presents

Things that make me happy:

* crock pots (with food in them, obviously)
* surviving a snowshoeing weekend without succumbing to hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning
* my daughter's sunglasses:

* Sunderland's triumph over Arsenal in their FA Cup tie last weekend
* signs that there may be a plan for me yet

Every now and then this whole life-lived-in-faith thing shows signs of working out, eh? A mark of approval... a sign of support... a demonstration that the work you are pretty sure you're called to might indeed be what you're meant to be doing. I've had a few of those lately; what a tremendous blessing!

I hope you are finding some of these marks and signs along your path. If they seem few and far between, please know that you're not alone in that feeling... and that, as with mine, your current drought is not a permanent one. I'm sure I will eventually find myself in a drought again; that's the way life goes. We have ups and downs, experience feast and (hopefully metaphorical) famine.

But: I give thanks for the present. It truly is a "present," and I pray for "presents" for each of you.