Gratitude

I have fallen behind a little, but I have still been working to practice gratitude every day. 

Today I am writing a paper, and hoping to get a lot done so I will be able to relax a bit over the next few days. Blogging is not helping my paper... Now you know why I haven't blogged since last week! 

Today I am grateful for a little peace and quiet and for the way I love, yes really love, what I do. Even if it is writing a paper. I love working hard to get all the pieces to come together so I can create an argument of my very own. 

Just in case you're dying to know, here is my argument in 2 sentences: 

The narratives of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Wilson are unique in that they creatively appeal to a similar target audience, 19th century middle class mothers, in order to provide financially for the authors. This creativity required a resourceful reconstruction of self on behalf of each writer as well as an imaginative appropriation of contemporary discourse. 

BUMP!

I am currently taking a short break from researching and taking notes in order to share this story with my many devoted readers:

Yesterday I was working. I was working along diligently taking notes on Harriet Wilson's novel Our Nig while Isaiah was napping. He woke up sooner than I expected and sooner than I hoped he would. He wasn't crying; he was talking to himself and playing, so I thought I would leave him to play and talk for a while while I continued to do some homework.

Suddenly, I heard him begin to cry/whine and I prepared to go back to his room. Then I heard a very loud BUMP, followed by some serious crying, so I promptly threw my books aside and ran back to his room as fast as I could go. He was standing in the middle of his room crying. He was no longer in his crib. Of course, I picked him up and loved him and he is absolutely fine.

I am not sure that I am absolutely fine, however. Especially considering that he did the same thing at around 5 a.m. this morning.

What do the mom and dad do? We promptly get out our trusted copy of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and peruse the text for information about this very topic. It is in there... we're going to try it. Pray for us.

School and Stress

Things always get kind of stressful for me around the end of the semester. I have papers to grade and papers to write. Then there is also "normal" life including investing in the important relationships in my life, and to top it all off, at the end of the fall semester is Christmas! It's easy to get bogged down and to feel overwhelmed at times like this. I haven't started my papers. I have lots of ideas floating around in my brain, but I have to find the time to sit down and work those ideas out. Then there are the 30-something papers I have to grade by Friday... and the baby's room to get ready, and the gifts to prepare... craziness!

So I was thinking about all of this today after I visited the library with a stack of books to make my free copies, and the free copy machine was broken. What am I to do at a time like this? I remembered that gratitude is a practice. Sometimes we need to step out in faith, and the gratitude will come.

Today I am grateful for school. I am grateful for the chance to do something that I love and get paid for it (not much, but still!). I am grateful for the chance to live into my calling in this area of my life. I am grateful for the opportunity to stand in front of two classes of college freshmen--46 total--and hopefully invest in them a little bit. I'm not just talking about semicolons here! I am grateful for the chance to study and learn and grow as a scholar and as a teacher. I am also grateful for the number of things that I must keep in balance with school--most importantly my fabulous husband and son. They help me maintain perspective when life is stressful.

The truth is that I am infinitely blessed-- "immeasurably more than [I could] ask or imagine," in fact.

Baby Shower

I had a fabulous baby shower on Saturday. I am so thankful for sweet friends and family who are willing to celebrate this new little boy who will be added to our family very soon. He is getting bigger. I can tell because he is poking my ribs right now. D. can tell because when he lays next to me on the couch, he feels him roll and tumble.

We are excited to meet our new baby boy and get to know him day by day.

Wesley Girls

I have had the chance to lead a small group of girls from the Wesley Foundation this semester as we learn about God's heart for justice in the world. These girls are amazing. Each one of them is going to do great things as she follows Jesus. I am so proud of each of them, and I am so grateful to be able to watch them grow in their relationships with Jesus.

Orange Food

I am thankful for orange food. It may sound a little silly to you, but it's true.

I love the orange foods that make fall wonderful: Sweet Potatoes, Butternut Squash, and Pumpkin! They are so tasty and fallish, and of course they are full of great vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants.

