Sunday Morning

"Let all that I am praise the Lord;

with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget all the good things He does for me.

He forgives all my sins & heals all my diseases.

He redeems me from death & crowns me with love & tender mercies.

He fills my life with good things.

My youth is renewed like the eagle's!

Psalm 103:1-5

I mentioned in Friday's post that last week had been "one of those weeks."  It seemed to me that if something could go wrong, it did.  I found myself focusing on all these bad things.  Of course when you start to do this there is kind of a domino effect.  I would think about something bad that had just happened.  Then I would remember something bad that happened a few weeks ago.  Before I knew it, I was dwelling on things that happened 30 or more years ago.  

I certainly know better than to dwell on the negative like this.  We all know better than that.  However, sometimes the bad things seem to fall on us as if some unseen entity is sprinkling them out of a big salt shaker.  You can see the person 2 spaces ahead of you in line get a little sprinkling of "salt."  Then it's the next person's turn & they also get a little sprinkling of "salt."  Then it's your turn & uh-oh!  The top of the salt shaker comes off & the "salt" buries you!  

I felt this way last week.  There were the usual health issues, neighbor issues, family issues, yard work/gardening issues, driveway issues, & other issues that kind of revolve in my life like planets around the sun, but this past week they all seemed to jostle for attention at the same time.  Then something in particular happened that my husband & I have been wanting to happen for a long, long time.  This thing should've brought us a lot of joy & in many ways did, but in other ways it brought a lot of heartache.  

In looking back I can see it was a very difficult week filled with many difficult things.  However, I can also see where focusing on these difficult things made me momentarily blind to the many blessings I have.  Blessings such as a roof over my head & walls to protect me from the elements, central air conditioning to keep me comfortable in the miserable heat of summer, plenty of good food in my kitchen with which to nourish myself, clothes to wear, good friends, & an amazing husband who has discovered all my faults over the past 35 years of marriage & loves me anyway.  I have eyes that can see & ears that can hear.  I can walk & talk & go to the bathroom without needing help.  I have an adequate amount of intelligence to get me through life.  I know God.  My sins are forgiven & there is a place prepared for me in heaven when my earthly life ends.

Knowing these things does not make the bad things go away.  It does, however, put them in perspective.