***Song lyrics (in title) taken from the song, "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace" (also known as the Prayer to St. Francis).
*Friday, Jan. 20th, 2012: Today I am thankful for a guest who lit up my day. A man, who's name I won't use for obvious reasons, came up to me today. Taped together glasses, missing most of his teeth, stumbling a little because he has a bad leg and he began asking me about sports. We talked about the Wizards and how awful they are and we laughed about the silly comparisons between my Seahawks' terrible season and his Redskins' terrible season. At the end of our conversation he looked at me and said, "ya know what? People are gonna love you here because you smile a lot and like to laugh." That made my entire weekend and I am grateful for him today.
*Saturday, Jan. 21st, 2012: I am grateful for my one-on-one with Brittney today. All we did was run errands, but it was good to catch up, talk about important and not-so important things and just be there for one another. I am grateful that God has placed her in my life because our friendship has just come so easily and so organically; and because she pushed me and challenges me to dig deeper into myself and pull out parts of myself I didn't know existed. So I am thankful for our time together today.
*Sunday, Jan. 22nd, 2012: I am grateful for playoff football...I am sad that the Super Bowl is the only game left! I love going to a bar and watching the games with crazy fans and yelling a the TV screen/people who stand in my way of the screens. I am grateful for the silly friendships I've made throughout this football season at bars because although I may never see them again, they made my football watching experience more memorable and more entertaining...Go G-Men!!!
*Monday, Jan. 23rd, 2012: I am grateful for the Miriam's case management staff. I had my first staff meeting today and it was such a loving and supportive environment! They all were excited for me when I shared my "favorite" during the segment called "favorites". It's where we chose a favorite guest of the week and share the story with the staff. Everyone was attentive and excited to hear about my favorite...it was wonderful to feel that kind of support.
*Tuesday, Jan. 24th, 2012: Today was a rough day, full of bad moods and negative energy...so coming home tonight to lead spirituality night was not on the top of my "want to do" list. BUT I stole this half-idea from the current JVC Bridgeport house of taking a prayer, splitting it up four ways and having each member of my community draw whatever the words in the prayer compelled them to draw. I chose the "Prayer to St. Francis" because it was used often in my time as the Agape camp director and it carries a lot of weight to me. This is also why it is the title of this blog post. Each member of my community shared something really profound on their drawings and it shed light onto a lot of our inner experiences that we wouldn't have shared otherwise. It was a good way to "save" the crappy day I was having.
*Wednesday, Jan. 25th, 2012: Today I am grateful for a specific interaction I had today...I looked up from the desk as someone was saying, "hey, you were the one who helped me last time...can I talk with you?" I recognized his deep brown eyes, big smile and soft-spoken nature and couldn't help but smile. This man came in on my first day, looking to get his DC Non-Drivers ID (which is a poop to try and get if you don't have any documentation on you). So we had to sign him up to get food stamps, medicaid and his birth certificate (because all three are needed for him to attain his DC Non-Drivers ID). So today he came in, smiling all big and I was happy that I finally remembered a guest's name! I walked with him over to a table and read aloud his mail because he's illiterate and we both were so excited that he was granted food stamps and Medicaid. It was a wonderful moment where I actually got to be there for him from start to finish of the process and share in his successes. Such a good morning.
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