"And then I don't feel so bad..."

I visited Barnes & Noble today.

You have to understand - I love Barnes & Noble. I am pretty sure I could live there: comfy chairs, an in-store Starbucks, books, games, magazines, newspapers, music, movies, journals, really neat bags...

Yup, I could live there.

Believe it or not, I didn't purchase anything today. JFK's memoir caught my eye in the bargain section, a few older movies like Charade looked intriguing, and way too many other things appeared delightful. It was just a nice, relaxing visit.

There's just something so wonderful about that coffee-mixed-with-fresh-books smell. Even holding a tangible copy of a book, flipping through the pages and feeling the friction on your thumb tips, just makes me want to curl up in one of those giant armchairs they have and pore over the words. Giddy, I know.

Then I found it funny that there was actually a section called, "Paranormal Teen Fiction." Oh, and then a separate section called, "New Paranormal Teen Fiction" and all the covers looked the same.

Call me judgmental.

After glancing around and taking note at what books other people in the store held in their hands, I knew that God had made all of us unique. My dad had a John Wooden book he took interest in, my sister was looking for marching band music, and my mom peered and shopped around for Christmas cards. We all have different favorite things we delight in.

God blessed us with spiritual gifts. For example:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." - Ephesians 1:3-6

The passage goes on to describe these blessings more. Pretty neat.

He also blessed us individually with passions and gifts for different things. Someone may have an eye for fashion, another the ability to speak well, someone else a heart for music. We each also find blessings unique to us, through our relationships and the activities and hobbies we enjoy.

Like bookstores.

While we were at B&N, they were playing The Sound of Music soundtrack and "My Favorite Things" played. I realized I was surrounded by a lot of them. Here are a few of my favorite things:

1. Photographs
2. Snapple peach tea
3. Coffee
4. TOMS shoes
5. Red velvet cake
6. Art
7. The Beatles
8. Baseball
9. Books
10. Puppies (especially my own)

I found it easy to be thankful even for these "little" things. It's the simple things in life sometimes. Elaboration was created by God and I'm okay with that.

On a side note...there are some decisions I have to make and pursue further pretty soon. If you're the praying sort, please pray. Money can't buy me love, but it could sure help with summer opportunities.

Pacem.