"Thanks for Listening"

I didn't start thinking about my thanksgiving list much until after Thanksgiving Day this year. In my head I kept thinking, "I need to sit down and write a list of everything this year that I am thankful for." My thoughts didn't make it past my head and onto paper, or in this case, the computer. So, I am writing it now. I have already mentioned in previous blogs that this is one of my toughest years ever as a school counselor. There is much happening in the lives of people, families, kids, and the world.
I actually came back to school on Monday a little melancholy, thinking as I was supervising in the loud, boisterous cafeteria, that maybe I wasn't cut out to be a middle school counselor. Maybe I should think about doing something else in the near future. It just seemed like middle school kids get annoying with their pestering habits, and was I really making ANY difference with ANY of them?
Well, funny thing. About as soon as I got back to my office from lunch, a student came in and asked to speak with me. It was a boy, and boys rarely take any initiative in even getting close to the guidance counselor's office unless sent for. We talked, and I found out some interesting things about this student, and discovered he was carrying a heavy load of worry in his mind about his family. The next day, he came back again, and I was pretty shocked that he would want to come back and talk to me 2 days in a row! He wasn't a behavior problem at all, he wasn't falling apart, he just needed to talk. As he left, I said, "Thanks for coming and sharing with me. I'm sure that took a lot of courage. Sometimes it's good to get things off your chest." And he said, "Thanks for listening." Wow, thank you Lord for giving me a middle schooler to talk to right when I thought I wasn't needed! So, my Thanksgiving list? 1. Middle School students who need someone to listen to them.