Giving Thanks Day 5: Thankful for....nothing?

A couple of years ago, one of my Classical Conversations Challenge students stumped me with this riddle:

It's more powerful than God. 
It's more evil than the Devil. 
The poor have it. 
The rich need it. 
If you eat it you will die. 

The answer? "Nothing."

I remembered this riddle the other day in French class. My teacher usually begins each morning by asking a few of us to tell her what we did yesterday (the purpose is to have us practice the "passé  composé" verb tense). Typical responses might be: "I shopped with my friends" or "I jogged in the park." The other day, though, someone simply answered "Rien," the French word for "nothing." We all had a laugh, but I have to admit, I was envious of his answer. It had been a long time since I did, well, nothing! My days since arriving in France have been packed full with activity. Normally I don't mind. I love being busy, and I'm admittedly a "list-maker." There's nothing more satisfying to me than checking off a long list of to-do's. But even a type-A driver has her limits. I longed for a day to simply do nothing, and today, I finally got my wish!

Today has been a blissfully lazy Saturday. No appointments to keep. No agenda to maintain. No shopping to do. Just a blank white space on the calendar. Pure joy!

So today, while I remain thankful to God for everything, I'm also thankful to Him for "nothing."