I know that there are a million blogs that have been written in the past week beginning with “I am thankful for…” But most of us do have a lot to be thankful for. And by the fourth day of Thanksgiving break with my family, I desperately need to be reminded that I am thankful for things. Desperately. Before I start shooting my siblings with Nerf guns.
I think that the things I most frequently remember to be thankful for are first-world amenities like indoor plumbing, running water, and air conditioning. And in the winter, I often remember to thank God for heaters, particularly the ones installed in cars. Particularly on days when the temperature is below 20 degrees. It’s incredibly easy to take our living conditions for granted, especially when we live at home and we don’t see the work our parents do to pay for what we have. While my family is not rich, and while we have gone through times when we could barely afford to survive, I have never gone without food or a home. I have been blessed. Yet, with all of my blessings, I forget to be thankful, and I forget that I have never been deprived.
Maybe some people don’t have days when they forget how blessed they are, but I definitely do. I find myself thinking “I have nothing to wear—I need to buy new clothes” as I stand looking at a full closet of seasonally-appropriate clothing choices, all of which are high-quality pieces. Many of my clothes I bought for myself, but some were gifts from people who were kind enough to share their surplus with me. I should be thankful that I always have what I need.
More than that, I should be thankful that I have excess. If I want to go out to dinner with my friends, I have extra money to do so. When I want a new pair of earrings, I can buy a new pair, within reason. I can go to college, purchase textbooks, live in a dorm, and even go on study abroad trips. I have been very blessed.
Not only do I have possessions and opportunities for which I am grateful, I also have people in my life that make me thankful. Even though I resort to shooting my family with Nerf guns occasionally, they’re still family. Not everyone has a family to go home to at Thanksgiving and Christmas; I am happy (sometimes) that I do. I have friends who wait to eat dinner with me so that I don’t have to eat alone, who take me to target when I need to buy post-it notes, and who will drive to Strange Donuts at 11:00 for a late-night snack. And I have a boyfriend who helps me find solutions to my problems, tolerates me when I talk during movies, and doesn’t laugh at me when it’s late and my words don’t make sense anymore. I mean, he laughs a little, but nobody’s perfect.
My blessings are well-rounded. I have enough to cover my basic needs, extra to make me happy, not too much that I’d be spoiled. I’ve been blessed with good health, with a working body, and family and friends who support me when I need help. There are so many people in the world who don’t even know when they’ll eat their next meal. Even in the United States, even in St. Louis, there are families who don’t have homes, people who can’t find jobs, people who can’t pay for their children to have clothes and school supplies, people who don’t have families to take care of them when they’re sick or sad. The least I can do, for everything I have, is say thank-you every once in a while. Even better, I can share what I have with those people who may have less than I do. Who knows? Maybe I can contribute to their blessings.
Have a great rest of your weekend! And good luck on finals!
Tagged as:
#fbuthankful,
family,
Thankful,
Thanksgiving
I am so ready for winter break like you would not believe. I have been stressed probably since week 4 or 5. Luckily I dedicate Thursday nights to go out with friends and unwind. Since I am not from St. Louis it is interesting to go to different places downtown. The experience is great and it is with people I care about. All of this is great in all but I am in need of family time.
My parents are coming down to St. Louis for christmas, so that is the only time I will see them. I’m trying to get an internship or a job or both over winter break. With that I am not going back to Chicago. I am pretty bummed about that but oh well! It is sad that my whole family (besides my parents) live 20 minutes away and I never see them. I hope that changes next semester.
Until next time.
Tagged as:
family
One of the best things about being in a small school is that sense of welcoming warmth everyone experiences from finding supportive friends, no matter where you are from. Ultimately, they become your family. I was amazed at how easy it was to bring two of my “families” together. From my homeland, Justin is a part of my Taiwan family, and he was fortunate enough to meet my”family” here at Fontbonne this weekend.
Justin came to visit me from Ann Arbor, where he studies at the University of Michigan. Justin and I both grew up together in Taiwan, so we have been lifelong friends (I was 7, he was 4, when we first met.) Our homes away from home are very different to Taipei City, and we chewed each other’s ears of trying to describe and outdo each other in who lived in the better city. Of course, I can’t compare Ann Arbor to St. Louis, but the best way to amicably settle the dispute was to visit each other.
