And I think my favorite part has always been the "Favorite Things" song. I'm pretty sure if the rest of my family experienced anything at least once a week, it was me singing that at the top of my lungs from behind my closed bedroom door. It may or may not also be the reason my bed broke when I was nine, since I also tended to act out all of the children jumping on it with Maria as they sang.
"When the storm strikes, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel.....(getting up to full out gusto here)...so baaaaaaaaa----aaaaaaaa-------dddddd!"
It's a lovely song.
And probably the reason I have always believed in having a lot of favorite things. Because if you have hundreds of favorite things, you can't help but happen upon them every day. The more you have, the better your odds.
Which is why last summer, when our family was trapped inside on a rainy day, we played the Favorite Things game. If you've never heard of it, I'll teach it to you, and you don't even have to click a link to connect to Pinterest or buy it on Amazon. Here it is:
You each sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil and you have five minutes to write down all the favorite things you can think of.
Isn't that a brilliant game? But the real fun comes in the sharing because when you're done writing, you go around the circle and share your favorite things.
I still have our lists because they are now some of my favorite things. I mean it. I treasure them. Because in each list, I am allowed to peer into my husband and my children, into the deepest places of who they are and what makes them happy.
And what I find there is that there aren't a lot of fancy cars or designer clothes on the list. None actually. Not any toys or technological gadgets, either. What made the lists are just the simple things in life that all equal up to...us. The hundreds of little things that are actually the great things. The ordinary that is actually the sacred.
cheese and crackers
comfortable jeans
knowing the answer right away
making funny jokes
midnight cuddles because you're 5 and afraid of thunder
when the storm is over
chicks in a nest
grandparents
music
dessert
when mom is cooking macaroni
a baby's first word
honey and biscuits
father and son hikes
heaters in winter
victory
chickens that have feather pants
being pleasantly tired
learning another language
a sky full of stars
worshiping around a campfire
laughing at yourself
reading a good book
our dog's ears
gentle rain
oreos and milk
old friends
new friends
highlighted and underlined Bibles
worn quilts
fluffy towels
vacations
cherries
green grass
morning coffee
forgiveness
These are a few of our favorite things.
