Counting Our Blessings

Just when I think I have something to complain about...someone has to show off and have a worse situation than mine. Man! This week has been full of hard things. My daughter was diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday. It all started with strep...but when you are asthmatic everything seems to go right into the chest. So we are battling that but thankfully we have been able to stay at home. Losing my grandmother was another big deal this week but I know she is much better off now so that is good. In addition, several people we know have been at a funeral today for a young, healthy mom who just happened to get pneumonia and everything went wrong. Now today to top it all off, I found out that one of my friends has thyroid cancer...an aggressive kind. However, they did find it early so the doctors say that is a good thing.

Here is what I have taken from this week so far. Number one, things can turn on a dime. Number two, don't ever take anything for granted. Number three, life is precious so let's enjoy it while we're here. Oh yeah, and the last thing is that I don't have anything to complain about. I want to count my blessings and focus on being thankful. Especially for the little things like... being able to hug my daughter, or watching my puppy be a stinker, or hearing my husband's infectious laugh. These are all good things that I get every day. The hard part is to be thankful even when times are hard and things aren't going my way. That is where the real growth comes in unfortunately. And I have been there more times than I personally thought necessary! But the Bible says "in this life you WILL have trouble", not "in this life you MIGHT have trouble". So we all have to just hold on tight and make every day count.

Grandma Hazel

My grandma Hazel passed away yesterday. She was 95 years old. I've seen pictures of her when she was young and she and I could have been twins. I look more like her than my mom or my dad. My grandmother was a hard worker and she loved to work. She didn't sit still for very long unless it was time for her afternoon nap. Her house was always immaculate and that is how she lived her life. What I appreciate about her was the fact that she would play with me even if it meant getting in the dirt. Also when I was learning to sew as a freshman in college at Lubbock, I would drive up to see her a few times and she would help me with whatever I was working on at the time. I kept the first outfit she helped me make because I am very sentimental, and it brings back a good memory. Another thing that we all appreciated about Grandmother Hazel was her amazing baking abilities. She is famous for the best Italian cream cake in the world. Also her pies...oh her pies!!! Perfection every time. She was a gardener and she would can her green beans. It was a treat if you got to have a jar of her green beans at the table. She and Papaw had the gift of hospitality. There were always people eating at their house on any given Sunday. In addition, my grandparents both had a love for the Word of God. Every day they spent time studying their Bible. That is a great legacy to leave. Mamaw, I know you are with Jesus right now having the time of your life. Please know that we all love you and that we will see you when we get there.

Wendell McWeiner

Wendell McWeiner was my sweet little Christmas present. The only problem now is that he is TROUBLE!!! This little guy has become quite a toot in our home. He is always in the middle of a shenanigan of some sort! He provokes people and our other dog, Jake, and tries to get things stirred up any chance he gets. Wendell is always looking for action and if there isn't any he will make it happen. I love dachshunds and we always had them growing up. But I do believe that this little guy takes the cake on being the stinker of them all. Good thing he's cute!

Changes

I started blogging last year and as you can see from my previous post...which are only two total...I really stuck with it. Well here I am again. Hopefully more blogs than just 2 a year this time.

Ok so today we got up thinking we were going to church...then, bam! Fever alert! Allie had a fever. We have missed services at our new church for the last 2 Sundays and I was all geared up to go. Sadly we took her to the doctor and she's got strep. This is after I told the lab tech, "She's never had strep...she just doesn't seem to get that" A few minutes later came the announcement. So much for me having that all figured out.

Sometimes I am not very good at changing gears when things like that come up. I was excited to go to church this morning and to see friends and new "family", but that would not happen. Instead I spent my day in the doctor's office, the pharmacy, the grocery store, etc. Now it's time to gear up for 140 teenagers tomorrow morning. Thankfully I have my sweet husband who is also a great dad, staying home with her tomorrow so that I don't have to get another sub. This has been a weird year for sickness in our family and at our school. I'm praying for God's grace and healing on our sweet girl tomorrow...she'll be in good hands with her daddy.