God delivers

Image of the word "PEACE" on the New Orleans City Park Administration Building, part of the decorations for "Celebration in the Oaks".

Just yesterday I posted that I needed a boost, some encouragement, a reason to keep writing.

Today I got that.

I'm training for a ten mile race at the end of January, so I went to City Park to get six miles in. While I was walking, I met a lovely couple from Utah, Tabitha and Paul, who are visiting New Orleans. We chatted for quite a while, with Tabitha telling me multiple times how lucky I am to live in New Orleans.

I hadn't forgotten that, but I wasn't actively grateful either. It used to be that regularly walking along the lakefront with Cecil we would discuss how lucky we were to live in such an amazing place, and have such a beautiful daily walking route.

I posted the last time I walked in City Park, and shared my love of the park and the incredible beauty that can be found there.

But the high from that walk faded. And I forgot how lucky I am.

City Park and New Orleans birthed my stories. The history and culture of this place inspired me to tell stories about it. There is a family in my books named Allard, and that is because City Park is built on land donated for a park by the Allard family.

It has been hard to feel lucky while navigating grief. I realized today that I need to purposefully focus on joy, and on gratitude, and on what I have, instead of what I have lost.

The journey continues. I will have good and bad days. But I am very grateful to God for introducing me to Tabitha and Paul, and using Tabitha to remind me that I am lucky to live in this amazing place.

Now to translate that gratitude into renewed focus on my writing. Wish me luck.