21 Things

21 reasons I have to be thankful.

Because birthdays are a good time to recognise what is great about life.

1. The calm logic and rational advice delivered by my dad on a regular basis.

2. The silly jokes I share with my maman to balance out these more serious life-chats.

3. My parents combined efforts to always do what is best by me.

4. The simple pleasure I find in making a hot drink and finding either good company or a good book.

5. All the birthday parties I can remember. Joint celebrations with my nan, cocktails at Browns, to the clown when I turned 4. It’s been good every year.

6. Whoever came up with post-it notes. Seriously one of my all time favourite inventions.

7. Emmanuel Bristol, the church that made Bristol into a home.

8. Bristol CU. See above. I can’t wait for more excuses to bake.

9. Being able to speak French. The sounds, words and expressions that make every conversation exciting.

10. Being able to indulge my love of learning a new word. On a daily basis.

11. Whoever instilled in me my studious tendency and desire to learn.

12. The way the English make tea. The French will never get it.

13. The pupils this week who said they enjoy coming to my lessons.

14. Hannah and Michael, and their respective talents. We should take another sibling-holiday, Brussels was fun.

15. Old friends and modern technology that enables daily updates from a distance.

16. All the cards and letters I have received, this year and in previous. It is so much fun getting post!

17.  All the new people I have met during the past 4 months. 21 doesn’t stretch far enough.

18.  All the opportunities to travel I have had and holidays I have been taken on.

19.  The birthday cappuccino à pain d’épices I treated myself to this morning.

20. Having time to sit by a window, reflect and write lists.

21. That I have so much to look forward to in the coming months and years…. And the excitement of not knowing what yet.

21 Projects for the short and long term.

1. Take my novice sewing skills beyond cushion-cover capacity. Make a quilt.

2. Host an afternoon tea for a special occasion.

3. Learn another language (preferably German). 

4. Go on an outdoors-y holiday (preferably involving a bike). 

5. Complain less.  Be content. Philippians 2:14. 

6. Find a job I like so much I wish it were never the weekend.

7. Take my parents on holiday (exchange for 21 years of adventures). 

8. Arrive at the point of linguistic competency where I can express what I want to say, and not simply what I am capable of saying.

10. And in doing so lose my English accent.

11. Spend more time praying.

12. Complete and enjoy my degree. I’ll miss studying when it’s over.

13. Own a tea set, and have a shelf where it can live on display with jars of my favourite infusions.

14. Have a reading-room/library complete with comfy chair, ceiling-high shelves, and a system of classification.

15. Form a book-club/reading circle.

16. Learn to take it one day at a time. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Matthew 6:34. 

17. Start writing poetry.

18. Write more letters. Correspond with one person each week.

19. Start doing things that are spontaneous and unplanned (or maybe just one thing to begin with).

20. Rediscover the joy of acting: perform in a play again.

21. Bake and construct a gingerbread house. 

Because who else would start their birthday by writing a to-do list.