From Shaunti, with Gratitude

When I saw the Thanksgiving blog post from my staff, it was Thanksgiving evening, and I was celebrating the holiday with my husband’s extended family in Michigan.  I pulled up the site and read this post on my phone, and I’m sure Jeff’s family thought I was totally nuts, because all of a sudden I had these big tears leaking down my face.  I could not stop crying for several minutes. Even writing this comment, I feel the tears prickling my eyes again, out of sheer, overwhelming gratitude.

When I saw the Thanksgiving blog post from my staff, it was Thanksgiving evening, and I was celebrating the holiday with my husband’s extended family in Michigan.  I pulled up the site and read this post on my phone, and I’m sure Jeff’s family thought I was totally nuts, because all of a sudden I had these big tears leaking down my face.  I could not stop crying for several minutes. Even writing this post, I feel the tears prickling my eyes again, out of sheer, overwhelming gratitude.

I cannot tell you how incredibly thankful I am for this wonderful team of women who work so hard to support me and this ministry and this message.  Both these staff members and the many others who work diligently as contractors on various projects — and all of them hard workers, caring, excellent at what they do, and so very supportive.  I’m aware, every day, of just how much I could not do what I do, without these amazing people.  Life is already so hectic, and the reason I am able to carve out good time with my kids, and still be the wife and mom I want to be, is because these other women give up their time and talent to be fully invested in helping me and moving this message forward.

I cannot tell you how often I have gotten an 11:37 pm email from Linda, thinking through the latest conundrum we face — and then taking the solution onto herself for another series of late nights, so that I can spend the evenings with my kids.

I cannot tell you how often I have gotten 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. emails from Cathy, or Karen, up working early so they can get a few important tasks accomplished before getting their own kids going for the day.

I cannot tell you how often Theresa has dropped whatever she was doing over the weekend to take my call and help me, when I’m out traveling and speaking somewhere and have gotten into a jam or encountered some thorny issue that has to be addressed before I can get where I’m going, or before I can go onstage.

My friend Sally Hendry, a single mom who worked for us for a year before stepping back to rejoice in a new relationship, plan her wedding and get married, has come to the rescue many times.  My research assistant Tally Whitehead constantly fields confusing questions requiring her to do dozens of interviews and dig into complex research studies.  Research specialist Jenny Reynolds, who has a full time counseling practice but somehow also makes all the time needed to research the complexities of brain science as I write my books.  My friend and writing specialist Julie Fidler has many times tackled complex writing jobs for me even while juggling her own.   I could go on and on.

On this Thanksgiving week, I’m immensely grateful not only for my own family, but for this second family I’ve been given who so eagerly and willingly put themselves out there to be a part of what God is doing in people’s lives and relationships.  I don’t tell you this often enough: but every day, multiple times a day, I thank God for you.