Today is my birthday and I’m 55 years old!
Some days I feel 105 and some days I feel 25 but mostly I am just middle aged. I have decided to dedicate this blog writing time to coming up with 55 things that I am thankful for today.
So here goes:
1 The Creator God who loves me, His creation.
2 My wonderful husband who loves me despite all my faults.
3 My four gorgeous, amazing creative adult children.
4 My two fun, adventurous and supportive sons-in-law
5 The six cutest humans on the planet – my grandchildren.
6 My sister who is one of my biggest supporters and the most amazing chef!
7 My parents who have always loved and supported me.
8. My brother, and his beautiful partner Aleisha. Even though we are very different, I see his love and support for our family.
9 My extended family, the uncles, aunties and cousins. We are spread far and wide and don’t see each other very often, but our annual gathering at Manly is high on my priority list each year because we have such a connection.
10 My husband’s family who are as close to me as my own after 35 years of marriage. Who I see working together in love even now as we move our elderly parents out of their 20 year home into a smaller space.
11 My friend Jane. Although I am sad that she moved away from me she is always there on the other side of a text message to boost me up and tell me that I can do hard things.
12 My church family. Encouraging, supportive, family.
13 My great neighbours, who I have gotten to know so much better in the last year or so. We have some fun times with our Ferguson Street Festivities.
14 My warm, safe home which has space for everyone and where everyone is welcome.
15 Constant provision of work for my husband even during these complicated times of lockdown.
16 Space to create, work and sew.
17 The soaking rain this week.
18 Sweet spring flowers.
19 The wisteria just finished flowering.
20 The jacaranda trees about to explode with purple loveliness.
21 The colour purple, my favourite.
22 Warmth in the spring sunshine.
23 Our new outdoor area where I can sit and create or share a meal.
24 Wednesday words written on my blog. This has become part of my week that sometimes stresses me greatly and always makes me feel like I have a little bit of knowledge to share with my small corner of the world.
25 That the beach will still be there in a few more weeks when I am actually allowed to travel there again. I miss it so much!
26 Holidays, I need one and I can book one soon. It will be camping, and sometimes letting go of all the trappings and going simple is a blessing.
27 This country that I live in where I feel safe to travel about and I can access support if I need it.
28 My phone which allows me to connect with family and friends near and far.
29 Great podcasts where I find conversations from like minded people.
30 Audible, which I am constantly listening to while I work. (I just finished the Anne of Green Gables series)
31 My big claw foot bathtub. (I don’t know how I got this far without mentioning it)
32 The scent of fresh lavender and old-world roses.
33 Fresh drinkable water straight from the tap.
34 Photographs and memories.
35 Times past when we travelled to different countries with different cultures. Such an enriching time.
36 Gods Word the bible which is my handbook for life.
37 Great preachers and commentaries that help me to understand the words in the bible.
38 Prayer
39 Social media which keeps me connected to the world. There is so much good on it even though it can also be used as a tool for evil.
40 The dentist, who this week caused me a great deal of pain and trauma, but who did it anyway to preserve my tooth.
40a Pain relief!
42 All the delicious art supplies.
43 Snippets of time for making art.
44 My old school paper diary that keeps me informed about my day and my week, even when technology is failing.
45 Technology that I will never fully understand, but that mostly makes life easier.
46 Enough knowledge about technology so that I can kinda work my own website.
47 Constant electricity and gas supply. (These were more of a sometimes thing during our time in Uganda)
48 More clothes, accessories, and trinkets than I could ever need so that I get a choice about what to wear each day.
49 All the time I have spent thinking, acting on and writing about my Wardrobe Revolution which is making me like myself more and helping me become more of my best confident person.
50. The colour yellow. It has never featured much in my wardrobe, but I am about to add it into my own wardrobe and into the SuzziMaggs collection in a gorgeous honey tone.
51 A reliable postal service. I know sometimes things seem slow, but we are all ordering so much and they have been restricted by lockdown so it’s understandable. So far, I have received everything I have ordered.
52 Cane baskets. There’s a shape and size for everything.
53 Air conditioning with summer coming on.
54 Another year of life and living.
55 All the lovely happy birthday messages I am receiving today, Thank you!
It was not hard to find 55 things to be thankful for today, and I’m sure that I could find 55 more if I had the time to continue writing, but it is time to move on to other things. I know there is a book about a woman who, over more than one day, wrote 1000 things to be thankful for and how that affected her life. 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It's worth a read.
I am busy working on my SuzziMaggs Summer Collection and I will probably reveal a lot of it on next weeks blog post, and then I am planning to hold a market stall at the Handmade In The Hunter Markets at Sobel wines in the Hunter Valley during November and December. If you’re in the area please pop in and say hello.
Thank you for reading, I appreciate you,
Love Suzanne