Gratitude List 10/24

        A few years ago, I started keeping a prayer journal. In my prayers, I would include long lists of things, gifts, for which I am thankful. I still keep a prayer journal and still keep these lists.
      The author of the book I am currently also chose to keep track of God's gifts. In the book, One Thousand Gifts, she describes her journey of learning gratitude through challenging herself to create a list of one thousand gifts from God. Slowly, she unpacks gratitude as a spiritual discipline that slows down time and as an act of "unwrapping love". I highly recommend the book for her thoughtful meditations on gratitude and her exquisitely poetic writing voice.
     With that said, here is my gratitude list for today:

• Thursday nights are my Friday nights because I have Fridays off. My Sabbath is near.
• My gracious housemate, Colleen, shared her pumpkin curry lentils and rice with me for dinner. Best meal with lentils I have ever had. 
• Andrew Bird's cover of Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You".
• My tutoring kids. They challenge me, on numerous levels in all kinds of ways. 
• Square dancing at First Presbyterian every other Monday night. It's only Thursday, and I can't wait until Monday. 
• Cold milk and warm banana bread for dessert from my other lovely housemate, Kalyn. For her friendship and generosity. 
• A roof over my head, electricity, a food budget, a van to drive, and even traffic to sit in. Not only are these each gifts in themselves but the fact that these gifts are all here in New Orleans, my favorite city, is an entirely different story. My blessings are countless. 
• I have never experienced grace in so many different forms in such a short amount of time. More on this later when I figure out how to talk about it because right now it's overwhelming...
• My housemates are family to me. My favorite nights of the week are when we are all together. We each have somewhat crazy schedules, so it's definitely a treat to spend time with all of us together. But during the week, we'll share meals, stories, homesickness, movies, or whatever else in small groups, which is just as beautiful, if not more so. 
• My books. A few weeks ago, my parents sent me six boxes (SIX!) of books and clothing. My books mean the world to me, but I could not bring many to New Orleans because I traveled by plane. Ripping up those packages felt better than Christmas morning for a small child. 
• The changing of the weather here. I saw a commercial this morning for an "End of Summer" furniture sale because "summer's ending quickly". It's late October, and for this Jersey girl, the summer's been over for a while. Yet the drop in humidity and increase in cool breezes brings me joy. Hot cups of tea don't seem as silly anymore. 
• The Presbytery of South Louisiana. This presbytery is wildly supportive of the YAV program. Everyone is so generous and welcoming that it's overwhelming. Churches, YAV mentors, and presbytery members have hosted us for dinner several times already. The YAV Board is gracious towards our needs by providing each of us with a mentor from the presbytery. We as YAV's have been invited to help serve at different ministries throughout the state. To say that we are being taken care of is an understatement. My site coordinator said that the Presbytery of South Louisiana loves YAV's the most. I cannot imagine how they could support us more. I have no idea how to receive these gifts, let alone thank the presbytery for them. 

For these gifts and for the countless others I am not aware of, I give thanks. 

What have you given thanks for lately? What do you praise God for? What would your list look like? 

Thanks for reading! 

     

October Update

First, let me apologize for my delay in posting. I have spent the last month absorbing and learning to adjust to life in New Orleans. Here are some snippets of my adventures thus far:

