My first day in Montana began earlier than usual for me. Awake by 5 o’clock, I laid in bed until 6:20 when I realized if I got up I could watch the sunrise. I rarely get a chance to do it — partly because I don’t have a good eastern view and mostly because I am not up. Just keepin’ it real!

As I sat in Mom’s driveway, coffee in one hand and my morning meditation in the other, I watched as the sky came alive with morning colors. I thanked God for the morning sun, his watch over the earth, the way he reveals himself through nature.

Mom and I shared conversation over breakfast, doing the simple things I don’t often get to experience with her. We ran out for a few groceries, planned dinner together, walked through her neighborhood. I thanked God for these few days with Mom and the beauty of time together.

Today my day was marked with gratitude. Gratitude for all things large and small. Other things my heart sang with joy over today…

…fresh cherry tomatoes from Mom’s window box garden — crisp, juicy and fresh.

…cherry pie hot from the oven waiting for me when I arrived Wednesday night.

…dinner with two sisters, one brother and one brother-in-law recalling memories of frozen Ding Dongs, Spam from the can, chopped roast beef sandwiches, apples from the tree for school lunches, uncles that scared us, redemptive moments with people from the past, shared laughter over spiders in coffee cups.

…growing relationships with my own children and grandchildren as we all learn what it means for them to be adulting and sharing lives and responsibilities.

¹⁸Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Today the Holy Spirit led me to be grateful for all things large and small. What are you grateful for today? What are you experiencing that, covered with a spirit of gratitude, is a stepping stone to God’s will for you?

Happy Friday everyone! Remember, it might be Friday, but Sunday is coming!