Perpsective...Again

PERSPECTIVE.  The original inspiration and drive for this blog.  While the importance of this idea has been lost many times along the way, I am occasionally reminded if it in such a powerful way that it moves me to write about it or to make an about face in my life.

In the 3^rd Trimester of my pregnancy with our fourth child I have embarrassingly found myself moody, grumpy, unthankful, easily angered, frustrated, quick tempered and just plain not enjoyable.  Why?  Oh because my life is JUST SO HORRIBLE  (insert shameful sarcasm here).

I’ve said this before, but my very worst of days may be the kind of day that some only dream of.  My “big deals” and daily “stressors” are NOTHING in the grand scheme of things.  And quite frankly, I’d like to boldly tell myself, “Get over it!”

In the past couple weeks alone I know people who have laid a child to rest, spent time in and out of the hospitals,  gotten terminal diagnoses for themselves or have been told that they will soon have to watch their child die.

…My stressors are NOTHING when compared to any of that!

I have so very much to be thankful for that I have begun to take for granted.  I should be thanking the good Lord for every breath that my family and I take and for everything that happens between each breath.  (Afterall, somewhere tonight, I’m certain that somebody is wishing that their child could take just one more breath!!)

I’d like to reflect on all of the things that I have to be thanking the Lord for, not to boast or showcase, but mostly as a written reminder to myself….

I have been saved and promised a place in Heaven.  I have a hardworking and faithful husband who really spends time with his kids and helps out wherever he can…who provides for this family beyond our necessities.

We have a nice place to live where we can be together.  We’re warm when it’s cold out and comfortable when it’s hot out.  We have good food to fill our bellies. We have reliable vehicles to get us from place to place. We have warm beds to rest of the night and…we have a family that is still intact!

I have three (Lord Willing, soon to be 4) amazing children.  They are happy.  They are healthy…something I’ve taken for granted far too often and pray continues through the course of their lives. They have amazing qualities that sometimes I wish I would stop being too busy to appreciate….filled with curiosity, love, energy, heart and childhood ‘innocence’ and tenderness that will fade away far too quickly.

Thank you Lord for every single thing that I’ve mentioned and forgive me for anything that I have forgotten, minimized or have taken for granted.  I pray this will be a reminder to myself that each day is a gift…no matter how ‘difficult’ it may seem, may I do more to embrace it with a smile, a good attitude and grace!!