• With Mid-City Ministries, I am tutoring 3rd and 4th graders on Tuesdays and Thursdays and co-leading a teen bible study on Wednesday nights. We are currently working through the first chapter of 1 John. Oh the stories I could share about my kids...Next week, we will be hosting a Hispanic Week in honor of National Hispanic Heritage month. (We'll be celebrating a little late, but that's alright.)
• At First Presbyterian, I am volunteering with the Program of Hope homeless outreach ministry on Wednesdays, which provides bus tokens, Salvation Army vouchers, lunches, toiletries, and transportation to medical appointments. I'm making friends with some of our guests, which has been a true blessing and treat. One of my main projects that I am working on is creating a manual for incoming volunteers to learn about how to run the ministry. Also, I am hosting a book study for the young adults at a local coffee shop on Rob Bell's latest book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God. I am thrilled to lead this study because of the enticing questions that come to mind while diligently preparing for its fruition. 
• Sunday nights are held sacred here in the Zimpel house. It's our one time to guarantee to cook and eat together. Sundays here are still my favorite day of the week. 
• There was a warning for New Orleans to witness the effects of Hurricane Karen that ended up amounting to about an hour of rain total spread throughout the day two weeks ago. Concerts were cancelled, grocery stores were packed, and some parts of LA within an hour evacuated. Not New Orleans. The worst we were anticipating were heavy rains and the possibility of the power going out. Yet there were none of the above. We got very lucky. The last hurricane I witnessed was Hurricane Sandy, just about one year ago. My family and I were very lucky to only lose power during the storm. Therefore, thankfully, I have very little experience with severe storms. Because of this lack of experience, when I talk with everyone who survived Hurricane Katrina, all I can offer is sympathy. I cannot even begin to fathom their experience. This is easily the most difficult challenge I have come across. As a house, the YAV's have been watching Spike Lee's documentary on Katrina called When The Levees Broke. Here is a clip from the film that will certainly give you the chills. The depth and complexity of the wounds left here create a backdrop for every living thing here. The rehabilitating city and its thread-bare citizens have grown humbly strong. They are the walking wounded. Katrina left wounds on everyone and everything. Continued prayers for healing for this exquisite place and its remarkable people. 
• According to my mentor from Presbytery, there are palm trees here that are not native to New Orleans. In fact, there were very few in the city before Katrina hit. Yet when the city was starting to rebuild, the government chose to plant them everywhere. I have yet to speak with someone who knows why. It's interesting how something as simple as a tree can be seen as a peeling band-aid for a city that lost so much blood, literally and figuratively. 
• Homesickness comes in waves, usually unexpectedly. A stranger at the Rite Aid might look like a close friend, or a song on the radio might trigger a memory from the summer. Sometimes these moments nip at my heart and swiftly leave; other times, the pain feels like a genuine and deep omission. Yet my housemates have been the best cure. Their humor, compassion, understanding, empathy, and authenticity have been my remedies for these aches. 
• Adjusting to the climate of South Louisiana has been a challenge. Despite loving the spring-like weather in January two years ago on a mission trip to this beautiful city, I am truly grieving the cold weather. I find so much joy in the changing of the seasons, more than I was aware. However, today was the first day I could legitimately wear a sweater because of the wind! The little things...
• I am pumping my own gas with confidence, I might add. I am a Jersey girl to my marrow, so before moving to New Orleans, I had only pumped gas literally twice by myself. Ever. I've pumped my own gas a whopping five times since moving here. Again, that's literally over double my previous experience in about one month. I find this simple "accomplishment" quite satisfying. Again, the little things...
• A handful of weekend highlights: watching roller derby, free tickets to the WWII museum,  listening to incredible local music for cheap, thrift shops, square dancing twice a month at First Presbyterian, amazing food everywhere, outdoor evening art markets, visiting the library that's only 3 blocks from my house, and cooking with my housemates. 
• Last weekend, we YAV's went to the Feliciana Retreat Center for the Presbytery meeting for the Presbytery of South Louisiana. As an amateur treehugger and PC(USA) nerd, I was thrilled for this opportunity. We had a blast getting to know our Presbytery and cheering on our own site coordinator, Layne, for the Presbytery's approval of her ordination!
• Tomorrow, I am actually headed back to Feliciana for a Presbytery-wide youth group retreat! My housemate, Alex, and I are leaving in the morning and coming back Sunday night, just in time to have dinner with Layne and our other housemates! 
• And finally, this evening I took a solo trip to the French Quarter around dinner time to hear Kristin Diable, a local musician I've known for quite some time. I got to meet and chat with her for a bit, finding to her to be a great dancer, an old soul, and as playful and passionate as a kid. 

Thank you for reading!