It is Good

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was “thank you,” that would suffice.” -Meister Eckhart

I have been meaning to follow up on my initial New Year's post for a long time. If you have been wondering, I am still sticking to my three thanks a day. Some days I forget and have to go back, but at the end of the year, I will have written 1095 things that I am grateful for. It has been an excellent practice for me.  I feel like it has provided for me a different lens in which to see things and for this I am grateful. Throughout the day, I often find myself intentionally looking for the good things, those little gifts that are all around me. 

If you haven’t picked up Ten Thousand Gifts yet, I would encourage you.  It will change how you look at the world.

So, without further adieu, here are a few things that I have been grateful for in the past month:

soccer with the neighbor boys, Changua soup, increased Spanish comprehension, new fabric, a breezy window, completion of our third class, adoption blogs, puzzle building with Natalia, the theater, safety in the earthquake, less anxiety, kayaking, my dad, words of hope and encouragement, garbage service, coconut oil, sleeping in, access to water, great cousins, reconciliation, gumballs, wine that actually tastes good, yoga mat exercise with a five year old, previous jobs and the personal and professional growth that I had, a hospitable fishing village, the love of God, a new morning, plans that don't go as planned, safe taxi rides, love letters and hearty laughter

And from Shauna Nyquist in her book Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life (buy this book right now!):

One look at a baby’s fingers and you just know that those little bundles of flesh and tiny bones are more sacred, more spiritual, than any thought or idea or theology could ever be.  There are glimpses and whispers of the divine all through the daily, if we let ourselves look again, if we let ourselves believe that the world all around us is threaded through with divinity.

I live according to my faith when I love a meal that has been prepared carefully, when I notice texture and color and taste, when I let the flavor and scent of something fresh from the ground surprise me and bring me back to life.  I demonstrate my theology when I dance all night with the people I love, because this life is worth the best celebration we can offer up to it.

For me, what God said when he made the world is a prayer: It is good.