Today in devos, my colleague asked us to list things that we considered to be blessings in our lives. I pretty much listed everything in my life: good health (for the most part, aside from frequent stomach problems), family and friends, God’s forgiveness and grace, roof over my head, rewarding job, and the natural beauty of Seattle. Interestingly, I have seen all these things in my life just over the past few days! We had a GREAT long, Easter weekend that involved hosting up to five people at once in the Ip Hotel. I’m EXHAUSTED this morning (to the point of forgetting my address when asked for it), so I’m counting down the hours till I can sleep again (that is, after working 8 hours, doing laundry, putting away the beds and stuff from this past weekend, and hopefully trying out one of the workout videos from the library).

But back to the blessings. Gotta stay positive.

Good health Matt’s grandpa has been in the hospital for a few weeks after his heart surgery and now has pneumonia. His lungs are filling up with water, and honestly, we’re not sure what will happen to him. So as I pray for him and for our family members, I’m also thankful for good health of myself and loved ones, which we often take for granted when our bodies are functioning properly.

Family and friends Melanie and her two friends, Liz and Karen, along with Abby and Jason, visited us over the long weekend, and I had a BLAST with them! I think it’s been almost a year since we had seen the Lows, but it didn’t feel like any time had passed at all. The main occasion for the weekend was our Harry Potter Scene-it night, which involved lots of laughter, desserts, and Hogwarts trivia. I felt like a high schooler at a sleepover all over again. I am thankful for friends I can do that with…and also thankful that moving up here to Seattle does not mean we don’t have opportunities like that anymore! I took a ton of pics over the weekend, so I’ll post them one of these days.

God’s forgiveness and grace With the Easter weekend comes a lot of reflection on God’s gift of His son for us. I experienced a moment of understanding that Christ does not look at me with sadness or disappointment at my sinfulness. However, He looks at me with love and hope that I desire to make my life right with Him–and I don’t need to feel guilty about past sins because that’s exactly the point of Easter. Christ died on the cross for those exact sins, and that’s why I don’t need to suffer for them. He loves me *that* much!

Roof over my head and a rewarding job When I talk to friends who complain about housing prices (mostly from California) or not knowing what sort of career direction they want, it makes me all the more thankful to have a roof over my head and a job that I love. Not like I want my friends to think I’m looking down on them for NOT having those things, but it puts things into perspective for me that I shouldn’t complain about having house projects or dealing with annoying people at work.

Natural beauty of Seattle Our visitors over the weekend raved about how beautiful and green Seattle was, and it reminded me how fortunate I am to live here. I absolutely love all that the city has to offer, especially all the nature that we didn’t see so much back in LA.

I hope all of you had a great Easter weekend, as well! Pics to come soon!