turkey day

Five weeks in India taught me presence. I’m thankful. Counseling taught me to breathe deeply. I’m thankful. My friends let me be myself. I’m thankful.

Seminary and multiple jobs can be an overload. You’ve read that here before, right? I Sabbath each week…but that’s a learning process and what I need in addition to Sabbath is a more frequent use of the words “no” and “I quit”. I’m thankful for the hours and hours and days and days of rest God granted me this summer in Waco. Rested is not something I have felt since then…at least not that I can remember.

What I have felt is present, thankful, and able to breathe.

Monday I went on a road trip. Brownwood, Texas. Home of Underwoods – hot rolls and cobbler. Also home of Howard Payne University which is where I actually spent the day. My good friend Katy and I drove, caught up on life deeply, recruited for Truett, sang songs, met new people, and just had an all around pleasant day.

I like west-ish Texas…it reminds me of family reunions and long car trips to and from Austin.

Monday night I attended a weekly ritual of homemade food and story sharing. We celebrated together over the story of the engagement between two of our friends and heard the highlights of a lifetime from another.

I’m thankful for Monday. I’m thankful for these relationships that deepen each day and week. I’m thankful for the opportunity to sit and hear how God is forming my friends and the ways they are forming others out of their love for God.

I need to say “no” more often.  But, sometimes I confuse what I should be saying no to.

I almost said no to Monday. No to the trip. No to dinner. No to story time. Papers and tests felt more pressing. More important. But they aren’t.

I’m thankful for these moments together with the friends I love because things are about to change. I suppose things are always about to change, but it feels more pressing right now.

God has overwhelmed me this week. I am overwhelmed with love and thankfulness that even if just for a season, this is my life.