Cold Tangerines

I can't help but view every day differently after reading (actually just barely starting!) this book.

I think we all have those days when we think 'is this it?'  Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my life and all that it entails, all the adventures I've had, the mistakes I've made, the friends I have, and the way that Christ so patiently loves and guides me.

However, I'm going to be honest in saying that there are still those days when the mundane seems so mundane, the bills still need to get paid, and the every dayness of life seems to just blend together at times.  I know you know what I mean.

In reading this book though, I view every moment differently.  Every day seems a little more full of life, more color, more fun, more contentment, more joy, and I've realized that the memories of the day are worth remembering.  I've begun to journal at the end of each day every favorite moment of the day, and I keep getting surprised at just how much I loved of each day that I probably wouldn't have thought twice about if I hadn't of made myself write it down and remember it.  Even if the memory is painful, I want to focus on the growth that is or will take place and be hopeful in that.  I realized through this book just how much I love all that I've gone through, both good and bad, and that I do have a story worth telling, because it's brought me to who I am today, and I know that it has made me wiser, stronger, and brought me to a greater place of empathy.

I was just home in Washington state visiting my family, and I can't tell you how much more I enjoyed every little moment picking blackberries and swimming in the lake with my nieces, dropping off my niece Elliana at her first day of school, celebrating my new baby nephew, having a deep, heartfelt conversation with a good friend or relative, laughing so hard with my mom in church that we could barely stop laughing during prayer, eating too much fro yo, drinking too many vanilla soy lattes with my mom, hearing my little niece Michaelyn want to pray for my dog Roxie that was choking, getting pedicures with my sister-in-law or seeing that my brother has remained such good friends with a homeless man that he has known for years.  It is the little moments, the big moments, the joyful moments, and the painful moments, that make up our lives, and we need to celebrate it all.

These are some quotes that really impacted me the most...

I don't want to wait anymore.  I choose to believe that there is nothing more sacred or profound than this day.  I choose to believe that there may be a thousand big moments embedded in this day, waiting to be discovered like tiny shards of gold.  The big moments are the daily, tiny moments of courage and forgiveness and hope that we grab on to and extend to one another.  That's the drama of life, swirling all around us, and generally I don't even see it because I'm too busy waiting to become whatever it is I think I am about to become.  The big moments are in every hour, every conversation, every meal, every meeting.  The Heisman Trophy winner knows this.  He knows that his big moment was not when they gave him the trophy.  It was the thousand times he went to practice instead of going back to bed.  It was the miles run on rainy days, the healthy meals when a burger sounded like heaven.  That big moment represented and rested on a foundation of moments that had come before it.

You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural.