Thanksgiving Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful holiday.  I am so blessed and today as I pause to give thanks I wanted to share some of my Thanksgiving thankfulness thoughts with all of you.

I am thankful for:
- My Family!  We are so lucky to be gathered together this holiday weekend.  I am grateful for the joy they bring to my life.  They love me unconditionally and are always there for me.  Of course, in particular I am so grateful for my 3 favorite turkeys - my niece Carly and my nephews Colton and Brady.  They always make me smile and I love their enthusiasm.
- My mom's cooking.  Technically, I suppose this should still be under my family, but I was thinking about all the ways that my mom shows her love for us and her cooking is one example.  We are so spoiled - she takes care of the entire holiday meal each year and I love that we have the same Thanksgiving meal each year.
-  My job.  I am so lucky to have a job that is rewarding, fulfilling, and that never gets boring.  No two days are alike and it is always exciting to see what will happen with each new day.
-  My students.  Let's be honest, the reason I love my job is because I have the best students!  I am so fortunate to be a part of your lives.  The fact that you choose to talk to me during difficult days and include me in your celebration on happy days means far more than you can imagine.  I consider it an honor to work with you and I learn so much from you.
-  The families of my students.  Not only do students welcome me into their lives, but many families do so as well.  The words of encouragement and appreciation mean a great deal.
- My friends.  In some ways I should include my friends as part of my family.  I have many friends, but even more importantly are the small group that make up my "true friends" - those people who I can count on no matter what.  They bring such joy to my life.
-  My coworkers.  I am lucky to work with people who I consider friends.  They listen, support, encourage and believe in me.  I trust them without question and I am a better person and a better counselor because of them.
-  My health.  This year in particular as I have witnessed one of my students struggle through his incredibly courageous battle with cancer I am aware of just how fortunate I am to be blessed with good health.
-  Since I mentioned Grayson in the last item, I have to say that I am thankful that he is (or soon will be) cancer free.  Hopefully he will soon get the wonderful news that his cancer is gone and so I am grateful that he will have beat cancer.  And if he has to continue on in the fight, then I am grateful to know that all of the WKHS students and staff will continue to stand behind him until he is cancer free.  For now though, I am choosing to believe that he has already won the battle and being thankful that his health is returning!  :-)
-  My former students.  There is no way that I can express how much it means to me when former students keep in touch.  E-mails, calls, text messages, or visits when they are home - each are priceless gifts to my heart.  I am so thankful that these students choose to stay in touch even though there is nothing that I can do for them any more.
-  Generosity and compassion in action.  It is so inspiring to see acts of kindness, generosity and compassion being demonstrated in big or small ways.  I love seeing it directed toward those most in need and also appreciate the times when it has been shown to me.
-  Stability.  I am incredibly fortunate to live a stable life.  I have a solid foundation of faith, food on my table, a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in each night.  There are so many people in our world who pray for the things I tend to take for granted.
-  Freedom.  I am so blessed to live in this country and am thankful for all the men and women who have sacrificed so much to maintain our freedom.

Thank you for bearing with me through my lengthy list.  Quite honestly, if I gave you more specifics this list would continue on and on because I am so blessed.  I hope that today you will find time to reflect on what you are grateful for this Thanksgiving.  And, if your life is feeling pretty rough and you don't have much to be thankful for, please know that you are in my prayers and that I hope things will improve.