"Welcome Home" (30 Days of Gratitude)

I've been trying to my place in a church since I moved to Northridge. I was attending H.O.P.E.'s House since January and recently made a switch to Reality LA. Both are so different from each other and I went back to H.O.P.E.'s House this week. I'll admit I was nervous about returning because I didn't let anyone know that I was visiting another church.

And I will admit I thought that when I came back, I feared would be a stranger again or be judged for not being around. And God is teaching me a lot about how to be involved in a church (which is another blog post for another day). But I made it in the door for all of two seconds when Uncle Kelvin spotted me and and gave me a huge hug, grateful to see me again. And Miss Iris's eyes lit up when she saw me after not seeing me for so long.

So I'm grateful they really mean it when they say "Welcome Home" when people arrive at H.O.P.E.'s House and I'm grateful for their hugs, for the people I met and know my name, for the things the church has taught me, and for always being a place I can come to and feel at home.

Mom (30 Days of Gratitude)

Today I am thankful for my mom. She surprises me sometimes with hiking adventures, lunches, books, and extra gifts I don't ever ask for. She's probably the strongest most capable woman I know who can both gently pull a child's loose tooth and fix most broken things around our house. She's so patient because she has a classroom full of 10 years olds and had me as a daughter and I most definitely a handful. She still comforts me when I'm upset or sick, will still read out loud to me if I ask her to, and will always cook me dinner when I need it.

I am inspired by her willingness to sacrifice for her friends and family, her passion for her work and faith, and for desire to stand up for herself and for others. She is tenacious and I hope to be like her when I am a mother. Thank you for encouraging me, for challenging me, for pushing me to always to do my best, and for telling me to follow my dreams. I love you mom.

Los Angeles at Night (30 Days of Thankfulness)

Last year I did 30 Days of Gratitude to develop the discipline of gratitude. Especially after reading One Thousand Gifts, I see how import this is to develop the consistent discipline of gratitude and joyfulness.

I am grateful for the city I live in - I am grateful to call LA my home. Not many people enjoy living here or want to move here but God has something beautiful planned for this city. I love that people in LA are artist, we are loyal - to our friends, to our sports teams, to our city, we are dependable, we are challenging and sometimes difficult, we are proud of where we come from, we find beautiful things in the ordinary or in the ugly, and we may not love a lot of things but those that we do, we love deeply.

Thanks to Mark, Jenel, Jonathan, Luke, and Sean for helping me see how beautiful my city really is. And how glad I am to live here even when traffic sucks, parking is awful, and there feels like God is not moving at all. But God is moving here.

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress."  Psalm 46:4-7

Fall

Something happens as October rolls in, as the weather cools down, and pumpkins are everywhere and in everything (muffins, lattes, ice cream, pancakes, etc.).

As the night gets longer and the days get shorter, a small winter depression hits in. I think it has to do with the busy season of August and September - where the heat rises and we are running around doing well more than we should. By the time we've reached October, and our lives tend to slow down because it gets darker so much earlier, I think we tend to realize how tired we all really are. Lately I've felt a constant stream of exhaustion. It will be good for some rest. Probably the reason I haven't been blogging so much this month.

I look forward to November and mostly December where Christmas spirit is almost forced upon you with twinkly lights and candy canes. Lights are pretty. ;)

And November comes in two days - where I am very excited to return to 30 days of Thankfulness. I did it last year and it was amazing!

What Does the Fox Say?

So this has been the question of October - what does the fox say? I leave it to you to figure out but I warn you this song gets stuck in my head too easily and you just may suffer the same fate.

Ylvis - a new sensation hitting American youtube channels. I'm a personal fan of What's the Meaning of Stonehedge.

October

October

Crisp cool air.

Crackling brown leaves

raked together

in mounds and heaves.

From green to yellow

to red to brown,

the colors change

in the world around.

The moon rises

sooner each night. 

And stars gleam,

shining bright.

In the garage

the jackets wait

to be clothed

on evening dates.

Long Time

Just breathe...
Exhale and take in the air and let it out
Breathe out the stress, the frustration, the annoyance, the worry.
Breathe out the sleepless nights, the long to-do lists, the never ending stream of meetings and meet ups
Breathe out the work, the fears, the traveling, the miles, the events, the invitations.

Clearly it's been a while since I've been with my own thoughts. Even when I'm by myself, I'm not moving slow. I'm running in place.

Perhaps I'm running on empty.

Just breathe.