Of course I cannot sleep after a day like today.
It is 4:00am and husband is sleeping and snoring the night away. Writing seems to be the cure-all for my stress ailment right now. Tropical flavored gushers also make for a tasty cure-all. I'm also finding great comfort in the words of presidents of our church.
"The valleys of discouragement make more beautiful the peaks of achievement"
-President Gordon B. Hinckley
In the panicked eight hours I was biting my nails and glued to our 5-O radio connection, I learned something about myself in this mess. While I was frantically listening to the radio calls hoping I would and wouldn't hear anything about my grandparents' house, it occurred to me that I have many things to be very thankful for. I thought that I was grateful for my blessings before the fire, but now I'm realizing that I actually wasn't. In fact, I was down right oblivious to them. Below is a list of my blessings that I am going to count more often.
I am married to a phenomenal man. I know you're probably thinking that I sound like a broken record right about now, but I say it so often because it really is true. He's more than just a husband; he is my very best friend, my soulmate, and my eternal companion. The entire eight hours in agony over this grass fire, I spent in his arms, while he stroked my hair and comforted me. He is constantly optimistic and few things faze him. He is the best person I know in that he is placid and level-headed, whereas I am absolutely not. I like to think that we balance each other out very well.
My mother, grandmother, and grandfather are blessings as well. They have put up with more from me than good people like them ought to have to. I was an awful, hormonal teenager. Somehow they still love me despite all the hell I gave them in high school. I really regret how I treated all three of them in my adolescent years. I am blessed to be loved by such caring people.
I am also blessed with a sister. Despite all of the hair-pulling, teasing, and crying we've been through together, we are pretty close. Even if she sometimes fails to tell me that she likes a certain boy.
I am grateful for everyone in my life, even if you are not mentioned here.
Please give the blessings in your life an extra hug or a phone call today.
Some people come through your life like a welcome breeze. Such was my experience of meeting Mandy. She came to my house with my visiting teacher who had stopped by to drop off something for me. My visiting teacher thought Mandy would like to see some of my "collections". I refer to it as the weird stuff I"d gathered over the years; butter churns, teapots, coffee grinders, butter molds, hightop baby shoes the list goes on and on. Just as we appreciate those fleeting unexpected spring breezes, I was blessed with a visit from Mandy - what a joy she was. Thank you God for blessing us here in Omaha with Mandy and Paul and keep them safe on their travels.
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