Dictionary.com defines community in this way, “a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.” I prefer to define it this way, “awesome people who love each other and rock the face of life together.” I really miss community. Really miss it. I miss community groups and volunteering; I miss a schedule so jam packed, I barely have time to breathe. I miss baking dates, gab sessions, routine lunches. I miss being invited more than inviting myself. I can’t explain to you the blossoming that takes place in my heart when I know I’m not just an island floating in the middle of the ocean.
Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of pins promoting a certain workout to “get rid of that pudge!” Said pin shows an uuber-skinny, big-boob’d, tan woman posing with her fingers pinching the “pudge” below her belly-button. At first, it didn’t bother me… but the more I see it spreading around Pinterest the more irked I feel. Seriously?! Have we not made any progress in the area of loving our bodies?? There’s a definite difference between being healthy and being just a little too perfestionistic. Personally, I think the pudge a woman has in her womanly area (read:womb) is not only feminine, beautiful, but also wildly attractive. There’s a reason artists depict women with a bump. It’s womanly. So, why not embrace it and choose to love yourself? Delete that pin!
Yes, I know. Practice what you preach.
I love all of you girls who’ve had the amazing blessing of finding out you’re pregnant. But, I just may hide you from my Facebook feed. I can be happy for you, really I can. Right now, though? It’s a little too easy to be jealous.
I’m impatient.
I don’t know if it’s just me, being a girl and all… I feel I bruise easily. My heart, that is. I don’t feel as if I’m easily offended, no. Bruised. My heart has been through the ringer in the last year; it’s still healing. In the meantime, though, I don’t very often fall asleep without tears budding at the corners of my eyes.
I want to trust God more. I need to. I don’t know how.
When thinking about all the wonderful, inspiring, thought provoking essays I could (want to) write, I often finding myself…. complaining. Not one to put up with complaining very gracefully, I thought I would exercise self control and list the things I’m thankful for instead. 🙂 How nice of me. But first, a nice quote I found:
“Thank God–every morning when you get up–that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you a hundred virtues which the idle never know.” -Charles Kingsley
Here we go:
– I’m thankful for… my gorgeous boy. for he is teaching me what true patience is. And, okay, that life is not about me.
– I’m thankful for… a mom who is about as (if not more) talented than Martha Stewart herself. I am turning into my mother everyday and I love it.
– I’m thankful for… art. Music. They say to my heart what I cannot say with my mouth.
– I’m thankful for… people. My source of inspiration and internal chaos.
– I’m thankful for… my dad. He is the best teacher I could ask for. Of the human variety, anyway.
– I’m thankful for… books. ‘Nuf Said.
– I’m thankful for… my family. If you’d met them, you’d understand.
– I’m thankful for my husband. We’re passionate lovers, passionate fighters, and passionate partners. My life would be far less colorful without him. <3
Of course, the list does not end here. But, I don’t think that Blogger has enough room for all my “I’m thankful for…”
To end:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” -Melody Beattie