Live Gratefully

     I was thinking about all of you today.  All of you 4th graders, all the parents, all the brothers and sisters.  I think about you all the time, actually.  I even wake up in the middle of the night thinking about you!  That is not a bad thing, though.  You have made such a big impact on my life, you ARE a part of my life, and now I don't get to see you and be with you.  I don't like that.  I don't get to see my kids and my family.  I don't like that.  Jack is far, far away and doing dangerous things.  I REALLY don't like that!  
    When I start thinking like that - - all Negative Nellyish - - I have to stop myself right away!  In order to change my pattern of thoughts, I start thinking of good things.  I try to think of things I can be grateful for in the midst of this illness that has taken over our world.  I am grateful that I have 3 beautiful and healthy children. I love being a mom!  I am grateful that we laughed a lot a school!  Some of our biggest goofs and mistakes made us laugh the most! I love that. I am grateful that we played Snakes so much.  That little, tiny time-filler game will help you with dividing, with fractions and with decimals. I love that. I am grateful that we worked so hard and were so busy learning all year.  I know that you are well prepared and I love that.  I am grateful for all the Masses we had together.  Spending that time together, worshipping God as our own little family, strengthened us for times like these.  I can still close my eyes and hear your beautiful voices singing together!  I really love that! 
  Remember the story of the Israelites in the desert?  God was leading them through some tough things, because He knew that on the other side of those tough times, was an awesome place and time!  The Israelites had seen God do AMAZING things!  They had already experienced His help in getting through other really tough things. Yet, they seemed to totally forget about those things and they worried that He forgot about them.  They saw His care through huge miracles, yet they doubted that He was good.  They complained.  They didn't like how hard it was.  They whined.  They wanted more, more, more.   I don't want to be like that.  I want to thank God for all He has already done in my life.  I want to think about His goodness every day and honor that by doing my best for Him.  AND, I want to thank God ahead of time for whatever this tough time will lead me into.  Because I know for sure that God will bring good from this bad thing. He always does... When this is all done and I look back on my actions, I want to feel proud of how I handled myself (and these tough times).  Let's do this 4th grade!  Let's handle this in a way that we will be proud of when it is over!  I love you all and I miss you!