
Every Friday Leanna Coyle-Carter gathers up some bloggers and we count 7 Gratitudes from the week before! Join us and #LinkUp to her blog and the other writers!
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All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love
-Godspell-
-Godspell-
1.
I’m so grateful for the gift of stories.
I watched Logan last week and I’m still chewing on it. A well told story demands that you to stick with it after you close the book or leave the theater. You love it, but you aren’t exactly sure why, so you come back and chew on it, turning it around in your mind to find the patterns and connections and put words to the resonance that it left with you. Logan blew my mind, and forced me to process things about our relationship to the world, to violence, to ourselves, to justice, that I probably wouldn’t have taken seriously from a sermon or a theology text. (Go see Logan, team. Just do it.)
I’m so grateful for the gift of stories.
I watched Logan last week and I’m still chewing on it. A well told story demands that you to stick with it after you close the book or leave the theater. You love it, but you aren’t exactly sure why, so you come back and chew on it, turning it around in your mind to find the patterns and connections and put words to the resonance that it left with you. Logan blew my mind, and forced me to process things about our relationship to the world, to violence, to ourselves, to justice, that I probably wouldn’t have taken seriously from a sermon or a theology text. (Go see Logan, team. Just do it.)
2.
I’m so grateful for the gift of wine.
No y’all. Really. For reals. Yesterday was so beautiful, and so breezy and windy and spring that I put on my Disney playlist, poured myself a glass of red wine, opening a box of Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate slices, and did major total cleaning of my space – which also meant re-arranging all the furniture because cleaning without rearranging is just not satisfying, you know? I don’t know if Merlot ever tasted so satisfying as sipping that last bit standing in the doorway of my brilliantly shimmering bedroom. (Yes I even wiped the baseboards guys).
I’m so grateful for the gift of wine.
No y’all. Really. For reals. Yesterday was so beautiful, and so breezy and windy and spring that I put on my Disney playlist, poured myself a glass of red wine, opening a box of Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate slices, and did major total cleaning of my space – which also meant re-arranging all the furniture because cleaning without rearranging is just not satisfying, you know? I don’t know if Merlot ever tasted so satisfying as sipping that last bit standing in the doorway of my brilliantly shimmering bedroom. (Yes I even wiped the baseboards guys).
3.
I’m grateful for the gift of pets.
I’m grateful for the gift of pets.
I think I’m a gentler person because of all the animals in my life. Cats that are skittish and need coaxing to come lie on your stomach, dogs that tremble so hard your bed shakes during thunderstorms, parrots that have severe mood disorders but really just need someone to call whistle back to them because otherwise they feel abandoned. A few weeks ago, I said goodbye to my spirit animal parrot friend, Cabo, and I’ve been thinking about how being gentle with animals teaches me to be more gentle with myself, and with people. Animals are a means of grace, from us, to us. I’m a better human because of my animal buddies. And also a happier one.
4.
I’m grateful for the gift of coffee.
Lots of liquid gratitude this week y’all. But do you ever think about how we have a liquid that we drink that makes us more awake?? How freaking awesome is that??? It’s ridiculously freaking awesome.
I’m grateful for the gift of coffee.
Lots of liquid gratitude this week y’all. But do you ever think about how we have a liquid that we drink that makes us more awake?? How freaking awesome is that??? It’s ridiculously freaking awesome.
5.
I’m grateful for the gift of bad wireless service in my room.
YES. I’m grateful. The internet service has gotten worse lately, and it’s making me reconsider my internet habits, my texting habits, how much I’m scrolling and scrolling and liking and commenting and re-tweeting. There are good and healthy and fierce and #Resistance ways to use the Internet and I’ll be damned if I don’t figure out what those are. Thankfully the lack of internet in my room is helping me to discern between the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
I’m grateful for the gift of bad wireless service in my room.
YES. I’m grateful. The internet service has gotten worse lately, and it’s making me reconsider my internet habits, my texting habits, how much I’m scrolling and scrolling and liking and commenting and re-tweeting. There are good and healthy and fierce and #Resistance ways to use the Internet and I’ll be damned if I don’t figure out what those are. Thankfully the lack of internet in my room is helping me to discern between the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
6.
I’m grateful for the gift of easy access to ethical food.
I’m grateful for the gift of easy access to ethical food.
I try to eat vegan, consistently, but working at a damn tavern with “BBQ Pulled Pork Nachos” has made that difficult over the past half year. I’ve eaten a lot of animal products, and decided to not beat myself up over it, because I’m an Enneagram 1 (Enneagram post coming soon!) and “beating myself up” is kind of my guilty pleasure, and it rarely affects change in my life or makes me more fun to live with. But as spring hits, and my soul wakes up from a pleasant restful winter hibernation, and stretches, and yawns, and says “OK team! What’s next??”…. What’s next means moving back to more ethical eating that respects the community, the earth, and our relationship to the gifts of food and animals and each other. And I am so grateful that I live in a major city that gives me easy access to food made without cruelty to animals and to the earth. I don’t have to spend hours cooking strange and weird concoctions – I can eat ethically, and quickly, and without stress. It’s a privilege and I’m grateful for it.
7.
I’m grateful for the gift of satisfying work.
I love my job. I love the work that I do. I love moving constantly, I love talking to interesting new people, I love building friendships with weird and wonderful regulars who close down the bar every weekday night and pick fights with me about religion and politics and everything except the weather. I love the community of coworkers that giggle and bitch and work and party well together. I love learning to make cocktails and mixed drinks and learning all the different ways to make the same mixed drink. I love going in to work anxious, and within half an hour of being on the floor feeling like I’m where I want to be, with who I want to be with. It’s nothing to be sneezed at, going to a job that fills you up with life. It’s nothing to take for granted.
I’m grateful for the gift of satisfying work.
I love my job. I love the work that I do. I love moving constantly, I love talking to interesting new people, I love building friendships with weird and wonderful regulars who close down the bar every weekday night and pick fights with me about religion and politics and everything except the weather. I love the community of coworkers that giggle and bitch and work and party well together. I love learning to make cocktails and mixed drinks and learning all the different ways to make the same mixed drink. I love going in to work anxious, and within half an hour of being on the floor feeling like I’m where I want to be, with who I want to be with. It’s nothing to be sneezed at, going to a job that fills you up with life. It’s nothing to take for granted.
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I am so grateful for the privilege of living the truth of Ecclesiastes – “there is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their work.” This week I ate, I drank, I found enjoyment in my work. Praise be to God, from whom all blessings flow.
#LinkUp with Leanna and the rest of the crew as we count our #7Gratitudes in 2017!