Gratitude

"Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God's love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine
influence."
(Bonnie D. Parkin, "Gratitude: A Path to Happiness," Ensign, May 2007, 35)
As I got on the elevator at my Metro stop tonight, I thought how well-designed the area we live in is for our family. It is nothing short of miraculous; I could never have planned it so well. I thought how many times in prayer I asked Heavenly Father to help us find a place that would be good for our family, and to direct us to it since He knows Paris better than we do. Then, as I was flossing my teeth--which is a resolution from a few year's back--I remembered this year's New Year's resolution: to note daily in my journal a way I had seen God's hand in my life. I did really well for about 2 months, but have forgotten for awhile. Then I got on my email and read the quote above, which I saved and try to read daily while I am here. So, in the spirit of these three occurrences, I'm making the following list:

Things that Remind Me of God's Love for Me Here in Paris
1. Our apartment is on the ground floor. I didn't realize how valuable this was until I saw a bike hanging out someone's 3rd floor window, and I thought--how in the world would I get my stroller up stairs, or in one of those tiny apartment-building elevators? Not to mention that there is no one beneath us to hear all the stomping, dropping and yelling we do. And, after being at a friend's apartment this Sunday that was on the 4th floor, and dealing with Warren trying to climb out of windows, or lean out of them and Avery dropping sippy cups down to the courtyard below, I fully appreciate the beauty of the ground floor. Most ground floors here are businesses, and then apartments above it. I am so grateful for the ground floor.
2. We have a yard. Now I knew this was a great find, but it still amazes me how great it is, anyway. It is like having a house much larger than the 400 or so square feet we actually have. When I am going stir crazy trying to finish a meal or clean up, the yard is there! The kids love the smooth gravel that covers it, and they are fascinated by the grassy "meadow" that is next to that. To find a place with a yard is like looking for a needle in a haystack--it takes divine eyes to see it!
3. There is a grocery store directly across the street from our house. It's as close as parking in the front spot of an parking aisle in the states--all without a having to find a parking space! This is fabulous for several reasons: I carry all my groceries home. I still grocery shop a bit like an American, meaning, I buy more food than a reasonable French person will carry home and up stairs. I can do it, though, because I don't have far to walk. Also, fridges are small here--like 3 feet high and maybe 2 feet wide. You have to buy food more often. Hence the convenience of a big (by French standards) supermarche across the street. And there is a really helpful store manager who speaks English well and is very helpful. He's the one who helped me figure out what "whole-grain" is in French: complet. Besides this, there are numerous bakeries--we buy bread daily--on every street corner, which is harder to find in tourist-y areas. I know, because sometimes I plan an excursion and think, "We'll buy bread when we're close," and then I have to walk a few blocks to find a boulangerie. Not here.
4. There is a park about 100 yards down the street. And it's a big park, and a children's park. Especially the first few days when I was a bit paranoid, the park was a reasonable excursion that got us out of the house, but was so easy to get to and didn't cost anything. There are lots of parks in Paris--but generally the children's play areas are much smaller. This park is first and foremost for kids. I couldn't have planned out getting an apartment next door to a great children's park. (I don't worry about the noise my kids make outside in our yard because the park is right next door and just as loud. French culture is not so accomodating of loud people, so the constant din of the park is a real blessing.)
5. We are right at the base of a hill. At first this seems like a problem, and yes, pushing the stroller up it is a good workout. But, this also means that there are SO many steps to get down to the Metro underneath the hill that it is the only line I have been on with an elevator. And not just any elevator, this elevator is huge--it fits like 40 people plus our stroller easily. On the way into the Metro, I roll my stroller in, take the elevator, then have to take 1 flight of stairs to the platform. (There are usually several at any other station.) On the way home, I get off the Metro, walk to the elevator and it takes us all the way to the street--no stairs this time! I had no way of knowing this before I came; there are hundreds of Metro stops in Paris. Getting this one is like an exclamation point at the end of the sentence: God cares about my little life!
6. Our apartment has a piano. I once told Andy, while in the frustrating throes of finding a place to stay, "We'll know that God is telling us that a place is right for us when it has a piano." I was mainly just kidding, but, what do you know? We have a piano.
7. Our stroller has no room to spare on most of the elevators we get on: as in, if it were a half-inch longer, it wouldn't have fit on the airport elevators, the hotel elevators, the handicap accessible elevators on line 14, the Louvre elevators--you get the point. Elevators here are smaller, not nearly as deep as they generally are in the states. How thankful I am that Joovy (stroller company) didn't make the stroller any bigger than it is. The only elevator it doesn't fit on is the one in our friend's apartment building--the elevator is for 3 people and was added in the middle of the spiral staircase built back in the 1800's when the building was built--but we don't need the stroller there and they have a lovely courtyard that you have to pass 2 security features to get into, so I'm not worried about someone taking it.
8. All the nice people who offer to help me carry the stroller up and down the stairs at the other Metro stops.
9. The French ward--congregation--also has an English-speaking Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting due to the number of English-speakers who live here for business and those who come here for vacation. It's wonderful to hear the gospel in your own language, and to meet other people who are in a similar situation.
10. Oh, and the price was at the bare minimum that we expected to spend; I mean, it's still about 6 times as expensive as our house back home per square foot, but it gets the job done!

There are many more things, but these are the most obvious to me, the ones I think about almost daily. My testimony that God hears and answers prayers has been strengthened by the location we have here in Paris. I know He manifests his tender mercy by preparing blessings that I hadn't even thought to ask for, didn't even know to ask for. I know He cares about my life, amidst all the billions of His children.

Total Steps Today: 22,401
Yesterday: 22.114
What we did today:
First, we went to Pere Lachaisse Cemetery. Crazy little chapels over most of the graves. Google it if you want pictures. This is Frederic Chopin's tomb! I love Chopin's music and played it at my senior recital in another lifetime (college, one kid)

Ate chocolate waffles before walking a nice, long walk--which Abigail and Avery napped on--to Luxembourg Gardens.

Detour at this great park along the Seine River to change diapers and play. Warren brought his soccer ball and found 2 welcome playmates easily. You don't have to speak French to make friends if you have a soccer ball.

Look--the view from this park was beautiful--that's Notre Dame in the back.

After this, we met Andy at school, got yummy pitas and paninis from a place close by and walked to Luxembourg Gardens. The play area was closing soon, so we didn't pay to get in, but we did something the kids have been longing to do when they see them in other parks: ride ponies! See a short clip below. After this we played in the sand boxes and then rode the Metro home. It was a lovely day.