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Sunday Gratitude – 18.X.2026
Hi everyone! Glad to be back here. I’m still struggling with a lot, and there’s a lot that’s really overwhelming. However, I’m going to give it a shot as far as gratitude here.
Most importantly, probably, is that my son had a surgery on his ear a couple of weeks back, and everything went really, really well. Yes, he had the same surgery back in February on the other ear, and it went really well, but there’s still a good bit of nervousness attached to all these things.
Secondly, I recently took part in the Serbian Orthodox Choral Association’s annual choir festival. Because it was only a week after the surgery, I wasn’t going to go, but then there were people who had signed up who either couldn’t go or couldn’t sing, and I was asked if there might be some way that I could go. I managed to get things arranged, and I went. It was an amazing trip, and I hope to write about it separately. Most of us who went ended up driving, including the people I rode with, but everything went off without a hitch, there were no accidents or incidents with the driving, and the event was a lot of fun. I am very grateful for that, and for getting to see the city and experience the city a little.
If any of you are interested, our choir’s performance can be found here (our group starts at 45:15):
The weather has gotten cooler, and I’m grateful for that (St. Louis at over 90F was quite a shock to the system). This just seems to be one of those patches that is especially rough, so I’d appreciate your prayers for me and my kids.
Thank you ever so much for following; you are amazing!
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Songs of the Season 2025 – O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Skillet
It’s hard to believe that we’re in Advent already (on the Orthodox Christian calendar, at least). Last year I didn’t do it, but I had a lot of fun in 2022 and 2023 posting a song a day for the “Christmas season”. So here goes for this year – we’ll see how it goes. In any case, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” seems to be the song I traditionally start with, so here is a – um – unique rendition. Enjoy!
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Sunday Gratitude – 9.XI.2025
I know, I know, I’ve neglected writing for too long. It seems like I can never catch a break as far as being able to truly relax, and I feel like that is catching up to me.
I’m really grateful that we’ve had such a beautiful autumn. It’s been warm to the point where I was out in short sleeves up until Friday, and while a bit chilly sometimes, it’s kind of insane because this is Wisconsin after all. The trees are still resplendent, and the waning light shines golden across everything.
I made it to church on my bicycle last week; it was amazing. All in all, I rode thirty miles, and it was a beautiful ride. Apart from straying a little from the route I wanted to take, everything else went well – no accidents or incidents or anything.
Wind Point Lighthouse, from biking one afternoon. I am thankful for medical care, and that even while it is expensive here, it’s available.
I am thankful for friends and connections in so many ways. Even when things got their most crazy this past Wednesday, somehow, there just “happened” to be a good friend who could come out and meet me to chat for 20 minutes simply because I was in the area. And then to receive something incredibly unexpected in the mail from someone else!
I’m grateful to have had two days of decently good sleep. It’s rare, and I think it’s part of where many of my issues begin.
I’m sorry I’m phasing out here; I took cold medicine because my throat is beginning to hurt, You all are amazing!
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Sunday Gratitude – 19.X.2025
I’m really frustrated with myself for a number of things right now, especially that I didn’t get half of what I wanted to get done this weekend accomplished. On the other hand, I always overestimate what I think I can get done, and that gap with the reality is hard to deal with sometimes. I am grateful to have gotten a little done, and to also have a little bit of time still to accomplish the one thing that I seem to be really avoiding. I’m funny like that.
I’m grateful to have heard from a friend I hadn’t heard from in years. It’s really terrible, because I actually do have her number in my phone, so I knew immediately that she was calling me. It was really, really good, and a good reminder that I ought to be better about making the random phone call out of the blue sometimes.
I did, however, call a couple of people this weekend, and I am grateful to have reached them and to have had good conversations. Sometimes the house just gets too quiet and having a real person to talk to makes getting mundane tasks go a lot more quickly.
I am grateful to the priest that I’ve been going to for confession that he does take time to listen to me and not be too harsh when I’m really struggling to muddle through.
I’ve been watching a lot of the YouTube channel – “Midwest Safety” which is a police cam channel, and is put together really, really well. It makes me grateful for the people, like the police, who put up with a lot of crazy stuff in service to our communities.
I am grateful for the nice weather, and to have had the opportunity to enjoy it. I didn’t make it to church on the bike, but I went out earlier in the week for 20+ miles and had a great time.
I don’t know that I have a whole lot to add, except, of course, that I am grateful for you. 🙂
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SOCA Choir Pieces
For those of you who saw my last Sunday Gratitude post, this is kind of a repeat, but I just wanted to repost the three recordings from our choir at the Serbian Orthodox Choral Association’s festival this past Saturday.
