Fortitude

"I'm gonna make it happen," Janie looks up from her math, eyebrows arched, bike ride pending.

Across the table, I sweep a rag over honey dribbles. "Yeah?" I scoop a triangle of crust into my hand, pinch the last of sandwich crumbs into the rag.

She nods. "I'm the type of person," she says, "that doesn't just hope something happens. I make it happen."

I fold the rag in half, capture the last lunch debris. "Yep. That sounds like you." I tilt my head, catch her eye. She smiles. "Better get busy," I say and turn heel into the kitchen.

I shake the rag into the sink, spray it out, flop it over the faucet. Make it happen. Oh, that girl. I spray out the rag, flop it over the faucet. Eyebrows up and shoulders back, that Jane. I breathe a sigh of relief that I made her stay and finish.

Gratitude:

3144. "You always feel better when you tell the truth," Jane tells Lucy.

3145. I ask Jack, "What's your plan big guy?" and he answers, "Just watching you."

3146. I'm emptying the dishwasher," Jack says, "to say thank-you for washing the dishes."

3147. Re-reading Drive by Daniel Pink.

3148. Jane's salutation as I head out for a run, "You're doing awesome, Mom."

3149. Lucy explains, "I can tell my friends about Jesus by I LOVE JESUS. Dat how you tell people about Jesus -- you LOVE him.

3150. We finish planting the new vegetable garden, and I see Craig's handprints down the rows where it said, "Firm soil lightly," on the back of the package.

3151. Smoked pork shoulder.

3152. Trader Joe's Everyday Spice.

3153. A birthday party for Dad and Peter and the concentric rings of encouragement.

3154. A whole cd of professional pics of baby Joe.

3155. Jack thinking more on babies, "The new baby started out about as small as a germ."

3156. We follow the Exergy Bike Tour over the internet with the kids.

3157. I comment that Craig is always doing things to bless our family and Jane responds, "Maybe what I should do is take the money out of my wallet and go and put it on a pile of Daddy's change."

3158. I mention the cucumbers are getting wind-whipped, and Craig and Jack cover them with buckets, a brick on top of each to stay put.

3159. A cream cheese Danish and coffee with cream.

3160. Jane taps my elbow, "Mom, you know Myra is laying by the baby 'protecting' him?" She makes quotes in the air with her fingers.

3161. A morning with Rachelle and the twins.

3162. Pistachio bread.

3163. "It's a nut called a statue," Lucy explains.

3164. "When you get a lot of food in you it makes your feet grow too," she adds.

3165. A sweater, aloe green, shirt, cobalt blue.

3166. I thank Jane for serving our family so much and she replies, "Oh, it doesn't seem like that much to me. I could do way more." And she does.

3167. A graduation party for a dear friend who survived two brain tumors. Every one of us leaves more loved and filled up than when we came.

3168. Lucy's says it was adorably bad that we were late for church when she means it was horribly bad.

3169. The book of Romans and the repetition of reading it over and over -- soaking it up.

3170. Craig's patience endurance in doing good.

3171. Learning to lead with strength and humility, a rock our children can rest on.