However, that is not all I am thankful for. (And, I won't list everything because I don't know that that list would, or should, stop. I will give a few things that I was thankful for over Thanksgiving weekend, though.) I am also thankful for sleep and friends and sleep and kids (other people's) and a break from school.
Let me explain this list of thankfulness. Over Thanksgiving break (Fri-Sun), I helped a friend and her 11-year old daughter babysit two little girls while their parents were gone on our school's outreach.
Now, our babysitting duties began at 4:45am (that's in the morning, folks - I wasn't sure it really existed either) on Friday. Hence, the first thankful for sleep (because I missed out on some).
For those three days I was also very thankful that I was not alone. Who really wants to change that many diapers? And, as much as I love children, it's nice sometimes to let someone else chase them while I watch.
Then, there was nap time. I looked forward to it every one of those days because when they slept, I could, too. That's the second thankful for sleep.
And, these kids were so much fun. They kept me on my toes and rolling with laughter pretty much the whole time. But, watching kids is a tiring job, and, in the words of my 11-year friend at the end of the first day, "We have to do this all again tomorrow." There's the thankfulness for someone else's kids to play with. I got to give them back at the end of the weekend and go home and enjoy the rest of my break from school and some more sleep, of course.
This is written in a somewhat joking manner, but I seriously have so much to be thankful for. God continues to bless me above and beyond what I could ever have asked for. That doesn't mean that life is always easy or that I always get what I want, but it's enough just to know that God is here with me through whatever comes. I'm also thankful that He continues to work on me. Though I don't always enjoy the lessons as I'm going through them, I am glad that He doesn't give up on me.
