Dave and I stood at our window on July 4th, watching a thunderstorm roll over the city like a held breath finally released.

Lightning split the sky. Torrential rain flooded the streets below us.

Then came the fog, thick and low, swallowing the skyline whole. We could hear fireworks somewhere inside it, but we just couldn't see them.

One weather forecaster put it perfectly: the clouds changed colors, but nobody got the whole show.

Disappointing, sure. But thank God for a livestream from clearer skies across the country. We got our fireworks after all, just borrowed from someone else's night.

And the humidity? Didn't budge an inch.

Before living in an apartment, I didn't think much about air conditioning. But, thank God for AC, which kept us comfortable!

What’s Been On My Heart

Thankfulness followed me all week. Not the kind that arrives after asking for something big and getting it. The plain kind shows up for cool air, for solid shelter, for a husband who taught me to see the beauty of storms.

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." — Colossians 3:15–17 (NASB)

All things. Not only the miraculous. The mundane too: the hum of an air conditioner, a friend who checks in, an ordinary Tuesday you almost didn't notice.

Gratitude doesn't require a good week, only an open heart and eyes.

Large, small, insignificant, difficult, mundane, or miraculous. Give thanks.

Something for You

Celebrating life matters more than we admit, and you don't need a milestone to do it.

Check out these five simple ideas to celebrate ordinary days: the ones that don't come with confetti but deserve a little joy anyway.

👉 5 Ideas to Celebrate Every Day​

Try one this week. Then email me and tell me what you celebrated. I'll "whoop, whoop" with you.

🙏🏻 A Prayer for You

Dear God, thank you for summer sunshine and warm rain, even the kind that rattles the windows. Thank you for Reader. You made Reader in your image, brimming with creative ideas ready to unlock. Even when life feels hard, would you loosen those creative gifts in Reader today? Teach Reader to notice the ordinary and name it out loud, thankful first to you for your faithfulness, then to the people Reader loves. Amen.