It only took us 4 years to actually make it happen.
Wow. I cannot describe how incredible the weekend was, not only because I had one of my best friends with me, but because my friends and family in St. Louis welcomed Justin with more than open arms. Several of my friends went out of their way to meet him or to have dinner with us at Duffy’s. The people I introduced him to at Fontbonne welcomed him so warmly that he was overwhelmed by kindness. To say that he was floored at meeting Dr. Golden (“His hands are HUGE”) and Mrs. Golden is an understatement. He left conversations with Fontbonnies feeling immensely honored and loved.
As for sightseeing, I showed him Forest Park, The Art Museum, the Arch, the Courthouse, Union Station, the Courthouse, the Loop… we missed Ted Drewes though, I bitterly regret, and he attempted to watch UMich vs. Penn State football at OB Clark’s in the middle of the Cardinal’s Playoffs. Should we have gone anywhere else? Let me know so I can take my other friends there!
I was just amazed at how Fontbonne welcomed Justin so warmly into her embrace that I swelled with pride when he said, “I can see why you love this place so much… they go out of their way to love you.”
Indeed. My time at Fontbonne has been incredibly bright, and I am thankful to my family here for making Justin know that he’s an honorary Griffin!
Tagged as:
childhood friends,
family,
Taiwan,
University of Michigan
I have always wanted to be a teacher! Literally since I was 4 years old my goal has never changed. Now I am 25. I have graduated with my BFA (not in education, due to a scholarship), and since then, I have been working on my MAT. Right after my graduation with my BFA, I found a full-time job (unheard of!) and began working during the day, going to school during the evening. It took longer than I hoped, but finally I am in the last few steps!
As all education majors know, the final step is student teaching. In order to do this, I had to quit my job, lose my benefits, move back in with my parents (after 7 years on my own) and take a leap into the unknown! Sadly, I suffer from having severe doubts in myself. No matter what I do, I doubt my ability; I blame the actress in me (did I mention my BFA was in acting?). Unless I have constant applause after each action, I don’t think I did it right.
What made me finally jump? It took me about 1.5 years to finally do it. I pushed it off and pushed it off. However, I truly feel that God had a different plan for me (whether that involved the procrastinating…well…). They found a tumor 2.5 inches large in my Grandmother’s brain this past Thanksgiving. They removed it a few weeks later. After another few weeks, we get the news that it was cancer and a really wicked kind (only a 4% survival rate and about 6 months of life expectancy post diagnosis). She was my rock, my cheerleader through everything, and now I had 6 months left with her. Again, it had to be God’s plan; the cards fell into place, I was able to take off each day from work after 11 a.m. and spend the day with her while my Grandfather and Aunt were at work. I fed her, clothed her, bathed her, did it all! After all, didn’t she do this for me? It was my turn now to take care of her. We had many an afternoon watching Matlock, Reba, Hot in Cleveland… I would read to her… she would tell me stories from her childhood. The best and hardest moments of my life!
Now comes the leap! Or I guess push… Just a few days before she passed, my Grandmother stopped me mid lunch-making and told me to sit down; she wanted to tell me something. She then began to tell me all these things that she wanted me to know for when I would be a teacher. She told me if I had a bad day remember this; if I had a great day remember this, and so on! Everything she could think of she let it all out. I knew it was time. Time to step up and be a grown-up and finally face my future head on… but also time to lose her.
She passed away in June; I began student teaching in August. My students have helped me through it all! From day one I knew she was there with me, through small things a student might say, or happening upon a story I had written as she was telling it. Even after her death she helps me each day by those pieces of advice she left me with. I will leave you with one: “Remember, above all things, never take a kid’s confidence away. Only build it. You never know if you are the only one that does. You never know what they have or where they go after school. The gravest sin you could ever commit is taking away a child’s confidence. That is the key to being a success!”
Tagged as:
Confidence,
Education,
faith,
family,
teaching
