Yesterday I spent five minutes lying in a hammock in a walnut tree. It was amazing. Not a cloud in the sky, a distant cuckoo, the comforting gentle breeze and the sound of my children happily playing. Seriously, what more could a girl want?

Friends of ours wonderfully hosted a BBQ on their fabulous farm. It was one of those days where you mentally take a picture because you want to remember how happy you were, how grateful you were to be alive, how thankful you were that God’s love was tangible and palpable and bathing you effortlessly.

As I looked up through the leaves at the sky, swaying in my hammock for those few precious minutes, I thanked Him for this time in my life, for this day, this second. I slowed down time a little and focus-pulled the lense on my internal camera, magnifying the moment.
‘Don’t forget this Ems,’ I said to myself. ‘This is precious. This is happiness… right here.’ I felt God close, enjoying the peace with me.

Then Jon walked across the large garden to me, carrying our little Bess. I was filled with love for my tiny daughter in her floppy pink sun hat. She sat on my tummy, gurgling joyfully as we rocked together. Jon got into the other hammock on the same tree and we listened to Bess saying ‘hello’ to the tree, the grass, the hammock and us in her sweet, cooing, sing-song way. It was as if she too was listing her loves, recognising and greeting each one.

It reminded me of the old chorus:

“Count your blessings
name them one by one.
Count your blessings,
see what God has done…”

I’ve made an effort, since the walnut tree (my new ‘happy place’) to number my blessings. There are a lot I’d forgotten to ‘say hello’ to.