Blog about gratitude
As I’ve been on the “race” for 75 days, I’ve had my share of incredible days and less-than-comfortable moments. Something I’ve learned regarding the not-so-good moments is the importance of perspective and how it leads to gratitude.
A day when I was originally feeling unmotivated and tired turned around when I made a gratitude list for everything I was thankful for that morning. My health, waking up that day, the pancakes we had for breakfast, literally anything I could think of. When I changed my perspective from “wow, this isn’t super fun” to “wow, look at all the gifts I’ve been given”, the entire situation changed.
So, in honor of perspective and in honor of Thanksgiving, here is a list of 75 things in 75 days that I’m grateful for.
These are taken directly from my notebook on each day (more or less) from September 8th to November 21st. I chose one or two from each day and included description when necessary.
1.The beauty of the sky as my plane took off from Seattle
2. Seeing Mady after 7 weeks of FaceTime calls
3. Hannah’s prayer for me about not waiting to grow in intimacy with the Lord; all the tears
4. The song battle at Launch and how Gap T killed it
5. Killer worship session in the boys’ hotel room with people from every squad
6. Talking with Joe S. and Alyssa at 10 outside our room about how their first three months on the race wrecked and changed the way they saw God
7. It was pouring down rain this morning; everyone playing/dancing in the rain
8. we formed a “band” in the alley and had a killer performance, Will and Malia improv sang a FIRE song
9. Learning how there is freedom in the fire (character and growth comes from the hard times)
10. The wild tuk tuk ride with Mady (a tuk tuk is like a tiny taxi we use to get around town)
11. Watching Creed and uke jamming in the kitchen with Will, Lauren, and Nick after everyone went to sleep
12. Getting ice cream with Joe and Blake in Parramos
13. learning that the Lord controls the flood in Psalm 29:10
14. crying of laughter with Abby Fillman
15. The Lord’s authority over our battles (the battle is already won, we don’t have to worry about fighting it ourselves)
16. My hair is dreading(!) (this happened bc I stopped Brushing my hair)
17. Alyssa moved into our room & Lucy’s friend wants to go on the race after reading my blog
18. English class w/ Abbey; too good
19. Good talk w/ Noah and Jordy about satisfaction in the Lord
20. Making brownies
21. Long & hilarious talk w/ Hannah Pauwels
22. Saw a literal Peter-Pan-ship-cloud w/ Will and Mady
23. My team got me baby’s breath flowers for my bday
24. The bus ride to the beach and the car accident we ran into; all the anticipation
25. The thunderstorm over the ocean and convos in the hammocks till 2 AM
26. Building deeper relationships at ministry
27. Slow mornings
28. The boys on our squad washed our feet, served us dinner, and we all swing danced; so much fun
29. Emma sharing her snacks w/ me
30. My health and not having salmonella
31. Making hot chocolate w/ Haven
32. Talking to Alyssa about influence (learning how to use influence well and the gift it is)
33. Watching Cinderella (the live action version)
34. Blackberry, strawberry, pineapple, banana smoothie
35. Cliff jumping
36. The best dessert of my life (hello to the queen, iykyk)
37. The strength in the way we sang “what a beautiful name” during worship
38. The stars on the way to the top of Indian Nose (a beautiful sunrise hike at Lake Atitlan)
39. Best day of debrief w/ Blake, Haven, B, Will, Nick; cliff jumping pt.2, getting hamburgers, so much laughter and goodness
40. Worship w/ just the lamps on in the main room, everyone stood in a circle instead of the usual rows of chairs
41. Meeting the President of Guatemala’s security team & they got my phone number; my new best friends
42. Disco party in our room w/ Lauren and Hannah (it works well to turn off all the lights and use our head lamps)
43. Rainy days
44. Miguel and Seth speaking about the Father, the war being over, and walking in the spirit (they are full time Adventures staff who came to visit us in Guat)
45. Watching Warrior in the Casita (the leaders room) for Joe S.
46. Trip to Mega Pacca (the local thrift store)
47. Emma’s chicken dumplings and team dinners
48. “Living from the Sabbath“ podcast
49. Playing ultimate frisbee at 4 on Sundays
50. Christmas jam session
51. Playing mafia and making pancakes w/ Haven
52. Inner healing (a race thing; asking the Holy Spirit what He wants to reveal in our lives)
53. Hilarious times after playing signs (a popular race game) w/ Brooke and Noah
54. People who get me
55. Living from overflow
56. Talking to Haven and Jordy for 3+ hours, going to Mass w/ Mady
57. Maria Flavia at ministry and speaking truth over her (got to pray healing over her throat, show her the song “seasons“, and talk about Christmas
58. Yolanda (a woman of peace in our ministry village) praying over our entire team
59. The sunset tonight and Lauren’s bday dinner; amazing
60. Rode horses up a volcano
61. Playing murder in the dark & the alliances made (and broken) (a wild game our squad took a hold of)
62. Brushed my hair for the first time in two months
63. Found a juice bar with fire smoothies and wifi (good smoothies and WiFi are rare here)
64. dying of laughter with my team before bed
65. Seeing the fruit in our ministry (spiritual, not actual, fruit)
66. Vacation Bible School and playing soccer with the kids
67. getting to lead Gloria (a woman in our village who experienced a lot of shame) to re-surrender her life to the Lord
68. Warm weather
69. Living from a place of grace, Gabe (one of our leaders) started calling me Grace Mary
70. Getting a free hamburger (perks of being white in Guatemala)
71. Running and endorphins released
72. Emma’s cooking
73. Trust in the Lord for the future
74. The Lord answering specific prayers
75. Walking 2 miles with Alyssa to ministry, laughter w/ Han & B at breakfast
And this doesn’t even cover the half of it. God is doing big things here. So much to be grateful for.
all for the glory of God
MG
