I’ll figure out the lottery commercial one (might be an excuse to put my feet up and watch TV), but until then, I think I can figure out plenty to write about…the perpetually flooded basement, the glitter-covered guinea pig (never a dull moment) and all the many things to be thankful for each day.