I am thankful for so many things, six of which are...
1. My family.
My husband, our five crazy kids, and our dog, Nova. My parents, my in-laws (all of them). My sisters and nieces. (Yes, we are a girlful family.) My uncles, aunts and cousins. My grandparents (even the memories of the ones who've passed bring me a lot of joy in the now).
Then there are those whom I've adopted into our family -- the closest of dear friends who have meant the world to us: the P's and L's in NH, the S's in MA and the SW's in AZ. You are all more than friends to us... you're family (whether you like it or not!).
2. My friends.
Obviously, the friends that are family, too, listed above. But there are other friends who make life fun and we love getting to know better and better. I'm thankful for all of these individuals and families and the joy they bring to our lives whenever we are together.
Included in this category are also all my blogger friends. I am so honored that you would share something of your lives with me on your own blogs and for those who come and read about my life and share in what we do here. Thank you.
3. My home.
Not well decorated (yet!), walls full of holes and fingerprints and pencil marks that have tried to be erased so we can't tell what was written there (even though we still remember), layered with dog hair and dust, our home is a place that also contains abundant joy of family and school days and good meals and friendships and challenges we've survived and holidays and projects and a whole lot of love. I'm thankful for its shelter and all of the memories we have made here so far.
4. My truck.
Dad would correct me and say that "a Suburban is an SUV," but I've always called it my truck. For one thing, I love trucks. For another, it sure is easier to call it that and to teach the kids to call it that than to have to explain what SUV means. We've had it several years now, owned free and clear and though it has many, many miles on it now and even more rips, stains, and needed repairs, it's been a good truck.
I look forward to the day we can replace it with something cleaner, but I'm in no rush. I believe it's still got a lot of good miles left. It, too, has brought us through good times and bad -- we've traveled with it, we've gone on many field trips with it, we've taxied kids, we've searched for kids, we've grocery shopped and we've hauled both gifts and trash with it.
5. My job.
I'm a mama and wife. I'm a teacher. I'm a nurse, a taxi driver, a secretary, an administrator, a housekeeper, a record-keeper, a photographer, a short-order cook, a style-consultant, a hairdresser, a counselor, a repair woman, an activities coordinator, an events planner, a travel agent, a police officer, a judge and jury, and sometimes, I'm a simple alarm clock -- to name a few of the jobs I do.
There are a lot of roles of responsibility within my job, but I do it all for free. I'm not paid to do this work -- at least not in the traditional sense -- but I consider it a privilege and a joy to be depended on in these capacities. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Though I would enjoy the occasional vacation. Well, maybe in another fifteen years...
6. My faith.
My faith is what makes all this other stuff worth anything at all. Jesus is my rock on which the rest of my life stands. Without Him, without faith, the rest of life would be meaningless. I appreciate the first five things in this six-list because I know that in truth, I have nothing -- it all belongs to God. But for some weird reason, He loves me enough that he entrusts all these things to my care.
Imagine that.
That an awesome responsibility! I'm sure the only way you can manage is by faith.
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