293.

293. a friend to talk to
294. a friend to listen to
295. a husband with a healthy sense of humor
296. talking it out in a calm manner
297. the calm before the storm
298. sleep

285.

285.His mercies are new yet again this morning
286. words of encouraging scripture all over the internet
287. hearing "Prayer is our strategy to accomplish these unrealistic goals."
288.God's invitation to cast my cares on him, not because he is strong enough to take care of them, but rather because he cares for me.
289. a walk through a cemetary
290. a symphony concert at Bass Hall
291. catching up with friends
292. believing God loves me even if he didn't answer my prayer the way I wanted

275.

275.warmth on a chilly morning
276. cup of tea
277. beautiful skies
278. a new bird!
279. my life list is now 303
280. hope
281. "weeds" for dinner (aka baby salad greens)
282. M&Ms hidden in the underwear drawer
283. buying a fold-out turkey centerpiece to send to Isabella
284. my wrong online purchase worked instead for my friend

270.

270. his mercies are new every morning
271.unexpected lunch with my daughter
272. working hard to bless someone unexpectedly
273. being appreciated
274. remembering that even the prophet Elijah got discouraged.  More than once.

It has been hard today to be thankful, yet I acknowledge God's graciousness to me.

261.

261. Inca Doves
262. the biopsy was negative
263. no surgery needed
264. groups working together
265. a genuine thank-you from someone I've never met
266. Snopes
267. singing vegetables
268. Morty survived a cat fight
269. Christmas cards

251

I'm a quarter of the way to my goal of naming 1000 blessings, gifts, or other things I'm thankful for.  They are not rolling off the tongue/mind/fingertips as quickly now, though I acknowledge I have no shortage of good things in my life.

This week I'm still tempted to worry about things I have no control over, so this will be my goal for the week from Matthew 6:

25 "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? 27 Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? 28 "And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.

30 It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have! 31 "So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?' 32 (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

251. God's promise to take care of today for me

And speaking of the birds that God takes care of, today I'm starting the Feeder Watch thing at Cornell University.  It is a citizen science thing that folks once a week count the birds that come to their feeders, and do this all winter long.

252. warm, clear November morning
253. red trees outside my window
254. work to do
255. God's hand at work even when things look dark
256. a clean room
257. a place to exercise creativity
258. seeing progress on a project just because I encouraged someone
259. a hand-written thank you note (even if it did have a fleur de lis on it :-)
260. Gary going to Walmart with me

245.

245. this
246. prediction of 80 degrees today
247. God's word is true no matter how I feel
248. God's presence when I'm scatterbrained
249. my relatives making funeral plans on Facebook
250.someone's sense of humor to humor me