Grat.i.tude (n):
After years of health issues, diet restrictions, cutting gluten (most of the time), discovering a lactose intolerance, and healing my body of Cancer with a raw vegan diet - I almost forgot what it was like to be able to order ANYthing off the menu at a restaurant.
Café Gratitude in Kansas City is a 100% organic and vegan restaurant that offers it all: {coffee, shakes, cold pressed juice, wine, beer, mixed drinks, breakfast all day, lunch, dinner, and dessert}.
... AKA we ate like champs.
The best thing about this lovely little restaurant is that you can order almost any comfort food you could wish for like French toast, Alfredo, lasagna, nachos, etc. A lot of the sauces are made from nuts rather than cheeses and the noodles are made from vegetables (probably doesn't sound too tasty to some, but you'd be surprised how good it really is).
We were brought out a sample tray of some pretty serious raw vegan desserts like banana creme pie, strawberry cheesecake, chocolate mousse tarts, and an almond butter Reese's cup. There usually aren't any dessert options for me to choose from when going out, so being able to pick from a tray (full of what would satisfy both my dietary restrictions and my moms sweet tooth) was really fun. We ended up choosing two of the smaller options: a coconut peanut butter clump cookie, and an almond butter chocolate tart, along with some iced coffees.
My favorite part about it all was how every entreé plate asks, "what are you grateful for?" Which really got my mom and I talking..
Today: • I am grateful for this time of pivotal change in my life and to be able to share the beginning of it with such a special person.
•I am grateful for all of you who have joined me on this journey, especially those of you who have supported it even if it doesn't entirely correlate with your belief system.
• I am extremelygrateful for God's amazing grace and His almighty healing power that has rescued me from the fear of death.
• I am grateful for getting to this point of truly feeling what it means to be alive, and to live each day like it could be your last.
Another simple, yet meaningful, piece of gratitude I had today came from true acceptance.
Today was the first time I've worn a strapless dress out somewhere nice in public with my hair back. It seems silly. I never would've thought twice about it before having a port, but it's crazy the amount of random strangers (and even people in my life) who look at my port with uneasy expressions on their faces. I realize most people don't mean to look at it in this way, nor do they probably even know they're doing so, but it happens frequently. It use to make me uneasy as well, very uneasy. But as of lately, I've had a change of heart. I've decided to wear my scars proudly as proof that God heals. I've decided to do ever since I was told something I won't forget,
"Your scars are someone else's hope."
I thought about the advice I would give to someone else in the same situation. And I realized that I would have told them the same thing. I would have told them they should not have any apprehensions about what to wear in order to cover that beautiful battle wound. I would have told them to be proud of who they are and what they fought to become.
I was long overdue for taking my own advice. It takes more energy trying to cover up your flaws than it does to embrace them as apart of the unique and wonderful person you are. And who knows, you might even show someone else that their flaws, scars, and imperfections DO possess beauty - even though they might not see it.
"Shame says because I am flawed I am unacceptable. Grace says that though I am flawed, I
am cherished."
What are you grateful for today?
With love and gratitude,
Jessica Lynn
