a year of thankfulness

2011 will be a year of thankfulness in the midst of life and all it throws my way. 365 days. 365 things for which to be thankful.

10. February, Thursday
our dishwasher stopped working 2 days ago and for 2 girls who cook and bake almost every day, this was not good. after making burritos for dinner and looking at the mound of dishes, we decided to ask our landlord to take a look at the broken mess. oops. it turns out that it wasn’t really broken. we had unknowingly turned off the water supply. today i’m thankful for our dishwasher that works.

9. February, Wednesday
i spent the evening with friends tonight – playing with their kids, eating good food, watching tv, and talking about life. i’ve had so much on my mind and heart these past days and loved feeling safe enough to share with friends and that they wanted to share their hearts with me. it’s a constant thankfulness, but i’m thankful for friends.

8. February, Tuesday
i’ve been out of office for several weeks because of the outreach team from denver and after a full day in the office on monday, by tuesday afternoon i was struggling! in order to manage this problem, i went thrift shopping (just for a few minutes!).  as i went up to pay for my 30 kr. gold vintage dress, the cashier said she had seen me with the team at a local church and wondered where i was from. i told her and she promptly invited me to eat iraqi food with her and a few other women working at the shop. i can’t resist the combination of cultures + food, so the next 15 minutes were spent eating couscous and talking about what i was doing here and making new friends. i’m thankful for unexpected encounters.

3. February, Thursday
i am thankful for the beauty of this man’s music:

2. February, Wednesday
today i am thankful for surprises, whether i’m the giver or receiver.

1. February, Tuesday
today i took the morning off work to sleep in, have a nice breakfast and just relax. perfect. i stopped by the mailbox on my to work and noticed i had a package waiting to be picked up. lo and behold, this is what the package contained: season 1 of “parenthood,” 2 bags of starbucks coffee, 12 (yes, you read correctly) packages of muffin mixes, and 2 large bags of reese’s pieces. this is not including ragnhild’s 5 cookie and cream candy bars and 3 XL boxes of junior mints.
today i am thankful for mail!

31. January, Monday
so this “year of thankfulness” page is really more of a “i’m thankful, but can’t seem to find the time to write about it” page. this past week i’ve been incredibly thankful for the steadfastness of God. i am a complete screw-up without Him and i’m thankful that He continues to give me opportunities to conquer fears and strengthen myself where there has only been weakness before.

19. January, Wednesday
i am blessed with great friends. movie night was on the schedule tonight, but we enjoyed each other’s company so much that we didn’t even think about what movie to see. and i love movies! i’m thankful for friends who have stood through the test of time, cultural faux pas, marriage, kids, and everything else life throws our way. good friends are never easy to find, but somehow i have managed to surround myself with faithful companions. what a crazy, undeserved blessing.

18. January, Tuesday
i don’t forget to be thankful. serious. time is just lacking.
today i am thankful for days off work. enough said.

13. January, Thursday
i love npr. tonight i came home and listened to obama’s memorial service speech, held in honor of those killed in arizona. i was incredibly moved. he spoke about civil and honest public discourse, being a better people in the midst of tragedy – a new era of civility. the ny times had a great article about obama’s response to the situation. today i’m thankful for quality journalism.

12. January, Wednesday
today i woke up at 04.00 to travel to oslo in order to pick up a team of americans at the airport. out of all the places in the world, God told them to come to norway for their outreach! today i’m thankful for God’s creativity  of the nations. i’m excited to see what they learn and how God is going to use them to reach out to norwegians.

11. January, Tuesday
i left home at 7.40 this morning and just stepped in the door at 22.00. but i have been strongly reminded of God’s goodness and His love for me throughout the day. i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that i love Him, but rarely sit and think about His love for me. He loves me for me – not for what i produce, what i can offer or my gifts. He just loves me. that’s pretty special.

10. January, Monday
seriously, i could be thankful for sleep every day this year… just a prediction. but i’ll try to think outside the box. today i’m thankful for free evenings. i have an office job, but “office job” is relative. tonight was free so i came home at a decent hour, steamed vegetables, ate a piece of pizza and drank a glass of liquid goodness. i read blogs, started reading a book and even worked out. a lovely end to a crazy day.

9. January, Sunday
Maybe every day was a little ambitious. Sitting here with my rice cake and peanut butter, accompanied by a cup of tea, I am thankful for technology (“i love technology, but not as much as…” movie, anyone?). Skype has changed my world.

2. January, Saturday
While most people were celebrating the end of 2010 with friends, family, champagne and fireworks, I was sitting on a plane with a couple hundred strangers, all of us waiting to begin the new year in a new place. To get to that new/old place, I rode in 3 planes, 2 buses, 1 train and 1 car. I lost 7 hours of my life (as well as a piece of my sanity. thank you, screaming toddler on the longest flight of my life). Today I am thankful for sleep.

1. January, Friday
Today I was thankful for family. As I packed late into the evening, ready to catch a flight early in the morning, I was increasingly thankful for my family. Thankful that I am loved, supported and included, even though I live thousands of miles away. I was thankful that my parents drove me to the airport for the umpteenth time, sat and drank Starbucks with me while the flight was delayed 2 hours and even drove like mad men to the nearest store to buy a new suitcase while we waited out the time.

Thank you family!