Sharing the sunrise

God always blesses us with another sunrise. I just thought I'd share it with you.

Woe isn't me: How I stop feeling sorry for myself

Sometimes I wonder out loud why I can't just live a normal life. I see other people's lives and watch them as they go camping, fishing, traveling--even activities out in the yard--and I get a little homesick for the days when that was my life.
I can get away fairly frequently for a few hours or a day, but being a caregiver requires its sacrifices. And that means if I camp, I need to find a friend who can go, or go alone. And going alone means leaving Ann alone. Ann had a scary episode two summers ago on our family campout, and is terrified of trying it again. And I don't blame her.
Even around home, in the yard, life is not normal, nor what it used to be.
But that, my friends, is part of life. We aren't put here on this earth just to have a good time. I have the option of feeling sorry for myself, or realizing that I still have it very good. I may have to try a lot harder to find ways to travel, like finding lodgings that have recliners, but at least I have that. And at least I still have the company of my companion for the past 36 years. A lot of people can't say that. I am truly grateful for that.
Life can be hard. It can be a challenge to wake up every morning and wonder how you're going to deal with your day, how you're going to make it through. When I look at my load of work, after I get home from my job for the day, it sometimes seems overwhelming. But I'm glad God has given me the health and strength to do it. Just last weekend, I got sick and it was amazing how much that made things worse. So I'm very grateful for a sound body. Now a sound mind would be nice too, but we  can't have everything.
So, if you're feeling overwhelmed, or down in the dumps, just remember, you've got a lot of blessings too.

Saying what you mean

Have you ever finished a conversation and then minutes after hanging up the phone (I still say that, but who hangs up a cell?) thought of some things you wanted to say, but couldn't think of at the time?


I think all of us have. We have all been part of a two-way conversation in which not all is said that one would want to say, and it is only later that we think of something we wished we'd said, but didn't think of at the time—and then the moment is gone.


We often cannot go back and fill in what we left out.


It's kind of like when you drive past a place that holds memories for you. You can't go back and physically be there again to relive that time in reality. But God gave us memories for a reason. We remember the bad as well as the good, and luckily for me, I remember the good a whole lot better and more frequently than I remember the bad.


There are places I go that trigger a sudden memory of something good. Physically, I'm still in the present, but mentally—my mind can recall my favorite times with amazing clarity. That my friends, is called a blessing.


The same thing holds true for a good conversation with a good friend. And, you never know. You may get a chance to say the things you wanted to say and forgot to say. Not all conversations end permanently.


We've all heard the sad stories of people who wish they'd have told a loved one how much they loved them, and then that person dies and that moment is lost for good.


Most times though, we reunite with those very people with whom we wanted to say more. The moment may be gone forever for saying certain things, but the chance to talk again nearly always happens. And then again, you may find the right moment to say what you should have said, in a conversation minutes, days, or even years before. If you get that chance, take it. If you get the chance to tell someone you love them, take it. It too is a blessing.