Thankful Thursday ~ Family

Happy Thursday! The work week is almost over!

This week's Thankful Thursday post is a bit more serious because I've had a lot on my mind.  It has been a bit of a whirlwind for me for the past week or ten days or so, mostly pertaining to school. I think I'm suffering from a bit of compassion fatigue relating to a family that I work with and some things that have been going on with them. I can't seem to get this one student and her family out of my head. Typically, I have really excellent detachment-- I can leave my work at work-- but for some reason, I'm really being bothered by this case right now.

The situation with this kid has really got me thinking a lot about my family and how thankful and lucky I am to be family with some pretty amazing people. People who have helped shape the person I am today, and the person I continually strive to be. I am so thankful to have grown up in a good home with family I can trust and who are supportive, to this day, of everything I do. I am humbled by the acceptance and embrace my new, married family has shown me over the years I've been in the picture here. Lastly, I'm undeniably, lastingly grateful to have such a fantastic husband in Jeff, to whom I can go to when emotional stress from my job mounts to higher-than-preferred levels, and who helps me to not take life or myself too seriously.

Family is everything.

Nephew Brandon. :)

Me, Jeff, and Carol, from a bike ride last summer. 

And really, in thinking about the struggles that my job provides, it's still really always about finding and highlighting the virtues that each kid we work with presents. Even though some days are hard and some kids can be challenging, I truly believe that each of them has something great to offer, whether they've realized it yet or not. That's what I need to be better at latching on to when it is a rough week or a rough day.

Image Source: The Virtues Project.

Thanks to everyone who continues to read my blog, and reads my Thankful Thursday posts. Christy from My Dirt Road Anthem is the winner of a sheet of Be Grateful stickers from last week's giveaway. Christy, I'll get you your stickers at the Chico conference in a few weeks! Readers, if you have a moment to check out Christy's blog, do so! She writes mostly about running and fitness and doing so in rural Montana. Pretty good stuff!

This weekend, Jeff and I are headed to Bozeman to see his sister and her husband and our new nephew, Brandon! Yes, I'm extremely grateful and thankful for these three people, too! Can't wait to see how the little guy has grown and changed! We also plan to get in a little bit more skiing, hitting up Showdown on the way to Bozeman and then Bridger Bowl on Saturday. Sooooo looking forward to an amazing weekend!

To leave everyone with a quote for the week, I'm going to be using this quote as my mantra while shredding the freshies on the mountain this weekend (because I actually do need to work on my assertiveness on skis!)---

"I am deliberate and afraid of nothing." - Audre Lorde