This past weekend I had the joy and honor of accompanying my
son Noah to visit five college campuses in the beautiful state of Colorado. We
couldn’t have picked a more perfect weekend to visit—the weather was in the 70’s,
the skies were bright and clear, the mountains majestic, and the trees in full autumn splendor. I was in complete awe
of God’s creation---I couldn’t get enough of the colors—vibrant reds, oranges,
bronzes and yellows. I took pictures of every tree, bush, hill, creek,
mountain, flower that I saw—everything was new and exciting (being a California
native—change of seasons is a foreign concept to me). Noah began to get a bit (a lot) impatient with
me and as we were eating lunch in the adorable college town of Fort Collins, he
said to me, “Mom, you don’t need to take a picture of every leaf and tree you
see.” I replied in my post cancer—everything
is perfect and beautiful and we must appreciate every moment kind of way, “But
Noah, everything is so delightful and lovely—don’t you just want to take it all
in?” And his curt response was, “Mom, I do NOT DELIGHT in trees.” To which I
responded, “Well Noah, what do you delight in?”
He looked at me and said, “I delight in people.”
I am blessed that we have raised a young man who delights
more in people than in things, but it still took me aback a bit. Almost every
blog I have written since my March 2013 diagnosis of cancer has been about
being grateful, about appreciating every little thing, about living with purpose,
about never taking anything for granted. And because for some crazy reason God
allowed me to survive my two year battle with cancer--each and every day, each
and every little THING, each and every person in my life—is absolutely
DELIGHTFUL. Because of cancer, because
of my survival, because I was able to go on this college visit with my son--the
delight of things and people have become uber-magnified in my life. I know it
is cheesy and repetitive, but I will repeat it until my last breath—make every
moment count! Delight in the wonders given to you! I have decided to compile a small (well, maybe
not so small) list of things I delight in….it is a list to be continued daily
and it is practice of gratitude and joy.
I delight in……
*Waking up to a new day in a safe home ensconced in a warm
bed
*Butterscotch toffee coffee on my patio with my journal and
Bible each morning
*The bright orange and coral hibiscus that blooms on my patio
fireplace
*Morning hikes at Torrey Pines, along the cliffs, the beach, or
at Lake Poway with the clear lake and surrounding hills
*Mountain bike rides in the hills of my neighborhood
*Acai bowls at Swami’s café
*Watching the neighborhood kids walk to school with their
bright backpacks—with seemingly not a care in the world
*Getting super sweaty at my spin class
*Having wine and appetizers on our cabana at sunset (with
good friends)
*Meeting sweet former YL or Oasis kids for coffee or lunch
and hearing how God is working in their lives
*Lunch dates with dear friends
*Arriving at church and being surrounded by my little “grandbabies”
shouting “Lola Kiri!”
*Watching my former students grow up into amazing adults,
wives, husbands, parents and hard workers
*Listening to Ed Sheeran songs
*Skyping or Facebooking with my Ugandan family and knowing
that soon I will return to that precious village in Guru Guru
*Texting with my nieces, and talking with my mom or sister
and knowing that even if weeks have gone by, our relationships are rock solid
*Crazy family dinners around our table—
*Being able to be home when my boys get home from school to
make them a snack and hear about their day
*Our four wild and endearing rescue dogs—who all think they
are lap dogs
*My incredibly patient, calm husband who God knew I needed to
balance me
*My precious boys—gifts from God—who make me smile, make me
proud, and bring me pure joy every day.
*Trying new restaurants around town, but always having the
comfortable “go to” places where the local bartender knows your name
*Penne Elena at Villa Capri—even better when I am with my
besties
*Reading, reading, reading
*Discovering, learning, growing
*Making lists and checking them off
*Arranging flowers that I cut from my garden
*Sunsets on the coast and in my backyard
*When my boys come home and pile on our bed and tell us about
their evening
*Marathon Netflix “House of Cards” and “Scandal” nights
*Say Yes to the Dress
*Sushi
*My new passion in mixology
*God’s Word
*My two hope chests filled with journals I have written since
I was eight years old
*Friday night lights at Poway High
*Watching Noah play soccer
*Listening to Micah sing
*Mentoring and teaching
*Empowering others
*Pumpkins
*The first day that it is cool enough to wear a sweater and
boots
*Baking banana chocolate chip muffins (heart shaped) on the
first rainy day of the season
*Being transformed because of God’s grace
My list could go on and on….and it will….because I want to
delight in all God has blessed me with. But as Noah said, “I delight in people.” People—family, friends, those less fortunate
than me—they are what to delight in, to show love to, to pour time into. But no
delight could be possible without the delight of the Lord. It is in God the
Creator, in Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit—the Triune God—that all my delight
comes.
To pull and paraphrase from Psalm 37:
“Trust in the Lord….Take delight in the Lord…..Commit all
you do to the Lord…..Be still in the presence of the Lord….”
He alone is my rock, my fortress, my salvation….my delight.
Might I challenge you today-- and every day-- to delight in
God, in people, in things-- and to chronicle those delights so you might be
reminded—when the rough times come—that we have so much to be thankful for and
to delight in.
Blessings.
1 comment:
Love this, Kirsten. We have so very much for which to be thankful and life is greatly enhanced by walking though it with that as our perspective. The Lord gives us amazing grace and ability to find the things for which to be thankful, even in the midst of storms that could bring us down. He holds us up, opens our eyes, and helps us to focus on the beauty.
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