Sweet mercies

(overly edited photo courtesy of my iphone)

One of my favorite sweet mercies.. Daffodils.. they are the Paul Revere of spring!

Sunday at church one of our Pastors mentioned,

"sweet mercies."

I like to think of a sweet mercy as a gift.. a little like when the person in the sbux drive-thru buys your drink. You know, not something that is not huge, not something that you desperately need..just a little help..a bit of an unexpected blessing for you.. a sweet mercy.

Most days (after all the chips are gone and the last bit of coffee is drank) I get caught up in the not-so-mercy-filled part of life. This pretty much always leads to me thinking about all the BAD stuff, the stuff that I'm NOT thankful for... (sickness, flat tires, large dental bills, kiddos running late, republican primary campaign ads).

I decided that I need to focus a bit more on the sweet mercies this week, maybe slide on a pair or rose colored glasses while sipping my half FULL glass of iced Americano, take a moment to notice all of the sweet mercies my Creator has bestowed on me...

~ sunday naps

~2 hour school delays

~deep friendships

~letters from Kenya

~bones that heal

~freshman sons that still kiss their Mother in front of all their friends

~freshman sons having friends that don't tease them for still kissing their Mother

~softball with my girl

~the smell of spring

~the smell of a new book

~freedom from mans condemnation

~smiling at random people

~seeing friends succeed in building their dreams

~happy news

~safe relationships

~making another person happy

~unexpected presents in the mail (have I ever mentioned how much I love getting real mail?)

~longer days..(yay!)

~brighter mornings

~coffee (duh)

~silence

~encouraging words from a respected person

~my space here, this blog

~a good book

~laughter

~my dinner table with 6 Strehle's in attendance

~letting go

~just the idea of summer being a few months closer **sigh**

(I won't lie.. a long stay at on a tropical island, with really great child-care, drinks with umbrellas and a strict no-shoes policy would also be considered a "sweet mercy".)

(just sayin)

Truthfully dear reader I have this funny little feeling, like maybe if I start looking for, you know..taking the time in my day to acknowledge the sweet mercies of life, I just might see them everywhere.. all over.. like all up in my business.

Because life is not always easy (mostly with the not) but that does not make it any less beautiful, some days we just need to look a little deeper for that beauty.. sweet mercies.