Top 5 Things I'm Thankful For

In honor of Thanksgiving tomorrow, I would like to stop and momentarily reflect on the top 5 things that I am thankful for.

Number 5: Southern California weather
Only in southern California can you walk around comfortably in shorts and a t-shirt in late November because it happens to be 75 degrees and sunny outside. Who wouldn't love that? Only crazy people who love the cold. I am thankful for the sun.

Number 4: My church family!
Since I started at NewHeart as an intern a little over a year ago, I have been embraced and welcomed into this church family. Not to discount the other churches I've been in over the past few years, but at NewHeart, I truly feel at home. A lot of the people have become an extension of my own family... and I have become part of theirs as they have welcomed me into their homes and their lives as well. Sometimes, it can be a daunting task to fit into a church body without a built-in family structure to accompany you, but it has been an awesome experience to integrate into this awesome family!

Number 3: My amazing friends!
I have never been more thankful for my friends than I have been over this past year. There have been so many people that have stood by me, talked me through situations and big decisions, people that I have been able to celebrate with and mourn with, people that I've traveled with and have made music with... it's been an amazing year thus far and I am so blessed to have so many awesome people in my life. YOU are AMAZING! Thanks for being great!

Number 2: Mi familia!
Family has always been something that has been front and center in my life, but I never really realized how much I took my family for granted until this year when both of my grandparents passed away. Something that had always come so easy became much more difficult. But I am thankful that we have walked through a very rough year together and slowly starting to see the other side. I am also thankful for the traditions and the legacies that my grandparents left, I've found that it is because of them that our family is truly great... let's hope we can hold onto that in the years to come!

And finally, [drumroll please!]

The number 1 thing that I am the most grateful for: MY LIFE!
It is probably not the life that I would have dreamed up for myself, but I'm enjoying every second of it! My life may not be perfect or what I ever expected, but I would not trade any of it for the whole world! I am so thankful for the opportunities that I've had in the past year and for the potential for the future. I'm thankful that I have been blessed with good health, a great family, fantastic friends, awesome colleagues, a host of other things I can't even begin to think of.

So as I approach this holiday of being grateful and giving thanks, I stop and I thank God and my family and friends for making every day worth living, and even if I don't always realize it or don't always express it, I am truly thankful. Blessings!


Top 20 other things from 2009 that I am thankful for that didn't make it on the list (not really in any order):
22. Shurie, Charles, Jake & Blaze - for being my adopted family
21. Paul Kuzma - for being the coolest pastor/ boss ever!
20. Glee - for being a fantastically written show that includes great music!
19. Lisa Kinney's brownies - because they're awesome!
18. the years I worked at Universal - even though they're over, they were enjoyable (for the most part) and I met lots of cool people (for the most part)
17. My youth group kids - when they're not running around and screaming, they're pretty cool!
16. Skype - so I can talk to my former roomie Jess when she's in Germany... then I don't miss her as much...
15. All the weddings I've attended - it's nice to celebrate other people's happy moments :)
14. Kids camp worship team - because they're some of the best young musicians I've had the opportunity to work with.
13. my bedroom - it's not that I didn't love having roommates in college, but it's nice to have space.
12. my cell phone - it keeps me connected to the rest of the world...
11. APU - for letting me graduate
10. Disneyland - because it's the happiest place on earth :)
9. David DuBransky - for being awesome... and our random trips (mostly to Disneyland)
8. my trip to Hawaii - which is directly related to #11 since I wouldn't have gone if I hadn't graduated!
7. Facebook - for giving me something to do when I'm waiting for the church website to finish updating or I'm waiting for people to show up to a rehearsal
6. NewHeart worship team members - for being willing to share your talents with others!
5. Katie Miller - for showing me the ropes at NewHeart and hosting our Glee parties! And being all-around fantastic!
4. Shane Roberts - for (almost) always answering your phone when I call, knowing that I'm (more-than-likely) going to ask a favor of you
3. Chipotle - for three reasons: 1. because it's great food, 2. because it has now become a default place when I go out to eat with friends and 3. because just the thought of Chipotle got Sherwin and I through many long shifts at the Mummy as well as mediocre lunches at Dine-O
2. Lisa Kinney - for being the coolest person I know... who bakes brownies, roadtrips with me, goes to see musicals (multiple times), gets me hooked on awesome shows and watches stupid movies with methat we get made fun of for (but we love regardless)!
1. all things chocolate - because chocolate makes the world better

Expectations

Do you know what I like best about my friends? I like that they are completely and uniquely them. They're totally honest and genuine about who they are and don't feel the need to apologize for it. But if the average person were to look at my friends, there are probably some people who they wouldn't expect to be in that lineup because of how they see me. And what they expect of me.

My friends come in a wide assortment of ages, races, sexual orientations, genders, educational backgrounds and socio-economic statuses. I have friends that are college graduates and some that are college dropouts; some that are Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, or some awesomely crazy blended mix of everything; some that love sports, others that prefer musical theater, and even more who would rather read a book above all else. I have some friends that go to church, some that are more "spiritual" than "religious", and some that are just trying to figure out what the heck is going on in the world. The list can go on and on, but in the end, they're my friends.

I can think of people that I have encountered over the past few years that have "cookie-cutter" friends and realized how that could have (and for many reasons, should have) been me and how thankful I am to have met and befriended many of the people that I have. Let me start by defining what I mean by "cookie-cutter" friends. When I use that term, I am referring to those people who may look different than you (i.e. race, gender, physical features), but for all intensive purposes dress, think, act, and speak the same way you do and rarely challenge you to step out of your preconceived notions about the world and to look at things differently.

My friends are the complete opposite. They challenge me to look beyond my slightly above-middle class, raised in the valley, conservative, pastor's kid who graduated for a Christian university and is going into ministry-life and see the world through their eyes. Do you, dear reader, have those people in your life?

All that to say, I had a conversation with someone yesterday that caused to figure out why my friends are so vast and varied. Because I choose to defy people's expectations... I refuse to live in a cookie-cutter world where everyone thinks and acts the same! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not an anarchist, but I do think that the world is so much more interesting if we're allowed to embrace our flaws and love people for who they are, not for what they can do for us. In theory, all of my friends should be overprotected pastor's kids with entitlement issues who are constantly trying to define who they are outside of their parent's shadow. Harsh? Maybe. But that is, in theory, the category that I should fall into. Do I? Not anymore.

Prior to my sophomore year in college, most of the people that I consider friends now, I would have ignored because they didn't fit into my idea of what I wanted my friends to be. I could have easily fit into my cookie-cutter life and missed out on all the awesome people that I've met and all of the fun experiences that I've lived through.

We generally have expectations of who people should be based on our first impressions - a look, a conversation, an assumption. I can say from experience, that isn't always a good thing. Get to know the person before you decide whether or not they're worthy of your time... they could surprise you. Or disappoint you. Either way, don't live subjected to what you think you are defined as. Be your own person! Make your own friends! Experience life for the beautiful cornucopia of differences that it is! (That was a little bit cheesy, sorry. =])