Life is Good Moments

One of the things I have tried hard to do this quarter is to focus on cultivating a spirit of gratitude and celebration, even when things aren’t always going perfectly–and believe me this is often easier said than done! But I just realized how often so much of what we say in normal conversation are actually complaints. “I’m tired, I didn’t get enough sleep, it’s too hot, it’s too cold, I don’t have enough time, I didn’t get the grade I wanted on a paper…” One of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning, has a lot to say about gratitude, and he has shown me that we only become grateful people when we start practicing being thankful for the little things in life. He writes in his book Ruthless Trust “the foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness.” Then he goes on…

“The grateful heart cries out in the morning ‘thank you Lord for the gift of a new day!’ and it continues to express its gratitude as the blessings unfold. ‘Thank you for the gift of loving and being loved, for the beauty of the animals on the farm and in the forest, for the sound of a waterfall, for the darting beauty of the trout in the brook. Thank you for the deer leaping across the meadow, for fire and water and the magic of Monet, for the rainbow after a summer storm, for a woman with windblown hair striding down the hillside, and for a steaming hot cup of coffee. Thank you for the smile on the face of a child licking an ice cream cone, for the wagging tail of a dog and the touch of his cold nose against my face. Thank you that I was born in that house on East 48th St in Brooklyn and not in the house next door, for had my birthplace been different, I might never have met Jesus and the many beautiful people I know through him. Thank you for the four seasons, for each glorious day of sunshine, and most of all for the gift of the Unsetting Sun, Jesus Christ, who by his death and resurrection has set us on the road to glory.”

I used to be really good at keeping a list each week of the things I was thankful for–big and little–and somehow these last few years I stopped doing that. So I decided to reinstate that habit, which has been SO fun! (I would highly recommend it, it is especially fun to go back and re-read the things you are thankful for a few months later!) Here are a few of the things I have been especially thankful for this quarter:

• all the wonderful cards, emails, visits, phone calls and prayers from people as I recovered from mono this winter.
• the incredibly theologically profound music of JJ Heller
• the chance to preach a few more times (in class, not in a church)
• time I got to spend in Houston last weekend with Sophie and other HPC friends
• my wonderful boyfriend who manages to make me smile a lot 🙂
• the chance to experience worshipping with several different congregations this winter–Mosaic, Bel Air Pres, First Pres Burbank, Eagle Rock Pres, Pines Pres and Memorial Drive Pres in Houston.
• Wireless internet (especially as I was stuck on my couch for a couple weeks!)
• my parents coming to visit
• starting therapy
• and most of all as I re-read my journal from this winter, I realize I am incredibly thankful that we have a God who has BIG hands and can handle all the emotions and frustrations and confusion and joy and excitement we want to throw at Him!

Several various things happened this quarter that never got their own post on my blog, so in an effort to continue thinking about all the random moments that make life good I thought I’d include them here:

In January Pocket had a dinner party to welcome everyone back from Christmas break–Ryan had the camera that evening and took some TERRIBLE pictures of all of us–this is one of the ones that is the least horrific 🙂

And this was taken that night too–we all absolutely love it, the expressions are just classic!

Also in January, Sophie packed up her apartment and moved in with her aunt and uncle…and the Presby moving company was on hand to help of course! In February we enjoyed a girls night out for happy hour at Bodega, my favorite wine bar around here. So here are Becca, Megan, Laura, me, Sophie, Christina, and Jenn

Also in February, my aunt, uncle and cousins got a new puppy–Eliott (as in TS Eliott, the poet) and I loved this picture of my cousin Mikaela playing with him.

Last Wednesday Chuck’s friend Brian (ok he’s become my friend too!) had a birthday, so we all did a late night trip to Yard House to celebrate since Brian had to work until 10:30. There was a HUGE crowd of people there to celebrate him, this was just our table.

And those are all the random photos I have to share now…all in all, life is good…stay tuned for more as we head into spring break!