Free-Form Gratitudes

This is as far as I got during the unstructured portion of the mid-week alternative worship service:

For caring doctors and nurses
for sharp mind, sound ligaments, whole bones
for sheer determination
+ great stories
an adventuresome life

---------~~---------

For love + affection
and forgiveness
and a good example
for leaping over and beyond me
in grace and maturity
for never being the prodigal or the
things I projected
For being a good dad
and a good brother
and a good son

---------~~---------

For innocent sweetness
for finding her way the only way
she knows how
for her love of swimming
and learning to love a rival
for her desire for love and attention
the same we all share

---------~~---------

For warmth and courage
of a quiet kind
For strength I could not see
for love and support
unselfish and true
For imprinting herself in expression
and tone and mannerisms
on those she loves
for taking the silver and bronze
and letting him shine
For wanting more for us than
we hoped for


Obviously, there's a lot more to be grateful for. Those were just the first that sprang to mind, tears streaming down my face as I wrote.

I grabbed a bite to eat afterward; unfortunately, my companions were all guys. (I think a girl would have alerted me there was a huge smear of mascara under my left eye.)