It’s Thursday, which means another installment of gratitude. It’s an attitude!
Last week, I flew to Maryland all by myself. That is not an easy thing to do when you have two children that depend on you to be there every moment of every day and night. It is a wonderful, sometimes rewarding, sometimes infuriating full time job. And I had to find people who would not only watch the kids while I was away and Jud was at work, but people that I trusted. When you are given something that is fantastically fragile, highly impressionable and incredibly vulnerable, you have to put it in the right places at the right times to keep it healthy and safe. Which is why I called Jan, Lydia and Sarah.
Jan took the morning duty and dragged her very pregnant self out of bed earlier than she would have had to without my imposition and came over before Jud left for work. She took them to the park. She gave them breakfasts and snacks and played lots and lots of Legos. Then she packed them up and took them to Lydia’s.
If I pretend like it was just Lydia helping out, you would know that wasn’t the case immediately. She has all of these fantastic children there to help and I am sure that they did quite a bit of work to keep my kids entertained. They helped Piper nap. They gave them snacks. They played outside and inside and once again spent tons of time engrossed in Lego creations. They’d been busy all morning completing and administering standardized tests and then they gave up their afternoons to make sure my trip could happen. It was technically a vacation week there, but they sacrificed for our family and shouldered our burden when they didn’t have to.
And as if dog sitting my parents hounds wasn’t enough, or being at her parents’ house to help with my kids in the early afternoon didn’t go out of her way enough, Sarah came over and watched the kids in the evening so that Jud could make his committee meeting too.
Where is the end to the giving? What would these mothers and sisters and young women not do to help their friends? Outside of the realm of legality and spirituality, I have no idea. They love me so well. I hope that they know how much they have blessed me, the kids and Jud as they sacrificed their time, energy and sleep to make our week happen with ease. I couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you. Your loving kindness to our family so clearly reflects the Savior and we are filled with joy.
