I'm on this gig where I want to celebrate the little things. I've always made a big deal of taking pictures on the first day of school. The kids pretend that they don't like it. Some are really good actors. Yet I sense that deep down, they enjoy being fussed over a little. They don't even protest when I post the pictures on Facebook while they are still in their first hours of the school year. I know that they know that I love them with a crazy love and want everyone else to realize that. What a great sensation..for them and for me. I am celebrating my children.

Julia is now two days into sixth grade. Through God's miraculous provision, all five of our children are attending Faith Christian School, a classical Christian school in Roanoke. Julia is well-accustomed to hand-me-downs and never complains. However, we did not have enough shelves to customize five high school lockers. Julia did not ask for a shelf. She only quietly reported, "My friend said they have locker shelves in cool colors at Staples."

Now, I can't stand Staples. Everything there seems is four times more expensive than at WalMart. However, we were near Staples. The shelf might be pricey, but it would be the first one we'd ever purchased. All the other locker shelves we own were given to the kids. Would it be such a big deal to buy just one cool-colored locker shelf? She choose pink. Wanting to make a moment of it, I said, "Julia, that's your special present for starting middle school." (Keep your fingers crossed, I hope her friends don't tell her when they get laptops and iPods for their gifts!) She was thrilled. Absolutely thrilled.

When Dave got home from work, Julia animatedly told him all about the trip to Staples, the choice of the pink shelf and the fact that it was a gift for sixth grade. It was told with flair, anticipation and much celebration. It was the best $5.99 I ever spent.

I want to live that way. Flair. Anticipation. And much celebration. My goal for this season? Celebrate. Celebrate little things. Put notes in lunch boxes and under pillows. Stop for ice cream and a heart-to-heart with whichever family member is closest. Snuggle. Laugh. Love. Thank you, Lord, for Staples. Help me to remember what I learned there.

I just love it when I ask how someone is and they say, "Can't complain." My response is always, "Well, you can complain but no one will listen." Ain't that the truth? And why doesn't anyone listen any more?

Etiquette fairly demands that when someone asks "How are you?" we respond with some quick version of "I am fine." It's a little social dance that we do. It doesn't matter if we've just busted up the car, overdrawn our checking account, found a suspicious lump or fought with our spouse. We answer, insincerely, "I am fine." 98% of the time we are not fine, yet we say we are. What this really means is, "You don't really care to know...do you?" That's why I enjoy hearing the much more clever, "Can't complain." I like it because what it really means is, "I could complain, but we both know you don't want to hear it, so I won't even try."

The thing is, I want to hear it. I want to be the friend who listens. I want to listen when someone wants to whine as well as when they want to celebrate. Isn't that what being a good listener actually is?

I ran across a funny line in a book just now. The main character in the delightful book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is surviving during World War II. She laments that due to bombings, she's lost a great apartment with views of the Thames (like the ones pictured in this post!) She says, "I know that I am fortunate to have any place at all to live in London, but I much prefer whining to counting my blessings."

How about you? Do you much prefer complaining to counting your blessings? If so, why? If someone asks how you are doing, do you treat them to a peek into your world? Do you complain? Explain? Lament? Or answer with a terse, "I'm fine," assuming that no one really cares?

I'm interested. Let's talk. Starting today, let's be the one who listens. The one who cares. The one who asks even one more question beyond, "How are you?" Let's not take, "I am fine" or "Can't complain!" for an answer. We could literally revolutionize the world...with love.