I sat in the swing this morning drinking my coffee, enjoying a mockingbird’s music recital. He was perched high in the prickly fir tree across the street performing magestically for the neighborhood’s delight. Mockingbirds can learn up to 200 songs in their lifetimes, can mimic other birds and environmental noises. We had a mockingbird in our yard in Alexander City that would whistle perfectly, just like I did, to call our yard dogs. I counted 13 different mockingbird songs before I quit counting this morning.

Today’s sky is overcast, marbled vanilla clouds mixed with cigar smoke clouds. Father Sky never colored the cloud bellies dark enough to drop some rain. My grass is really looking really sad. A beautiful little summer azure butterfly dressed in a pale purple tutu tap danced on the yellow petunias, too shy for me to photograph it. One lone hummingbird dropped by looking for nectar. Hope he didn’t get left when everyone migrated for South America. I read this afternoon that hummingbirds migrate individually instead of in flocks and can fly the 500 miles across the Gulf of America in less than a day. Those beautiful little birds fly with jet engines humming. Kinda sad they make the trip alone, though.

Henry Ward Beecher said, “The unthankful heart…discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” After Chief died, I was still recovering from Covid, lonely for him and depressed. I decided that each day I would find a “happy.” When I saw or experienced something that made me smile or warmed my heart, I would write it down on my calendar as the day’s happy. Happys are small moments of joy and peace that bring light to the darkness of our days. They help us mentally and emotionally feel better. Happys can come on good days, too, moments of thanksgiving for all our blessings.

My first happy I wrote on my calendar was finding the first daffodil bloom in the yard. Chief always brought me the first daffodil of the year and I remember the expressions on his face when he handed me the blooms each year. Lost that calendar when I moved back to Roanoke, it’s probably packed up somewhere, but I remember lots of the happys — a beautiful leaf, homemade vegetable soup from the day care, snack boxes from Amazon from my nephew and his family, scarlet cardinals sitting on the wrought iron porch railing outside my window, a beautiful full moon, the glorious painting of the rising sun, phone calls and cards, a clothes basket of new towels and pillows and bedding, a tote bag full of prizes and treats, Chief’s yard cats sleeping in his garden chair. So many little presents from God to show me he was watching out for me, giving me comfort and peace, showing me through small daily tokens that I was loved and cared for by family and friends.

I think God places little reminders of his love all around us, we’re just too busy or too caught up in our world to see them. Since I’ve slowed down my life and taken up porch pondering, I’ve see tiny hot pink wildflowers, butterflies’ thin black legs tap dancing on flowers, the marbled colors in an the overcast sky, felt the wind from a hummingbird wings, found beauty in the subdued feathering of female songbirds. I never took the time to notice the simple beauty of God’s creation in nature. We have so much to be thankful for that we normally take for granted. Just a simple glass of clean water should be enough make us be grateful and thankful.

Jesus teaches us that being blessed and happy comes from being humble and focusing on our spiritual blessings instead of our worldly possessions. God promises us a heavenly reward of eternal life. Jesus promised through his teaching that those who followed him would have a deep abiding joy through their faith. John 15:11 reads, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

When we give thanks to God it helps us to realize how much we do have. We sometimes focus on what we don’t have. We can be hurt, angry, or grieving and still give thanks to God. We can be thankful to God even when we aren’t thankful for our circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 instructs believers to “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I don’t think we can have peace or contentment in our lives till we are truly grateful and thankful. “When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude,” G.K. Chesterton. Willie Nelson said, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”

“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.” — Aesop