COUNT MY BLESSINGS

Went to my son’s choir concert and noticed a name in the program of another student. Seeing the name got me to calling Paulette, an old high school friend, to find out if the student was her niece and she was! Too bad I didn’t see Paulette’s sister at the concert; so many years has passed and there was quite a crowd. At any rate, I did enjoy my phone conversation with Paulette.

Brian and I have been talking to each other as well after 32 years. We were high school sweethearts then. Weve been chatting nearly every day for about two weeks now. It’s been nice to reconnect with him and hear about how his life has turned out and who he has become. I should have held on to him when I was in high school :)

I love the internet. I have been an internet junkie long agon in the days of ARPANET at work. That little modem song when connecting, the keyboard and all the commands to get around – telnet and ftp.

Now I’m connected wirelessly and with mutliple boxes. It’s all GUI now. If I have a question that needs to be answered – how many countries are in Africa and in the world altogether? – I google it for the answer. How cool is that? Even local stuff – I don’t use the yellow pages book – I use the online version.

And shopping? My mom was actually frightened the first time I told her I bought things online. After seeing her reaction, I held off a few months before telling her I bought from an auction site (eBay). Now, online shopping is so common – and so easy!

How far we’ve come over the years.

It’s funny how sometimes you are flooded with a bunch of events/thoughts/people/commercials that all say the same thing. I think it is God speaking to me through my worldly surroundings.

Sometimes I wish He would speak more directly – like He did with Moses and Elijah… but then I probably would freak out and forget everything. Or even worse, faint dead away or pee in my pants. lol

So I have to learn to listen to the small things. Listen to what the world is telling me.

Listen

I love the old shows. I remember when they would be on just once a year, and we’d all look forward to watching it on tv. They had good music and a simple message. Linus even quotes scripture on television!

I had two business trips back to back this month. I miss my kids. I’m so glad I am home with them now.

Geez I love my bed. It’s nothing special – no sleep number system, not a tempurpedic either. Just a pillow top thing. It is thicker than my old mattress, which I attibute to the comfortable feel when I sleep. I splurged and bought some high thread count sheets to go with the quilt I bought at a quilt shop in Branson Missouri. The sheets are cool and yet provide warmth too, how do they do that? I just love quilts; they are beautiful pieces of art and have a good heavy weight to keep me from tossing the covers about. I have satin pillowcases on my little sobokawa pillows. The satin is soft and lets my hair slide without any hair damage. Since I tend to sleep on the edge of a normal size pillow I wind up sleeping on the edge of my space in bed – either on the edge of the bed or in the center of the bed crowding anyone sleeping with me. The small sobokawa pillow keeps me in my space without crowding anyone.

Wow, what a long entry for a silly bed. But it’s my bed and I’m blessed to have it waiting for me each evening.

This silly little game is fun, but more importantly, it is an excuse to get away and be with 11 other women and chat.

I sub’d at a game tonight. Didn’t win a thing, but it was fun.

I can’t remember the last time I went to the bank and had a bank teller to help me. I pay my bills online, I use the ATM, I transfer money all without the help of a real live person. And I can do it anytime, not M-F 9-4. What a blessing it is.

I think of the choices I make each and every day. How lucky I am to be able to choose even the mundane things. I can go to church if I want – I can choose which church too – I can choose where to shop and when. Where I work, what I do with my spare time, etc.

I tell my kids that life is all about choices and how you make them. Those choices determine who you are as a person, what you consider important, how you choose to lead your life. If we lived in a society where we have less choices to make, those choices would certainly have a greater impact. But it’s still all about a choice and what path you have chosen to take.

I’m blessed to be able to make so many choices.

When I was in high school, my speech and drama teacher was Miss James. She was the best teacher I’ve ever had, which is saying a lot because I remember a lot of my teachers and can describe how much they have impacted my life. (hmmm…. another blessing)

Anyways, she made us critique each other’s speeches. She graded them and returned them to the speaker and told us to keep them, read them before every speech and learn from them. I kept most of mine. I put them in a box sitting in the top of my closet.

I’ve added notes and cards from friends and relatives to the box. I added the cards I got from my Walk to Emmaus as well.

From time to time, when I’m feeling low, I will pull out this box and read the handwritten notes. One will tell me how funny I am, I tend to look at the floor too much, I’m a good friend, a great mother, a kooky friend, a loving wife (the ex would probably like to retract that card!), a kind friend.

Those cards can really lift my spirits. Sometimes I read them because I feel like I’m sliding into a depression again. Other times I read them because I miss someone who wrote to me years ago.

After I read the cards and notes, I realize how many people like and love me for being who I am. When I start hating who I am, I pick a card from that box and read it.

I’m grateful to have friends who have taken the time to write that card and note. I’m grateful to Miss James for making us write those critiques too.