Sometimes when I have a a few unresolved issues, I can focus so much on them that I lose my sense of balance. I’ve found that ,specifically at those times, I have been underusing my strength of gratitude. So today, even though we still do not have internet (I work and am in school online), I’m choosing to focus on what I’m thankful for. Here is just a sampling of those things.

1- I live on a hill with beautiful views of both the ocean and the mountains. I’ve mentioned before that sunrise is one of the times in the day I sense God’s presence the most. What a gift it is to be able to sit at my table or on the patio and witness the sunrise day after day.

2- I met new friends this week! Ray and I were invited to meet 2 couples from church on Chileno Beach on Thursday. Sometimes I don’t even realize how desperately I’m longing for something until it comes to pass and nourishes my soul! It was a beautiful night. We all brought our own picnic dinners and we sat around and got to know each other for 2 hours. From that meeting our new friends decided to start their Monday night beach bible study back up and invited us to join. My heart sighed. Connection is so integral to my being. My smile returns every time I think about it!

3- New, good food! I had heard about this breakfast and lunch cafe called Lolita’s. We found out where it was located when Ray and I bought our glassware earlier in the week. It is just one block away from Jose’s shop. When you first peer in the door, there is just a table with some hand sanitizer on it but no restaurant visible. You need to take a few steps of faith and walk through the building and then you are treated to a charming outdoor cafe. Lolita’s does not fall under a budget dining experience put the prices were definitely fair. The food, however, was delicious! I had the Enfrijoladas. Three corn tortillas filled with your choice of fillings and then topped with a black bean sauce, chorizo, goat cheese, onions, cilantro and crema. Ray had the San Jose that had 2 eggs, two different kinds of cheese, buttered potatoes, crema and refried black beans. We both left extremely full and content.

4- We finally found the real reason for our slowly leaking tire. We had a screw in it! To think we drove over half of our trip with this problem! It is by the grace of God that we didn’t break down somewhere! We drove it to Costco and they repaired it for…$80 pesos, about $4! I had to check the receipt three times to make sure I was reading it right.

Well friends, I feel like once started I could just go on and on all night. Focusing on gratitude has been shown to lead to better sleep, reduced stress and better relationships. I am definitely feeling its effects on my own stress level. I think I’ll go and make my hubby happy and start on dinner.