Today, I am grateful for the half-turtleneck gray knit sweater Rachel gave me a few weeks ago. It is so comfortable and always makes me feel cute and confident, something I needed today when I am so tired and stressed out during my last dead week of college.
I am grateful that IMT came on time to fix the projector in LAPC before our tour group came. I am grateful that the tour group arrived late, since it gave me the chance to get a breath of fresh air (literally, being able to step outside without a mask for a minute!) before talking to fourteen year olds for the next two hours. I’d forgotten how much I loved middle and early high school aged kids, and that I am actually really great with this age group, so I am especially grateful for the high school freshmen visitors who came to campus today for their first college tour ever.
I am grateful for cool morning air, for running into my professor, and for the kindness and compassion he always shows me when I interrupt his morning walks to say hi. A friend once described him as the sweetest “Eyor,” which has only made me love this professor more.
I am grateful my car, which has helped me get from A to B slightly more on time than walking has, and I am grateful that Campus Safety has still never ticketed me when I’ve parked without a commuter pass on East Campus.
I am grateful for Tylenol, even if it didn’t work today, because at least it didn’t make me nauseous the way ibuprofen often does.
I saw someone doing things I couldn’t understand today, and I told a teammate, “He’s trippin’.” I am grateful for this teammate who corrected me so gently when I probably deserved worse, letting me know that he probably had a developmental disability. I’m so used to showing compassion to kids with special needs, and forgot that there are adults out there who deserve the same care and kindness.
I am grateful for the clean pulls we did a few weeks back, which finally got me to improve my form on power cleans. I am grateful for power cleans in weights today, which made me feel strong when the past few days have made me feel so week.
I am grateful for spotify wrapped, and for the people who posted theirs last week. Enough of my friends had “the rise and fall of mars hill” on it that I finally looked it up in curiosity and listened to the first forty minutes of an episode while cross-training. Stationary bikes or ellipticals can feel monotonously miserable, so I am grateful for podcasts that are intellectually stimulating to distract me from the burning in my quads.
I am grateful for Mexicali, which nourished me when I was “hangry” this afternoon. My mom says my most vulnerable state is when I am “Hungrysleepytired,” and I felt that miserable triad deep in my body and soul after practice. At least I could fix the first one by buying dinner.
I am grateful for the kind words of friends. The text this morning that I draw laughter from my friend’s soul, and the text this afternoon asking if I was available for a call because “I miss you.” These are little things, just small black letters in a square grey bubble, but they land and they stick onto my little velcro heart.
I am grateful for the nap I took this evening. It made me feel like a capable human being again.
I am grateful for my roommate. Endlessly grateful. She gives me inspiration, encouragement, a listening ear, and support. She works so hard, and still has time to be there for others, even those who need a lot, like me. She has been through so much and yet still loves with such courage. And she washed my dishes for me today.
I am grateful for halloween Oreos, which taste the same as normal Oreos, but they’re cheaper now that it’s christmas time and there’s little demand for orange colored things on this section of the holiday triathlon. I woke up from my nap with the most intense craving for Oreos, and Grocery outlet met my needs, even if they were orange instead of white. I am grateful that my tastebuds are like those old people who mean well, but say the wrong thing: “I dont see color.” Because on the inside (of a cookie) orange and white Oreo cream really are the same thing.
I am grateful for Marshburn Library. I am grateful for Rachie, who shared her sources with me (probably saving me hours of research). I am grateful that I was wrong about this paper’s deadline, which buys me another day to work on this and just a few more hours of sleep.
I actually had a really hard day. I’m exhausted and I’m tired of the taste of coffee because I’m tired of needing caffeine because I’m tired. But I am grateful for the day, and for espresso, and for my favorite almost-6 year old coffee cup which is finally in season again. (Much like my orange Oreos, this cup was discounted at a Starbucks after the holiday season because it was colored red and yellow and orange and green. I use it all the time, which means it’s out-of-season for 75% of the year. But now we’re in the final 25% of the year, and for that I am grateful!). I’m grateful for gentle friends, kind friends, encouraging friends, generous friends. I am grateful for fast food and easy sleep, for grace from teammates and from campus safety. I’m grateful for the prayer a friend recently gave me— “God, please give others grace for me.” Lord knows I needed it today (more than usual days), and I am grateful for every person who acted out of their imago dei and offered me Christlike love and grace. I’m tired-tired, but I am thankful-thankful-thankful, as grateful as God is gracious.
Lastly, I am grateful for the sleep I’m about to get tonight. “For the Lord gives sleep to those he loves.” Thank the Lord Jesus for his daily and nightly blessings! Shalom and good night!
“God, please give others grace for me.”
-My sweet friend, Lily, a prayer she briefly shared in passing that has since stuck with me in the times I’ve needed it most.
The More the Marianer 