.this day is your gift to me...

I am kind of in love with the rhythms of my life right now.

Not the stressful grad program rhythms,

but the doing work that I love,

deep friendships,

space to breathe and walk and pray,

making a home,

rhythms.

Walking to town to start my day.

Getting high-fives from buds I run into as I walk.

I planted this year's window garden. I know growing things from seeds is really important... but having fresh basil for dinner that night felt important too.

*****

On Tuesday, by 8 am I was working hard with clients. At the college counseling center, running to the elementary school to interpret an assessment Amber was giving,
crossing the parking lot to the high school to listen to teenagers venting in Spanish.

Oh my heart, seeing clients grow. Oh my heart, doing therapy in Spanish. It was such a good morning.

I forget sometimes, in the midst of the overwhelming classwork and professional development and piles of assessment scores,

how much I enjoy the actual work I do.
This work that is why I am here:
the hours with clients,
listening, asking, thinking hard, creating safe spaces, providing feedback, connecting.

It's hard. And fun. And challenging. And tiring. And stretching. And a privilege. And fun.

It's work-
the good kind, the spiritual discipline kind.
The hands in the dirt growing flowers, chopping a zillion vegetables to feed loved ones, watching a quilt or a house or a half-marathon be built by practice and patience, work...

it just doesn't always feel like it
because it's not physical,
because I'm sitting quietly in an office and dressed up,
because it seems like a relatively small part compared
to the classwork and the late nights and the politics of graduate school.

But it's not. It's real work, that is a real part of my days, and I love that I get to do it.

Having meaningful work to do
is such an incredible blessing.

*****

And then I got home, to my sunny space.
I looked up a recipe and made a list and walked to the grocery store.
I did cut and stir and taste and prepare.

Erica came over and helped me cook and set the table,

then worked on her sewing project while I read Chasing Redbird out loud (we love it),

and then my little home filled with her family and Aaron and Irene's.

We ate chili and salad and brownies.
We held babies and told the week's stories and laughed a lot.









We debated walking to get ice cream or eating whatever flavor was in my freezer.
We chose a carton of Ben and Jerry's in favor of time for a board game before bed.

*****

I ask friends for prayers for discernment...
I know well that the mundane is important,
still I worry at times that my small life
is too much to protect my own comfort.

Yet deep down,
I trust that there's a reason these simple joys feel holy.

Praying that I will know Him and He would use me here.

*****

"In every day there is time
for prayer,
for work,
for study,
for play."

-The Rule of St. Benedict


"This day is Your gift to me,
I take it from Your hand, Lord,
and thank You for the wonder of it."

-Celtic Daily Prayer

"Normal day,
let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.
Let me not pass you by in quest
of some rare and perfect tomorrow."

-Mary Jean Irion