(start at 0:55 for the first one)
Otche Nash – Our Father (a couple seconds are missing at the beginning here) These audio files were pulled from video my 8-year-old and 11-year-old took. On one hand, it’s weird because being in the choir, I felt that the voices sounded warmer, and I don’t know that these recordings are great picking up some of the chord sliding because some of it is fairly subtle. On the other hand, I think these sound a lot like some professional recordings from the 1940s, which probably also just put a group of people in a room with one microphone to record. That a professional setup like that could sound similar to outdated technology recorded by children really blows my mind. If you all could see the video – which bounces around enough to make a person seasick – it’s even more impressive how good so much of modern technology is! (I think it was recorded on an iPhone 10.)
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Sunday Gratitude – 12.X.2025
Yesterday, the concert portion of the Serbian Orthodox Choir Association took place in Cudahy, Wisconsin. I was part of one of the choirs, and over the last couple of months, there has been a lot of work that has gone into the musical numbers – lots of extra choir practice, for example – as well as getting the event to happen at all. I’m thankful that despite some glitches, the event took place successfully. Here’s our numbers (apart from the combined choir pieces):
Otche Nash – (These are not the official recordings, but my 9-year-old with an old iPhone. For the first one, please start the slider at about :55 for the beginning of the song.)
– There are a couple of seconds missing from the beginning I will try to remember to link to the official recordings when they become available.
Is it bad to say that I’m also thankful that it’s over? 🙂 Juggling the practices and such with school and sports and what have you was tough. Speaking of, I’m also thankful that the beginning-of-the-year sports are over.
I am grateful again for some of the beautiful weather that we’ve been having, and the opportunity to go out and enjoy some of it, particularly on a bike.
Bikes by Lake Michigan I am grateful that despite a silly mistake, nothing bad came of it, even though it could have been bad.
I am grateful for people who reach out and listen, especially when that is really badly needed, as well as for people who offer help in the practical things.
I am grateful for my kids, especially when they do the unexpected sweet things.
I am grateful for friends who trust me.
I am grateful that I found my purse today. I was so tired by the end of the concert that this morning, when I couldn’t find my purse, I couldn’t remember if I had had it after the concert or not. I couldn’t find it this morning, so I figured I must have left it. But I couldn’t find it there, either, even with other people looking. I finally found it at home – it had fallen behind the kitchen recycle bin and ended up with a small box on top of it, so it wasn’t visible until things started getting moved.
Clown Violets in October And sometimes, I’m simply grateful to get through the day. There have been a couple of days like that in the past couple of weeks.
Before I forget, too, I just want to mention that on the anniversary of the day of his death, I’m grateful for the life of Willi Graf.
Thank you all for your attention and prayers. I am eternally grateful for it.
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Sunday Gratitude – 28.IX.2025
The Touchstone Magazine Conference took place this past Thursday through Saturday, and I am grateful to have been able to attend. This was my third conference, and the line-up of speakers was amazing. The time just flew by, much more than in other years. One of the nicest things about the conference is the receptions, where people get to mingle both with each other and with the conference speakers. I got to meet up with old friends, I got to meet some new people, and I also got to talk to multiple conference speakers. I still sometimes tend to be very shy and awkward, but it’s still a good time. 🙂
Not quite Trinity International University, but I didn’t actually use my camera I also want to mention that I am grateful to the saint who prays for me, that on Thursday afternoon, even before setting out, I was fried. I was so fried that I ended up falling asleep after lunch and not getting out as good season as I would have liked. I then couldn’t find something that I had had on Wednesday and decided to stop at Wal-Mart on the way down. By this time, it was also very warm, and I was frustrated enough that I was questioning what the purpose was even to going. As these thoughts were taking over my brain, I stopped at the gas station for a drink. As I was pulling out of my parking space, I saw a license plate of a car just to the left of me, and it started with this saint’s initials. Coincidence? This has happened a couple times recently, where the thoughts start getting to be too much, and there’s a license plate with those initials. And… it’s happened coming down to Touchstone before as well. The plates were issued in Wisconsin sometime around 2019 or 2020 (they’re part of a series) and while there are times when I simply see them and remember this saint, there are other times – like on Thursday – where the timing is more than a little uncanny. So take it as you will, but I know he’s praying for me.
I’m also grateful to the people at Touchstone for allowing me to purchase a discounted ticket.
