Counting Gifts

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On my walk, jewels mark my path as if Royalty had just passed by. Gold, ruby, emerald in every shade…pooled under trees, scattered across the sidewalk, huddled in patches along the street. Hovering gray skies served only to heighten their jeweled glow. I genuflect to pick them up, one by one. Each a different shape. Each a wonder on its own. Many, newly fallen, sparkle in their radiant color. Others, no less beautiful, lie brittle, tinged with umber. Pockets stuffed. Hands full. I cannot hold them all. Each one is perfect. Joy and wonder bubbles up with every bending. And I think–

*If I count each gorgeous leaf as a gift or blessing, I am rich indeed.

*Remaining upright is not always the best place from which to see Beauty.

*A life bent low allows for gathering gifts into one’s arms.

-jpe

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“When I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me. This, this, makes me full, and I “magnify Him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30 KJV), and God enters the world. What will a life magnify?”

Ann Voscamp. pg. 61. One Thousand Gifts Devotional.

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“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing. “

Camille Pissarro

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What will you magnify (give thanks for) today?

0 thoughts on “Counting Gifts

  1. whimseytopia says:

    Everyone I know who paints is painting these magnificent leaves now. However, no one I know but you can write about it so well, making your paintings the most beautiful and interesting. I really do enjoy your postings. I need to paint some before they’re all gone.

    • jenpedwards says:

      Thank you so much Patsye! Your kind words are such an encouragement! I hope you can get out and pick up a few lovely leaves for painting this week. Ours will be gone soon, and I’m sad to see them go. But then we will have the gorgeous graphic line work of winter trees from which to draw inspiration! All the best to you today in your creativity!

  2. freebirdsings/Timaree says:

    I agree with Whimseytopia. No one I know has turned fall leaves into what I would recognize as a Mass of the Leaves (I am Catholic) and the true sense of our Mass comes through in your ode to the leaves. When we acknowledge the “least of these” as being part of God’s Wholeness we are seeing things in the right way.

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