This time of year, it seems as if we can’t go anywhere or do anything without seeing a post about gratitude. And, while my inner-cynic wants to criticize those around me for failing to engage in every-day gratitude, there is something special about a time of year when the collective spirit points toward thanksgiving. And so, it is in that spirit that I put my cynicism aside and share in thanksgiving.
At the beginning of June my wife and I became foster parents to a 17-year-old and then at the end of June to a 14-year-old. We thought life was busy before then. Boy were we wrong. In just six months our life has completely changed. For a while I thought that I ought to just quit all other work and become a Lyft driver, since most of my life was spent transporting our kids from place to place. At times I’ve been so overwhelmed with how under qualified I am for the task of caring for these two kids who are beautiful and wonderful and have been through so much. But in this season of gratitude, when I look at my life now and my life six months ago, my heart is full to bursting with the joy and fun and love they bring.
Yesterday our foster daughter asked for a ride home from the train station (again, I could just be a full-time Lyft driver). I pulled up, she opened the door and said, “Thank you, Mama. It’s cold.” Our foster son wrote us a note yesterday saying that he knows he’s not always easy to deal with, but he feels so lucky to be a part of our family. What they don’t know is that we are the lucky ones—the ones who get the opportunity to live life with them, love them and be loved by them.
What a gift to have our beautiful, weird little family in downtown Mountain View. What a gift for them to get to come to Front Porch and experience, at times, the very best of what it looks like to live in authentic community.
Happy Thanksgiving to you. May you find gratitude filling your heart to overflowing.
In Community,
Sam