#FeelingGrateful

Gratitude 9 Minutes

I try not to think too hard about my blog statistics, but sometimes they amaze the heck out of me. Today the blog passed 5000 views for the year, more than 1000 over my entire 2018. I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who has stopped by to give me a chance and to those of you who continue to return and for the writing support and for the friendships made. All of this means much more than the stats and much more than you know.

A List of Praises

by Anne Porter

Give praise with the psalms that tell the trees to sing,                                                         Give praise with the Gospel choirs in the storefront churches,                                          Mad with the joy of the Sabbath,                                                                                                       Give praise with the babble of infants, who wake with the sun,                                          Give praise with children chanting their skip-rope rhymes,                                                    A poetry not in books, a vagrant mischievous poetry                                                          living wild on the Streets through generations of children.

Give praise with the sound of the milk-train far away                                                          With its mutter of wheels and long-drawn-out sweet whistle                                                 As it speeds through the fields of sleep at three in the morning,                                              Give praise with the immense and peaceful sigh                                                                       Of the wind in the pinewoods,                                                                                                       At night give praise with starry silences.

Give praise with the skirling of seagulls                                                                                           And the rattle and flap of sails                                                                                                          And gongs of buoys rocked by the sea-swell                                                                               Out in the shipping-lanes beyond the harbor.                                                                        Give praise with the humpback whales,                                                                                  Huge in the ocean they sing to one another.

Give praise with the rasp and sizzle of crickets,                                                                katydids and cicadas,                                                                                                                    Give praise with hum of bees,                                                                                                            Give praise with the little peepers who live near water.                                                               When they fill the marsh with a shimmer of bell-like cries                                                    We know that the winter is over.

Give praise with mockingbirds, day’s nightingales.                                                                Hour by hour they sing in the crepe myrtle                                                                              And glossy tulip trees                                                                                                                         On quiet side streets in southern towns.

Give praise with the rippling speech                                                                                            Of the eider-duck and her ducklings                                                                                             As they paddle their way downstream                                                                                          In the red-gold morning                                                                                                                      On Restiguche, their cold river,                                                                                                 Salmon river,                                                                                                                              Wilderness river.

Give praise with the whitethroat sparrow.                                                                                      Far, far from the cities,                                                                                                                   Far even from the towns,                                                                                                             With piercing innocence                                                                                                                 He sings in the spruce-tree tops,                                                                                            Always four notes and four notes only.

Give praise with water,                                                                                                                   With storms of rain and thunder                                                                                                And the small rains that sparkle as the dry,                                                                             And the faint floating ocean roar                                                                                               That fills the seaside villages,                                                                                                     And the clear brooks that travel down the mountains

And with this poem, a leaf of the vast flood,                                                                            And with the angels in that other country.

Courtesy of https://poets.org/poem/list-praises

Published by Crystal Byers

When I was young, my dad would always say, "Crystal, you can choose your attitude." One day I chose to believe him.

Published

48 thoughts on “#FeelingGrateful”

  3. It’s great achievement and it’s always great to be grateful and put a list of blessings just like the beautiful list of praises you have shared 🙂 Have a great day

    Like

  5. Hey Congratulations dear Crystal…
    This post shows your sincere gratitude towards your readers!!!
    I am really glad that I come across your blog…
    Have a great day 🤗💕

    Liked by 1 person

      1. My pleasure dear Crystal❤️❤️
        Your name suits you 💖 Crystal- spreading shine in everyone’s life💎
        Thank you so much…. ❤️

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Thankyou for reading my blogs n giving them a like crystal 💜 and for the follow as well !!
    I hope you liked it !! 💜

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I have just come across your blog and I can immediately understand why you have got so many views.

    You talk with such passion which draws the reader in. I love your posts, keep up the amazing work 💯

    Like

  17. Congratulations on this wonderful milestone as a blogger. 🙂 I read your about me, but there’s no place for me to leave a comment there. I would just like to say thank you so much for sharing your story. It’s so powerful that I will for sure view things differently from now on. I believe how powerful prayers are, but sometimes I still worry “obsess with worrying” sometimes. Which I know it’s not good at all. Thanks again.

    Like

    1. Thank you so much, and I’m happy to have stumbled onto your blog, too. A wise woman once told me, “God has his hands all over this.” I continue to believe her! I appreciate your support and kindness! ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.