Thankful

Seeing as that Thanksgiving came and went without any turkey, cranberry, watergate salad, or sour cream apple pie (I think this is the first thanksgiving of my life where I didn’t gain 3-5 pounds in one day), I almost forgot to stop and reflect on the many many things I am grateful for in my life. So here goes…. In no particular order…

I am grateful for the people in my life who remind me who I am when I so easily forget, anchoring me down when my irrational emotions want to carry me away.

I am grateful for a family full of Greeks who make me realize what life really is all about (drinking and eating).

I am grateful that I have a nephew and a sister who make me want to be a mother one day, even though that day isn’t today.

I am grateful that I have still have Grammy’s (and mom’s) voice deep within me, and that every once in a while someone reminds me that it is ridiculous that I don’t share that voice more often with people.

I am grateful that God’s grace never runs out, even when my grace with myself is in short supply.

I am grateful for the beautiful and amazing people who have populated my existence and seem to show up in the exact moments that God knows I need them most.

I am grateful for my dual identity of being an American and yet finding a deep passion for Brazil that caught hold of me 6 years ago and hasn’t let go.  There are days where it is the hardest and yet most rewarding thing I have ever done.

I am grateful for people who reveal to me what it means to be courageous, passionate, daring, all for the sake of loving God and loving others- and the ones that give me the courage to do the same.

I am grateful for moments where I make a fool out of myself so that I remember that life isn’t about being perfect, its about being me.

I am grateful for moments of pain and struggle, moments of doubt and confusion, that teach me how to be okay with feeling sad and lonely, knowing that these emotions won’t last forever.

I am grateful for every time my heart has been opened to love, even if it means breaking it, for I am convinced that this process is truly what it means to be human and created in the image of God.

I am grateful for people who challenge me, hold me accountable, support me, encourage me and are ready, willing and able to smack me across the face when I need it.

I am grateful for the gift of laughter, laughing until it hurts, until you cry, and then laughing some more. Because sometimes I think that God delights in our laughter and we all too often make God out to be way more serious than she really is.

I am grateful that distance is no impediment to friendship and that no distance is too great for skype.

I am grateful for my education, for everyone who has taught me to fall in love with God and challenged me to expand my image of what God could possibly be up to in the world when my vision gets too narrow.

I am grateful for life- life abundant, that never ceases to be found in the tension between ecstasy and difficulty. Never ceases to amaze me and never ceases to let go of me, even when I kick and scream…

I am grateful for the ability to dance for never do I feel more alive, more part of the kingdom of God, than when I let my body free itself from every standard, expectation, demand, and just do what it was created to do.

I am grateful that no matter how hard or fast or far I run from God, I can never escape the bounding and ever reaching grasp of God’s love- made manifest to me in people, in grace, in laughter, in dance, in singing, and in all of these things which I am so thankful for….