Saying Thanks

Helping chaperone a field trip to England with 60+ kids is exhausting. After getting dropped off at our host family for the evening I'd often just eat and go straight to bed, even if it was only 8:30pm (I'm normally a night owl). Helping herd them through London was one of the most stressful things I've done in a long time! It was a good trip, but it took a lot of planning and a lot of energy. My husband did it all and shouldered the responsibility for everything, including caring for the sick and lost (needless to say he crashed early every night as well!). I was so proud of him.

Imagine how sweet it was to hear one of the kids grab the microphone on our bus, shortly before arriving home, to tell him thanks for everything, to present a card they had all purchased and signed, and a cool coffee tin they'd bought. The tin was loaded with all their leftover change so he could support his cafe & coffee habit. I love that they thought of this on their own and pulled it off so well!

This is the season of Erntedankfest, the German Thanksgiving. It comes a little earlier than the American holiday I grew up celebrating, but I like having two big reminders to be thankful. We all have so much to be thankful for, right? I was going to ask you to tell me what you're thankful for in the comments, but I'd rather challenge you to go say or do something to show an individual or organization you're thankful for who they are and/or what they do -so go hop to it! =)