Every morning, I walk down to the chicken coop to feed and water the hens, and every evening I gather up my little basket of eggs and take them up to the house to sort them, the small ones to keep and the big ones to sell. It is such a small thing, but a pleasure, and a consistent and daily reminder of God’s provision.

How easy it is for me to get caught up in my own little mind, distracted by cares and concerns and worries, or at times even more profoundly distracted by good things. Those hopes and dreams and the good sort of “what if,” looking ahead at the future hopefully and faithfully, but somehow missing what’s happening right now. I don’t ever want to be so caught up in thoughts of the future that God’s daily provision goes overlooked or unappreciated, or that His daily provision seems to me to be commonplace.

I am just so thankful for those daily reminders of God’s faithfulness now and, as easily as distraction can creep in, I never want to become numb to those things. Those little but not insignificant God-given joys that can become “normal” if we’re not careful. I am so thankful for the pair of brown eyes looking at me over his coffee cup in the morning. I’m thankful for a way to provide for ourselves, and our beautiful home, and a productive garden. I’m thankful for the beauty of the changing seasons, the different flavors that spice the air, the amazing bouquet of colors as the leaves change and the flowers grow and die. I’m thankful for the critters, for the bickering cats, the horses and the mother cows with their babies, for the chickens and the endless amusement they provide.

And for the day’s dozen.