If you happen to need any recipes including the above ingredients, let me know. I have about a million. D. says I'm a recipe fanatic, and he might be right.

So this week I made root vegetable lasagna and butternut squash soup. I'll have to make something with pumpkin before the week is out.

P.S. I don't like carrots as much as the above listed ingredients. Sorry.

My husband

Did you know that I am married to the most fabulous, most wonderful man in the entire universe? It's true. D. Merricks is the model husband, father, and best friend. I don't know what I would do without him.

I am thankful.

Being

One of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen, writes a lot about the fact that "Being is more important than doing." You know the story--our culture teaches us that productivity is of the utmost importance. When we have accomplished something, we are valuable. This is a lie. The fact that we are created and loved by God means we are valuable. I work hard to let this truth sink into my life, but it is difficult. 

Today I am grateful for the way Isaiah slows me down. He eats slowly, talks slowly, and basically presents a major delay in my productivity.  But in the moments when he takes my hand and asks me to play, asks me to stop and look up at an airplane, or even shows me the treasure of a crunchy leaf, he gives me the chance to remember that being is more important than doing. My relationship with my son is much more valuable than any task I could accomplish.

Preparation

Only about 12 more weeks until our new baby arrives. Today we moved the guest bed from the new baby's room to our office. It fits. I am grateful for this great, big house that we are allowed to live in. We are abundantly blessed. 

"I love you"

Today, as D. and Isaiah walked out the door, I said "I love you" to Isaiah. 

He said "I love you" back. 

What a gift. 

Means of Grace

A few weeks ago, D. blogged about John Wesley's sermon on means of grace. Today I am grateful for a means of grace in the life of our family. Tonight we delivered meals to elderly people who live in a low-income housing development in our community. We are always so blessed by this opportunity to serve. Just like Jesus said, we see his face in the faces of the poor in our community. I am glad that all three of us have seen the face of Jesus today. 

The Times they are A'changin'

I am so grateful that we have come so far. Today, for the first time in U.S. History, we have elected our first African-American President, and a woman ran for vice-president on the opposing ticket! I am grateful that my children can grow up in a world where they can see that these things are possible. 

"side"

I missed yesterday! 

It was a beautiful day and we spent more than 2 hours outside or "side" as Isaiah likes to call it. I love to watch him load up his dump truck with pine cones and acorns and push it around the yard. 

Today

Today I am grateful for good friends and good conversation. We are so blessed to be part of a wonderful church and a small group of supportive friends that meets each week. 

And when we got home...

Trick-or-Treat!

Our first trick-or-treating experience was so much fun.

Isaiah was a rock star. More specifically, he was Bono, everyone's favorite humanitarian rock star. D. made him a guitar out of cardboard, although he would not carry it. He was very proud to carry his Halloween bag, however. He kept stopping to put leaves in it as we walked to our friends' house. On the way back, he got to put candy in it, which he thought was even better. We walked with our friends, Anna and Molly. Anna is 10, and Molly is 6. Their mom is my dissertation advisor. They are such sweet girls, and made sure to take good care of Isaiah. He ran behind the big kids the whole way, and since his legs are so short, he probably traveled much farther than the rest of us. He really enjoyed himself, and I think Halloween is a lot more fun as a mom than I did as a kid.

"puh-kin"

About a week ago, we told Isaiah we were going to get some pumpkins to decorate together. We all got in the car, and he talked about pumpkins all the way to the farmer's market. When we got there, he excitedly tried to pick up all the pumpkins and carry them around. We had some trouble getting him to leave after we selected 3 pumpkins to take home.

I am not as brave as some. Carving pumpkins with our boy "helping" sounded kind of scary to me. Painting pumpkins sounded even more scary, especially since we've been having trouble keeping up with the laundry lately. I am also not really gifted in the area of stain removal. My mom can get stains out of anything... I can not. When I saw these little pumpkin decorations at Wal-Mart, I knew they were meant for us.

Our house is looking pretty festive, isn't it? We still have some candy left if you want to come trick-or-treat us.

laughter