Cultivating a thankful heart...

Well it is Saturday morning (early) and I thought I would bring all our readers up to date on the happenings of our household the past couple of weeks.
We have been enjoying immensly the explosion of color and beauty that is spring in the Northwest. With a real wet winter past, everything is in bloom everywhere and it is breathtakingly beautiful. There are so many beautiful flowering bushes and trees - azaleas, lilacs of white and deep purple and light purple, snowball bushes, dogwoods, and on and on. And of course the roses are just beginning to add their voice to the chorus of color.
Did you know that Portland is called the "Rose City"?
But chief among them - and anyone who has visited or lived in the Northwest knows this - has to be the rhododendrons. They are simply breathtaking. They are everywhere, every yard has several, and are spectacular.
These two are just two of 7 that grace the perimeter of our yard.
We had a nice Mother's Day. We had wonderful services at church, and then later Sara and I presented Pam with her cards and gifts.

Sara's school had a Spring Sing this past week. The kids were all so cute! And they did so well!

And finally it is time for one of those youthful rits of passage - learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels. For some time Sara has been riding her training-wheel-outfitted bicycle around in the garage.

As many of you know our street is somewhat sloped up a hill, and so there is really no suitable place in front of our house to learn. So the garage has been her substitute. Well of late Dad has determined that the time is now for the training wheels to come off. And so after work each evening this week you could see the two of us working at mastering that ubiquitious skill of balancing a moving bike. Easy once you can do it, but getting it down the first time is a bit intimidating when you are seven. But she peddles and Dad runs along beside ever vigilant to grab her or the bike or both before they crash and burn. And Sara has been very brave and persistent, AND NEARLY HAS IT! Soon very soon, the young bird will fly by herself and we will all smile and wave proudly from her horizon.

And all of this is to share with you something very special, something I hope you will appreciate and acknowledge as much more important in the long run than learning to ride a bike. The other evening as I readied for bed I noticed stuck to my alarm clock two small sticky notes, ...a thankyou from Sara for my efforts to help her learn to ride her bike, expressed in her special way.

We have been working all along to cultivate a spirit of thankfulness in our family. "We say please and thank you in our family" is a frequent and familiar corrective around the house. And so, in her very special way, young Sara expressed her thankful heart to Dad.

The Scripture commends to us all the cultivation of a thankful heart. Since from His gracious, loving open hand (Ps. 145:16) we have freely received all things, God is pleased and honored when we feel and express our thankfulness.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians (3:15).

Well that's "the happenings" in this neck of the woods. Our love and God's rich blessings be with you all.

- Walt for the family.