I am grateful also for the things that are very hard. I met up with a friend after Touchstone, and, in the course of the afternoon, ended up talking about some very difficult things. I’m still feeling somewhat shaken, and a goodly amount of grief came to the surface, but I’m thankful to be able to be there for it, as weird as that may sound.
I am grateful for the nice weather as of late, and the opportunity to spend time outdoors. I’m grateful for the long walk with a neighbor, and Bible study and quiet friendships. I’m grateful that my youngest seems to be acclimating to kindergarten quite well.
I’m grateful to know the people I’m praying for (well, there are a few exceptions of people I don’t know) and knowing that some are praying for me as well. I’m grateful to have been in contact with a couple of people with whom I had not had contact for years. And I am thankful for all of you reading this, from the bottom of my heart.
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Sunday Gratitude – 21.IX.2025
I’m in the middle of cleaning my kitchen because the plumber is scheduled to come tomorrow morning, and as much as I don’t like the idea of having to spend money because stuff goes wrong, I’m grateful that I can pick up a phone and make an appointment with ease. I’m especially grateful to the friend who had time to chat after I was getting quite emotional going through stuff – just being able to get out of my own head a bit helped a lot.
I am grateful for the time I had this week to just sit down and chat with a priest. A lot of the conversation probably wasn’t really terribly profound, but it’s so good just to be able to talk with somebody who is aligned in faith.
I am grateful that I was able to go out with the bike this week. The weather has been amazing – even a little warm for riding – and everything is still so green, except for the trees, whose leaves are starting to turn red. For me, biking feels kind of like flying; even if I’m going only a few miles, it feels like freedom.
I am thankful that as one of my kids is settling down into a better routine, school stuff seems to be less awful than it was made out to be. Getting a decent amount of sleep often makes more of a difference than one would think!
I am thankful that despite distance and time, I’m still able to help a friend in dark hours.
I am, as always, grateful for those of you who read and who pray, and who comment and chat. It’s all very much appreciated.
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Sunday Gratitude – 14.IX.2025
I’m here! All five children have started school, and I’m working on trying to get everything to work one way or another. I’m grateful that they are all in school – and for the breathing room that having some quiet time during the day every weekday affords. Three of my kids are eligible for bus service, though this is still a thing where wrinkles are being ironed out, as one didn’t get on the bus roster until the 11th, and the other two have had their pick-up time moved up by 17 minutes. (Mind you, the district feels it’s appropriate to send me an email about the change after 4pm on a Sunday to boot!) Even so, I’m grateful for the break from driving, and the kids do seem to enjoy the autonomy that doing this on their own brings.
I’m grateful to have been able to catch up with a neighbor friend, get out with her, and learn a little bit about the area. It was getting close to a year where, despite living next door, we’d had the time to just do something together, and that was very nice.
This weekend was really busy, but the weather was perfect, and I think my kids had a lot of fun. I’m exhausted, but I’m grateful for that time with them, and I hope it’s something that they can remember as being happy. Watching my middle child work on getting a kite into the air, for instance, was really cool.
I am grateful that as I was driving one day at the time of evening when colors can kind of melt into the blue before nightfall that I saw something with just enough time to react in order to prevent something really bad from happening.
I am thankful for the hugs a friend of my youngest gives. Oh, five year olds! (Is it too early to be arranging this marriage? *L*)
I am thankful that with all the driving, especially on Thursday, that everything went reasonably well. I am also thankful that despite a shipping carton being beat up pretty badly, something that I ordered and was quite looking forward to was, apart from some very minor scrapes on a little-seen area – undamaged.
I’m realizing right now, with just over an hour before midnight, that this is September 14, and the twenty-third anniversary of my baptism and entry into the Orthodox church. It hasn’t all been Instagram-worthy, but I am grateful for this journey.
As always, I am grateful for all of you. Thank you for being here.
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Sunday Gratitude – 24.VIII.2025
Just in time for the first week of school for a couple of my kids, the weather has turned cooler, and the last two nights have had the faintest chill attached to them. Where did the summer go? Granted, it *has* been very short for me, and we did manage to go outside some and have “adventures” going to the movies.
