Gratefulness...

Tonight, sitting in a hotel room with my son in Rome, Georgia, my heart overflows with gratefulness.

When I think about the hours we have driven,
the places we have visited,
the meals we have eaten,
the gas we always encounter gas stations,
(and paying $2.96 for a gallon of gas today)

the beaches, the mountains, the sunsets, the rainstorms, the schools, the tennis centers,
the homes of friends, the museums, the amusement parks, the movie theaters,

the friends, the family members, the critics, the supporters,

the teachers, the students, the companions on the journey,

the tennis players, the coaches, the referees, the tournament planners, 

the parents, the grandparents, the siblings, 

the meals prepared, the cookies baked, the potatoes chipped,
the drinks mixed, the coffee, the tea, the ice water,
the food at Trader Joe's, Harris Teeter, roadside fruit and vegetable stands,
the bottles of water, Gatorade, chocolate almond milk, orange juice,

when I think about the people who work at hotels,
the people who made all the things I use,
the clothing I wear,
the bags I carry,
the journals I fill,
the pens I write with,
the car I drive,

the people who make sure that phone lines,
wireless networks,
electricity,
and water
don't stop flowing and running and operating,

when I think about all the stories that have had to intersect in order for me to be sitting here in this hotel, typing on this computer, talking to my son, watching someone walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope (!!!) on this very warm Georgia night,

I am overwhelmed.
I am truly overwhelmed with gratitude.
And I'm pretty happy too.

Thanks be to God!


FYI - The photos are from Sunset Beach, North Carolina,
Williamstown, Massachusetts, and a Spanish restaurant in Charlotte.