Things to be grateful for over the weekend include:
- 1. finishing a 10 page paper
- 2. basketball season and my first game as a spectator in two years
- 3. time with my sweet friend and her fiancé and mom
- 4. attending church with my family. To hear the singing of my brother and mom alongside me during worship was such a treat.
- 5. hawaiian barbecue (on my family’s treat, hehe)
- 6. the first time working out with my middle brother
- 7. the opportunity to meet my long-time friend’s girlfriend
- 8. freeway prayers to keep me awake on my drives.
Number 3 and 7 might read on the surface like “third wheel,” but in fact it’s an absolute honor and pleasure to get to know the people loved by those whom I love!
And now, the things I thank God for from today:
God, I thank you for the people in my workplace. My boss made christmas goodie bags for our whole staff, and it doesn’t even matter what’s in them as much as the fact that she put in the effort to make each of us appreciated.
I thank you, Lord, for the productive power of coffee, and the focus to complete the makeup assignment I’d delayed for weeks.
I thank you, God, for friends who send me podcasts to listen to on the elliptical from two states away, for teammates who make throwing medicine balls and core workouts seem a little less strenuous, and for friends who meet my mom on speaker phone when I run laps on the track.
I thank you so much Lord, for healing in my legs and the fact that I could run two miles today with almost no pain! What a relief!
I thank God for my athletic trainer, and her assistant, and the space where I can do rehab and put together an online Christmas list.
I thank the Lord for my brother who is spoiling me and asking me for a Christmas list. I thank the Lord for his resilience, focus, work ethic, and his job. I thank the Lord for my whole family’s ability to work and to look out for me while I’m still in college.
I thank the Lord for the sunset this evening, a gentle yellow, then vibrant orange, peeking through the purple-gray clouds.
I thank the Lord for gingerbread cookies from sprouts. I thank the Lord for time to cook dinner. I thank the Lord for friends who respond to my spontaneous invitations for dinner and who love me and laugh with me when I’m giggly and hyper.
I thank the Lord for my university, and for the friends I’ve made here. I thank the Lord for their successful undergraduate careers, which are coming to a close this week.
I thank the Lord for finals week, which has been my favorite time of year since starting high school. I thank the Lord that the list of school-related tasks left on my checklist is finite. I thank the Lord for endings, which can be painful and sad, but which can also often provide rest and relief.
I thank the Lord that my best friend is coming back into town soon. And in the mean time, I thank the Lord for airplanes and instagram and iMessage. Reminders that some parts of technology can be really helpful, wholesome, and good.
This is going to be a good week. It’s only Monday, but I’m already grateful for the next few days to come :-). Toda Adonai,
-Mayim.
The More the Marianer 