My Christian mindfulness practice for Labor Day includes thinking back on the summer past. We make a list of things that we didn’t get to do. Then we file it away to review the next Memorial Day, so we can make sure we get it on our next summer schedule. And we thank God for the fun we had.

This year, the list of what we missed …. let’s just say it would be way too long to file!!!

So instead, let’s make a list about the blessings of the pandemic summer of 2020. Gratitude is always a part of the Christian mindfulness journey. What can we be thankful for? Here’s some of my blessings:

• The whole family is still healthy.
• I got to take several interesting classes online for minimal money.
• I went to conferences and events online that would have been too expensive to attend in normal times.
• We didn’t have to go out in the heat to drive to meetings. It was just an air-conditioned walk to the den for Zoom.
• I saved all my travel money, which I can use as a backup for even better vacations.
• I spent even more time in contemplative prayer and spiritual reading, which brought me closer to the Lord.
• We watched several acclaimed TV shows from the 90s and early 00s that we were once too busy to view.
• My husband learned to bake! And he likes it.

And so on. Feel welcome to tell me about the things on your pandemic gift list.