The Best Part of Life

It’s January 1, 2024. It’s early. The Christmas tree next to my computer, will probably be glowing for the last time this holiday season. I have fed my horse and dog. I sit in the silence doing one of my favorite things – drinking coffee. It is very, very quiet this morning. The quiet. That is one of my favorite things too. The fog is fighting with the sun for domination of the sky. Should be an easy win and of course it is. But from here, it doesn’t look like that the sun is winning at all. 

I am drinking my coffee this morning in a brand new mug, that I received for Christmas. This is the first time I have used it. The people that gave it to me know me well enough to know I love birds. The cup has a beautiful little etched bird sitting on a branch...He is looking up...as he should be. It warms my heart that they considered me and the things I like. That is the spirit of giving. Oh and they must know I love coffee. I think this will be my new morning coffee mug. One must drink coffee from the right mug, right?  

That brings me to the message of this post: My Favorite Things...or to be more nuanced, Creature Comforts. Here are a few:

• Coffee is best from a heavy mug.

• Tea is best from a tea cup, or a thin, fragile mug.

• I like table manners. First the blessing. I like the table set properly fork on the left; spoon and knife the right. Food must be passed from left to right all the same direction. Seems no one does that any more. But it certainly makes for much easier distribution.

• I like fires in fireplaces on crisp fall mornings and most certainly on cold winter nights.

• I like little strings of fairy lights and burning scented candles

• A dog at my feet is nice, but Arly would rather be on his bed. Sometimes I miss Bella who was always at my feet and Bullet who was usually on my lap. Every once in a while Arly will sit on my lap.

• I love rustling Bible pages. I had never given it much thought when one day in church Matthew mentioned it. He was about 6 or 7. “Listen to the rustling pages, Mama. Isn’t that pretty.” I never forgot that. It is one of my favorite memories ever.

• I love deep study of Scripture and morning reading. But I love deep study the best.

• I like memories. At least the good ones. I try to hold onto them and chase the bad ones away with prayers. “Hold every thought captive,” becomes more clear these days.

• I like reading glasses by every place, I might read. By my chair in the living room; on the night stand by my bed; on my desk by my computer; and on my kitchen shelf, where I read a recipe or instructions. I despise looking for my glasses, so I try not to move them from there designated spot...oh and a pair in my purse of course for our restaurant visits.

• I like hand sanitizer for those restaurant visits, and I like one in each of my car doors, so it is available after pumping gas; or for my passengers needs.

• I like lotion and Kleenex and lip balm by my chair. My niece gifted me with some wonderful hand cream and lip balm this year. That warms my heart.

• I like to read in silence.

• I like to think.

• I like to study.

• I like to write.

• I like to do what God has me to do in the moment. It isn’t obvious. I just do it, when I know it.

• I don’t know my gifts. Discernment, I believe, but one must know how and when to use that. Writing, I have been told...I don’t know about that.

• I do nothing well and never have...one might call me a “[Jill] of all trades; a master of none.” But I don’t even come close to a “[Jill] of all trades.” I try. I like that.

• I like hearing from people from my past.

• I like fresh, clean sheets and lots of blankets.

• I like down pillows and only down pillows.

• I like riding my horse. Interestingly, that is secondary to taking care of her.

• I love watching her get a long drink of water.

• I love to hear the munch of hay.

• I like cleaning stalls and putting down pine shavings.

• I absolutely love seeing her covered in pine shavings in the morning, because I know she has been sleeping in the bed I try to make for her for long winter nights.                

• I love poetry. Always have. These are my favorite poems most of them from the time I was a kid.     

1. Barefoot Boy - John Greenleaf Whittier
2. Stopping by Woods - Robert Frost
3. Somebody’s Mother - Mary Dow Brine
4. The House with Nobody in It - Joyce Kilmer
5. The House by the Side of the Road - Sam Walter Foss

• I love birds and watching all of them. But I especially love Bluebirds, Meadowlarks and Northern Flickers.

• I love the smell of freshly cut hay.

• I love the smell of rain and the sound of it falling on my roof.

• I love sitting in the she-shed in my barn watching it rain while eating rhubarb pie.

• I love spending time with my kids and grand kids. But that isn’t a creature comfort. That is life and the best part of it. I guess it is a favorite thing.