Thanksgiving Gratitude List

Thankful for:

1. A day to give thanks and worship God with good food, a warm house, and fellowship.

2. Erica's quirky and loving family.

3. We sang 'Give Thanks' at church last night - thankful for all the memories associated with that song.

4. Uni being accepted to the U of U.

5. My mom's walk with Christ.

6. This fall semester and all the things that God has taught me, shown me, and blessed me with.

7. Christian thought and Dr. Burge.

8. Friendships that have allowed me to be myself in all my weirdness and quirkiness. Friendships with Steph and Kathyrn.

9. The special people in prayer group - Jeanie, Alison, Josh, Woojin, Joseph. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ! 

10. Growing closer to Jeanie and Alison.

11. The OCO and the safe community that it has provided. Being on YHM cabinet and getting to know Liz better.

12. Jubilee Chapel and the excitement I have every time Sunday rolls around.

Father, thank you so much for these blessings. I pray that you would continue to give me a heart of gratitude and that in both good times and hard times, I would always lift up to you thanksgivings. 

Our praise will never end, because Your love will never end

felt tired today and at breakfast, i sat still for a couple of moments and invited God to go through this day with me and give me strength. he showed me his love today in very profound instances, one of which was during my anatomy class. dr. townsend took some time at the end of class to share her testimony and how she came to know Christ. she started getting teary-eyed and all of us felt deep within us the grace and love of God in her life. the other instance was when I opened my email to find a message from dr. vlachos. last friday, he had surgery to get some bladder stones out and he spent the weekend recuperating. I found out from a friend that he arrived for class this morning but had to leave because he wasn't feeling well. This is what he wrote me:

Hi, Gracie bug,

My system went into some kind of shock last night and before class today due to some complications from the surgery.  I was trying to stick it out but thought it best to get to the doctor as quickly as possible.  . 

Things have somewhat stabilized.  The doctor thinks I will be fine.  I am supposed to speak at the Passage orientation meetingtomorrow morning, so I will try to get to campus and hopefully make it through my 11:15-1:00 class too.                

I looked out at the class today and wanted to tell them how much I appreciate them, but I didn't want to get too sappy. :-) 

But it's true.  I love my students.  If I didn't, I would not have gotten out of bed this morning. 

IHS,            

Dr. Vlachos

---------

The love of christ. The love of God is saturated in the lives of the people around me. I see it, and am moved deeply by it. 

At the end of last year, I was in the elevator in the BGC and Dr. Root came into the elevator and pressed the button for the 3rd floor. He introduced himself (even though I had previously been in his evangelism class) and we started talking - you know, about Utah and Mormons and such. I stepped out unto the 3rd floor with him and he looked at me and said, "Grace, I'm not going to remember this, but make sure to come up to me in the fall and grab a meal with me." After that, we parted ways. I remember this brief moment with Dr. Root because at the time, I felt God's presence behind his friendly gesture - it was especially important because I was ending a school-year that had been so incredibly hard.

The other day, I was in the elevator going up to Dr. Vlachos' office and in came Dr. Root. Again, he didn't remember me and asked me what my name was. I didn't bother to tell him that I had been in his evangelism class and that we had already introduced ourselves in the elevator this past may. There was some small talk, and he asked me what my major was, eventually getting off at the 3rd floor.

I am struck by the subtle ways that God remains faithful in my life and the whimsicality of it all. I am reminded that God is consistent and faithful. It's like he wants to tell me that He was there with me during the darkest season and that He is still with me in the here and now - in the season of growth and increasing fascination with God's love and grace. His love truly never ends, never recedes.

An Etude on the Presence of God

[A love poem]

It is a holy space, this place where deep calls out to deep.
I feel in the air a vibrancy that I can't quite place -
a quickening of my soul, as I encounter you, O God, the wholly other.
Freely I partake in numinous communion, with trembling
and a taste of what is sacred.
This is all it takes to fill the caverns within me with your grace.

Echoes will draw me back and these
uplifted palms will be marked with psalms -
but for now, I recede into you, into this holy place.