Is the sun far from any smallest flower
That lives by his dear presence every hour?”

‘Dear presence every hour’! What of the night,
When crumpled daisies shut gold sadness in;
And some do hang the head for lack of light,
Sick almost unto death with absence-blight?
Thy memory then, warm-lingering in the ground,
Mourned dewy in the air, keeps their hearts sound,
Till fresh with day their lapsed life begin.”

George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul

I have known the absence-blight. I know the way it makes you feel sick almost unto death.

I know, too, that memory of God’s faithfulness in past times kept my heart sound—or at least sounder than it would have been had my memory failed. And remembering past faithfulness, I kept raising my head and peering into the darkness, looking for evidence of God’s present faithfulness in the midst of night.

You find what you’re looking for.

Finding doesn’t bring the day (oh that it did!), but it keeps your heart beating, however slowly, however fearfully, till fresh with day your lapsed life begins anew, in joy.

Giving thanks, yet again, for God’s faithfulness, made manifest in manifold ways:

2654. A stripe of sunlight on my bed.

2655. Twins playing happily—together!—in the living room.

2656. Tea!

2657. Cornbread with jam.

2658. Diary of an Old Soul. George MacDonald was a kindred spirit.

2659. Doug’s phone that was lost has been found!

2660. Blueberry picking with my kids today, one of my favorite excursions of the year.

2661. Spiderwebs sparkling in the sun.

2662. Breakfast with Cathee and Susan—sans kids.

2663. The smooth blue dome of summer sky.

2664. This moment of quiet: only the leaves rustling in wind, the raucous call of a crow, the soft clink-clink of the schoolyard flag’s grommets against the flagpole.

Your turn: What are you thankful for?

Please list three or four (or ten!) things for which you’re grateful down in the comment box. Let’s lift up a hymn of grateful praise to the Giver of all good gifts!

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Linking today with Ann Voskamp, who inspired the gift list in the first place.