Most Fridays I like to share a practice from Brené Brown called TGIF. In her Friday newsletter she shares something she Trusts, something she’s Grateful for, something Inspiring, and something Fun from the week.
I am inspired by the practice and have been looking for an opportunity for reflection in the space of this blog, so here we go with my #TGIFPractice.
Trust
Penny in the air: my story of becoming affirming by Sarah Bessey
This month is Pride month. And I love a lot of things that have already happened during this year’s pride month (including this Story Corp story).
I really appreciated Sarah Bessey’s vulnerability in sharing this essay. For me, personally, the “question” of whether or not LGBTQ people should be fully included in the church is settled (they should be). I find that I can be impatient and judgmental of people who aren’t where I am on this issue, so I really appreciate people like Sarah Bessey who has the courage to share her journey (even though it includes admitting that she wasn’t always as affirming as she is now).
Every person goes through an evolution of faith and thinking in their lifetime, and the people who are willing to go back and walk alongside those who are still walking on that path is a really beautiful thing to me.
The reason this falls into my “trust bucket” is that I trust that the world really does change one person, one heart, at a time.
Gratitude
Last weekend, I had a lovely first in my life as a parent. My husband took my two daughters on a road trip to a taekwondo tournament and to visit his family. There’s a lot of things I’m grateful for about this. I’m grateful that my daughters got to visit our family while I worked. I’m grateful for the interstate highway system that made the trip possible. I’m grateful that they got to enjoy and explore the community where I grew up. And I’m grateful that the other ‘pieces’ of our family all worked really hard to rendezvous at the same time so that my kids could know their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
Inspiration
Rachel Held Evans’ funeral was last Saturday. Her family generously created space for the online community of people who cared about her work and also mourned her loss to participate by live-streaming the funeral.
This service was one of the most holy things I’ve ever witnessed. The music. The liturgy. The eulogies. The sermon.
I was comforted by this shared experience of grief and mourning, and also inspired by this beautiful moment of church. Church as it can, and I hope as it will be more and more thanks to the life and legacy of Rachel Held Evans.
Fun
As I mentioned, my husband went to a taekwondo tournament last weekend. It was our organization, ATA Martial Arts’ Southeastern District Championship. There, my husband won 1st place in all of his events. I’m really proud of him. But what makes this fun for me is that not only did he win, we had our first student win first place in a black belt division, which means she’ll get to compete for World Champion next month at our annual Tournament of Champions. As a Martial Arts Instructor, it’s a joy to watch students grow, learn and develop personally, but to have a student achieve this high level victory was a joy and so fun!
On the Banks 