Gratitude

So, today was the first official day back for teachers. Let me just say that it did not start well.

Yesterday evening, I walked out of my school to find that my car had a flat tire. What time was it? Just past 7:00, meaning all the tire places were closed. However, by the grace of God, the man at Firestone was still there vacuuming and was nice enough to air it up for me. In the process, he found a nail in the tire. My wonderful roommate picked up a can of Fix-A-Flat for me on her way home, so I'll be able to make it until tomorrow to get my tire fixed.

Anyway, I got up early this morning to use the Fix-A-Flat...not a problem. I just haven't seen this hour of day in quite a while, so I wasn't Little Miss Sunshine when I arrived at school at 7:30. We had to sit with our teams during breakfast which was fine, but then the meeting went downhill fast. Some inappropriate comments were made - as a "joke", the table next to mine thought it was okay to talk during the entire 2.5 hour meeting, and two of my team members found something negative about every presentation/presenter. I must admit that at this point, I seriously began to wonder if a job change/early retirement might be in my near future. But have no fear! I know God is taking care of things and that I am where I am for a reason.

I had lunch with our awesome librarian (who did not marry until she was 37, btw ;)), and we had a GREAT time. Seriously. We had each other cracking up every 5 minutes. In fact, lunch put the day back on track, and I got lots of things done in my room. On the way home, I got to talk to my two previous classroom neighbors, which was great fun, and I also had some heart-to-heart time with my Savior. It was during our chat that God remind me of how faithful he has been and just how much I have to be thankful for. For the last few weeks I have been obsessed with the Nicole Nordeman song "Gratitude". I first heard it at Mary Beth and Michael's wedding - where I thought it was far too long. Sorry, MB. I've since seen the error of my ways. Exerpts from the song with my comments follow...

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
It was raining hard on my drive home.
Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
I have a job that I love despite the bad days. It more than pays my bills, helped me become debt-free, gives me summers off, and provides the opportunity to affect over a hundred lives daily.
So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .
(Chorus)
We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
He is all I need. I have so much to be grateful for.
What about you?