I'm Thankful that I'm NOT....

I met my parents at the airport this week...they just returned from 18 months as missionaries in Russia. Listening to their stories of how poor the people are and how tough it was being in such foreign circumstances and missing their kids and grandkids and having so few of the comforts they are used to...well, it just took me back to my mission and the relief I felt upon being home. Granted, for the first year, I didn't adjust too well, and sometimes, I honestly wanted to be a missionary again. However, once adjusted, I started having nightmares that I was back on my mission. In fact, since mom and dad have been gone, I've had those nightmares come up several times...I'm a missionary again, and I still have a good year to go, and in my dream I'm feeling that heaviness and anxiousness to get this over with because I'm tired and just want to be free again! Then I wake up, and I'm sooooo grateful that I'm not a missionary!

Sometimes, I like to play this little game with myself, and meditate on all of the places I've been in my life and feel gratitude that I am not there anymore. It's kind of fun, and sure makes the present moment seem a lot better!

So, here's a few of the things that I'm grateful I'm not.....
1. I'm grateful that I'm not an angry teenager anymore.
2. I'm grateful I don't have to get up at 5 am to move pipe in the summer, or milk cows, or do anything at that ridiculous hour for that matter.
3. I'm grateful that I'm not trapped in a house with a bawling baby all day while his parents are working in potato harvest, and I've agreed to do this for two weeks! Ahhh!
4. I'm grateful that I'm not abandoned on a quiet road in Costa Rica with 2 friends, 2 dogs, and luggage, and the sun is going down, and I have no cell phone.
5. I'm grateful that I don't have a real 9 to 5 job and have to take a bus ride from Provo to Salt Lake every day.
6. I'm grateful that I'm not in Texas making food for 30 people in a tent in the rain and sleeping in a muggy, cold camper.
7. I'm grateful that I'm not sitting on a bus in Africa with diarrhea. Enough said.

There now, doesn't it feel so much better to be snuggled up with my dog after a chaotic day with the family? Hooray for chaos!