Satisfaction

I've been working on this project for quite awhile now. It's done. It's done well. I'm satisfied and it feels good.

Thanks.

Lunch with the Whole Family

I love being able to sit around the table with mom, dad, sisters, and grandparents. I'm so blessed to have a family that is so close.

Thanks.

High School Reunions

Today I was able to get together with five of the women who made my high school days so enjoyable. They've been up to some really impressive things in the last 4 years and I am honored to know them and call them my friends.

Thanks, Sarah, Alix, Ana, Jess, and Leah. You all are fabulous.

A Hard Day's Work

It makes you feel like you've really earned what you get.

Thanks.

Thanksgiving

It seems only appropriate in a Gratitude Blog to celebrate Thanksgiving. For some, Thanksgiving is the one day of the year where they actually take the time to show gratitude for the blessings in their life. I hope that they find far more things to be thankful for than they could have ever imagined. As for me, I'd like to make every day a day of thanksgiving, because it's so hard to be sad when you're grateful for every second.

Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving.

Drives Home

It may seem like the trip is extra long when you're anticipating your homecoming, but there's so much to look forward to at the end of the trip.

Thanks.

Wild Weeknights

Nothing like getting crazy on a Tuesday night!

Thanks!

Sick Days

It's your body's way of forcing you to take a mini-vacation when you need one.

Thanks, body, for knowing what I need.

Leo

"Poor Leo" was a very special cat. He had a lot of health issues, but he made the best of the life he had.

RIP Leo.

Formal

Formal never ever disappoints.

Thank you to all the Dorians and dates who made it memorable.

Thanks, Hannah, for going through the whole crazy weekend with me!

Guardian Angels

Friday night had me in an emergency situation I never anticipated... broken down on the shoulder of the interstate on the Michigan-Indiana state line, alone, in the dark, at rush hour, waiting for a tow truck for two hours. I'm extremely grateful that my car was able to get off of the interstate before shutting down completely. I know someone was looking out for me because no semis hit my car while I waited, even though I had no power to turn on the headlights or blinkers to warm them I was there, and even though I was frighteningly close to the 70 mph traffic.

Thank you, tow truck driver, for being so kind, rescuing me and my car, and taking me to as safe a location as could be found.

Thank you, parents, for your immediate 2 hour journey to pick me up from the shady Denny's Tow Truck Dan took me to and for getting my car back and for paying for all of the repairs and for dinner.

Thank you thank you thank you, beautiful angels, who kept me safe through the whole ordeal.

Calls

... and I'm not talking about phone calls. God puts people on your heart when that person needs you and it's important to answer the call, even if it seems silly. A wise friend taught me this important lesson. She never fails to answer the call to make the call, send the note, remind the person that she's still around for them, even if it's been years. Sometimes she sits down right there on the phone and prays with the person. Her timing is impeccable.

I'm learning to reach out when I hear the call. It's a scary lesson, but I have faith it will be worth it.

Thank you.

Being Able to Get Over the Awkward

My internship requires me to have a lot of awkward conversations with young girls. I love when we can just acknowledge the awkward, get past it, and move forward with the lesson. Today ended up being so fun.

Thanks, girls.

Back Up Plans

Sometimes things just don't go how you expect them to, but other (maybe even better) things fall into place. It's pretty awesome.

Thanks.

More Than Coincidence

Today I taught a lesson to some new students that were the exact people who needed it. I pray they took the information to heart.

Thanks.

Post Secret

www.postsecret.com is an awesome project that allows everyone to get some things off their chests and to not feel so alone. It's entertaining and addicting and it's very powerful.

Thanks.

VIP Friends

It's fun to have important friends.

And this is just the beginning!

Thanks!

Relay For Life

Cancer is a disease that will effect almost everyone in some way throughout their life; whether it be personally, or through a friend or acquaintance. But at Relay For Life, we're fighting back and we're remembering those who have lost the fight. Hope College raised $35,022 for the American Cancer Society!!!

Thanks!

The Library

Motivation is hard to come by, but in the library, hid away in a study booth, I can get a lot done. The library is also an incredible and precious collaborative source of knowledge. The books hold our past and our plans for the future; information on a million cultures throughout the history of the world.

Thanks!!

Break Throughs

It's an awesome feeling to know I'm getting through to the teens that I work with. They're finally engaging, letting loose, and learning something important. I'm so proud of them.

Thanks.

Good News

I've been working on this all semester and it's finally going to actually happen!

Hooray!

Thanks!

This Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EELEjeYzfjM

"Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes" - Kristin Andreassen

Thanks, Kristin!!

An Extra Hour

Last spring I wrote here about how I don't especially like Daylight Savings Time. But an extra hour of sleep is always, always a blessing.

Thanks, DST!