I was out with my three youngest for day out yesterday. It ended up being a LONG day, but it was nice doing it kind of as a full-day trip. We got to our destination and back safely, and even though I forgot my cell phone, we found where we needed to go. I even got to show my kids what we did in the days before the internet, which included stopping and asking people for directions. (I actually did this twice, and both times, I was within about two miles of the destination, in one instance, even on the same street!) On the way home, we even managed to make it to the Cedar Crest Ice Cream Parlor in Manitowoc. The ice cream is incredible, and it’s small, but a memorable place to visit. I am very grateful the trip went well; I don’t like expressway driving by myself, and I ended up on I-43 with an erratic truck near me. It got to the point where I got off just so I wouldn’t be on the same road. On the state highway I exited to, about 20 minutes later, we drove up on a police incident that had spilled out on the road, briefly stopping traffic. Younger son got to see police dealing with a very tough situation, and while it wasn’t pretty, there’s part of me that is grateful that he does have some exposure to the hard stuff when he’s young, and in this case, he and I got to talk about it some.
I am thankful to the lady at McDonalds, who, seeing the balloon on a stick that my youngest was carrying get carried away by a gust of wind, (carefully) drove halfway the neighboring grocery store’s parking lot to grab it before it was gone for good. My youngest had started screaming bloody murder and had to be pulled back from running across the lots without looking, and even her brother wanted to run for it, which I forbade him from doing. I tried going after it, but with all the other things in my hands, I could barely jog, and here this lady not only saw this, but decided to take the time to help. It was an amazingly kind thing to do, and as we were back in the car after this and my kids were discussing why a total stranger would do this, my youngest commented, “Maybe she likes God”.
When AI doesn’t behave, go back to basic I am grateful that the first week of school for my two youngest has been so far, so good. They also seem to think that riding the bus is the best thing ever. It is going to require a level of coordination to get them to continue to not miss the bus (especially when their older siblings are in school) but to not have to do this drive every morning and evening is incredibly helpful for my sanity.
I am grateful to have been able to bike to Bible study this week – there and back is about 14 miles. It felt really good as well. That was Thursday. On Saturday, I grabbed the bike and something was obviously not right with the rear tire. I am not sure what happened, but if the tire was loose or something, I’m very thankful that I didn’t have the issue on the road. I’m trying to learn how to take care of the bikes better and learn basic maintenance, but in this case, I think I’m going to have to take the bike in to get looked at as well as tuned up. I’m grateful, though, that I’ve got kids who are really enjoying the bikes as well, and I’m already thinking of things we could possibly do next summer.
I accidentally cut someone off while driving the day before the trip, and it shook me a fair amount. I am supremely grateful that there was no accident or anything, just someone supremely annoyed with me.
I am really thankful for friends and people around me; I feel under pressure from a number of sides, and while I’m not trying to borrow trouble, I’m also not wanting to wander around unprepared.
Thank you all for being here. It means a lot. I am thankful for you all.
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Sunday Gratitude – 17.VIII.2025
This summer has gone by fast! I knew it would, but it’s a little bit crazy to think that we’re now on the cusp of the new school year. For a couple of the kids, the first day back is Tuesday, and as much as I’ve enjoyed having a more relaxed timetable, in the last couple of weeks, especially, the amount of stuff that just needed to get done and had its little time slot to do it has been incredible. Mind you, some of that was discretionary, but it did seem important to have some fun over the summer as well. I am grateful for this time, especially with being able to do a little bit of biking with my younger three. I found out that it’s possible to put three-and-a-half bikes in the back of the van and still have space for the kids to sit in the middle row.
I’m grateful that there have been other things this summer that they have enjoyed. I know that they would have liked to have gone somewhere, but at the moment, that’s not in the cards. However, we did have our movie days and the biking and a couple of other outings here and there. Fall is actually a great time to be out on a bike, so I’m hoping that maybe we can do some of this still on the weekends.
As crazy as things are, I’m thankful for another year and all that comes with another trip around the sun. I probably would have been better at waxing philosophical last week, but the sentiment remains.
Not quite what we were doing, but short of my own photos, this is what I’ve got. I’m grateful that with all the driving (and riding), these were safe and fairly uneventful rides.
I am grateful that a good friend of mine is the proud father of newborn twins – kids #2 and #3. Yes, some of us from high school have children who are already adults, and some have teeny-tiny babies. However, when this is somebody whose medical issues were so severe, by all rights, he ought to be dead, all of these celebrations just seem to have added meaning.
I am grateful that I’ve been catching up with another old friend. It’s possible to make good friends at any point in life, but, wow, if you are lucky enough to still be in contact with people you’ve known since you were very young, that is amazing.
I’m sorry I haven’t managed to post – I seem to have a habit of not thinking about writing until I am very tired and then tell myself “Oh, I can catch up on Tuesday.” *L* And then the last two Tuesdays have been completely full of their own things to do. Thank you for bearing with me on this journey – I am so grateful for you!
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