Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 314

Today's Daily 5:

1. cute and comfy new sandals
2. staying up late into the night reading, working to finish a book
3. readers thumb (I seriously have a slightly injured thumb on my left hand from holding up heavy books reading every day)
4. scented hand cream
5. pancakes made from scratch
6. a morning at home alone
7. fresh blueberries to munch on
8. a restful afternoon
9. laughing with family
10. thankful that another reminder of the fragility of life didn't end in death today

A Journey Made on Holy Ground

A few weeks back I finished another re-read of Robert Benson's "Between the Dreaming and the Coming True".  This memoir of brokenness, mental illness and faith has become one of my favorite reads, and Benson has rapidly become one of a few occupants of my list of author's whose books have always challenged, stirred and inspired me to pursue faith and prayer in new and deeper ways.  I wanted to share the last few paragraphs of this book, since I find them so beautiful:

The journey between the dreaming and the coming true is a journey made on holy ground.  It is a journey made through silence and longing where, if we will listen, we can hear the whisper of the Dreamer echoing deep within us, calling us to become what the Dreamer sees when our names were first whispered: saints who believe in and pay attention for and recognize the Voice; saints who live our lives in joy and confidence and hope rather than judgment and anxiety and desperation; saints whose hours and days and lives are spent carrying people to the Christ, lending each other a hand when one of us has fallen, slipping along the river that brings joy to the heart of God, carrying God's peace and love and presence and life to those we meet along the way.

This is what we have been sent here to do.  And we will.  The Dreamer's dreams will always come true.

(Benson, 144)

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 313

Today's Daily 5:

1. Another morning where I could allow myself to fall back asleep after waking painfully early and catch a bit of extra rest
2. discovering that expected company was not in fact coming
3. finishing the fairly large task of weeding the entire garden (today I worked for several hours while listening to an audio book.  it was a lovely solitary way to spend the afternoon)
4. a hot shower after hours of cleaning and gardening, and the feeling of lovely lavender scented body butter on dry tired skin
5. crawling into a bed with freshly washed sheets, smelling of fabric softener, and wearing freshly washed pajamas smelling the same

Quiet

Today is a day for quiet.

For cleaning, and for prayer.

For lifting some deep needs I've been made aware of to Jesus.

For thinking, and maybe journaling.

For pondering patterns.

For celebrating the joyful moments as well.

For gardening if it doesn't rain, and reading if it does.

But mostly for cleaning, and for praying.

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 312

Y'all, this is one of those days where making this list is a conscious and harder activity.  It's been a bit of a lethargic day, I haven't been feeling great and spent a lot of the day crashed on the couch.  I totally forgot about keeping a list, and now I'm looking back on the day and figuring out what to list...

Today's Daily 5:

1. Licorice nibs (red, of course - black licorice is GROSS!)
2. strawberries and whipped cream
3. being able to fall back asleep after being up for a while this morning, when I wasn't feeling great
4. laughing at a new reality television program I watched
5. curling up under piles of blankets to doze, read, or watch television, and generally not having to move.