The First Snow

Living in Michigan I'm learning to love winter. Snow is nature's glitter and everything looks good with a little sparkle. Even when I'm frustrated by the cold that comes with snow, or the slick roads and the need to dig my car out from under it all, I am still grateful to live in a place with four beautiful seasons.

Thanks.

This Poem

"Say Yes"

when two violins are placed in a room
if a chord on one violin is struck
the other violin will sound the note
if this is your definition of hope
this is for you
the ones who know how powerful we are
who know we can sound the music in the people around us
simply by playing our own strings
for the ones who sing life into broken wings
open their chests and offer their breath
as wind on a still day when nothing seems to be moving
spare those intent on proving god is dead
for you when your fingers are red
from clutching your heart
so it will beat faster
for the time you mastered the art of giving yourself for the sake of someone else
for the ones who have felt what it is to crush the lies
and lift truth so high the steeples bow to the sky
this is for you
this is also for the people who wake early to watch flowers bloom
who notice the moon at noon on a day when the world
has slapped them in the face with its lack of light
for the mothers who feed their children first
and thirst for nothing when they're full

this is for women
and for the men who taught me only women bleed with the moon
but there are men who cry when women bleed
men who bleed from women's wounds
and this is for that moon
on the nights she seems hung by a noose
for the people who cut her loose
and for the people still waiting for the rope to burn
about to learn they have scissors in their hands

this is for the man who showed me
the hardest thing about having nothing
is having nothing to give
who said the only reason to live is to give ourselves away
so this is for the day we'll quit or jobs and work for something real
we'll feel for sunshine in the shadows
look for sunrays in the shade
this is for the people who rattle the cage that slave wage built
and for the ones who didn't know the filth until tonight
but right now are beginning songs that sound something like
people turning their porch lights on and calling the homeless back home

this is for all the shit we own
and for the day we'll learn how much we have
when we learn to give that shit away
this is for doubt becoming faith
for falling from grace and climbing back up
for trading our silver platters for something that matters
like the gold that shines from our hands when we hold each other

this is for the grandmother who walked a thousand miles on broken glass
to find that single patch of grass to plant a family tree
where the fruit would grow to laugh
for the ones who know the math of war
has always been subtraction
so they live like an action of addition
for you when you give like every star is wishing on you
and for the people still wishing on stars
this is for you too

this is for the times you went through hell so someone else wouldn't have to
for the time you taught a 14 year old girl she was powerful
this is for the time you taught a 14 year old boy he was beautiful
for the radical anarchist asking a republican to dance
cause what's the chance of everyone moving from right to left
if the only moves they see are NBC and CBS
this is for the no becoming yes
for scars becoming breath
for saying i love you to people who will never say it to us
for scraping away the rust and remembering how to shine
for the dime you gave away when you didn't have a penny
for the many beautiful things we do
for every song we've ever sung
for refusing to believe in miracles
because miracles are the impossible coming true
and everything is possible

this is for the possibility that guides us
and for the possibilities still waiting to sing
and spread their wings inside us
cause tonight saturn is on his knees
proposing with all of his ten thousand rings
that whatever song we've been singing we sing even more
the world needs us right now more than it ever has before
pull all your strings
play every chord
if you're writing letters to the prisoners
start tearing down the bars
if you're handing our flashlights in the dark
start handing our stars
never go a second hushing the percussion of your heart
play loud
play like you know the clouds have left too many people cold and broken
and you're their last chance for sun
play like there's no time for hoping brighter days will come
play like the apocalypse is only 4...3...2
but you have a drum in your chest that could save us
you have a song like a breath that could raise us
like the sunrise into a dark sky that cries to be blue
play like you know we won't survive if you don't
but we will if you do
play like saturn is on his knees
proposing with all of his ten thousand rings
that we give every single breath
this is for saying-yes

this is for saying-yes

-Andrea Gibson

Thank you so much.

Friends You Know Will Never Leave

My life is full of incredible people who make me smile and love me unconditionally. I have been beyond blessed with the friendships in my life. There are a number of them who I know will always be there and I could not be more thankful.

Thanks, friends.

Relief

It's good to get things off your chest.

Thanks.

Blankets

It's November in Michigan, and my house is cold. Blankets are a lifesaver right now.

Not everyone is blessed enough to have a warm bed and blankets readily available... learn how to get blankets to children in need here: http://www.projectlinus.org/help.html.

Thanks!

Sleeping In

Sometimes your body just really needs some extra time in bed.

Thanks.

Halloween

A whole day devoted to dressing up crazy and watching scary movies. It doesn't get much better.

Thanks.

Plans

As I am scheduling my last semester of college I find myself amazed by the opportunities that lay ahead of me. I have some really big plans for the next few years and anything can happen.

Thanks!

Laundry Day

Just by doing my laundry, my room is a thousand times cleaner AND I have clothes to wear!

Thanks!