Thankful

I had to report for jury duty last week and as luck would have it I got selected as a juror for a case that lasted FIVE days long.  I was frustrated, annoyed, and slightly panicky wondering what I would do for childcare for so many days as we have never needed someone to watch the kids after school since I was at home.  For the first day I had my husband take a half day off and watch the kids until I came home, but I knew that I couldn’t ask him to do this for the whole week.

So I leaned on the kindness of friends and neighbors to help me.  And after the long week was over I looked back and was awed and overcome with thankfulness of the help and hospitality of those that came so willingly to help.  For a while I had been complaining and discouraged at the fact that I couldn’t find community after living in this area for over ten years.  I was expecting my community to look a specific way here, the same as how it looked in my childhood when I was growing up in the suburbs of DE.  It was only after this past week that I realized I do have real community here and I was just looking for it in all the wrong places when it had been here all along.  I have failed to see just how much God has blessed me with such loyal and caring friends and neighbors who picked up my kids after school, watched my kids, fed my kids, and gave up their afternoons just to care for them while I was at jury duty.  I reached out for help and these friends did not even hesitate to respond and help me out.  And now I can see just how much I care and depend on their friendships not just for this but for being able to share my life with them over the months and years.  And for that I am so very very thankful.