C is for Count Your Blessings not your Problems

Yesterday marked the first day of April, better known to some as "April Fool's Day." For a few weeks now I had suspected Brett would have something up his sleeve for me. So yesterday, I woke up on "high alert" and went into the day prepared for a prank....a prank that never came.

Instead came the news that Brett's work had another round of layoffs. In addition, those who survived the layoff, Brett included, would be taking an immediate pay-cut. Of course I thought this was part of Brett's master plan to trick me, so I went through the day hoping and praying that it was all a joke. Afterall, yesterday was the day we planned to make a decision about a house we had been interested in. Yesterday was the day all our dreams were going to come true! Or so I thought....

I later confirmed that Brett had planned no joke. It had all been orchistrated in my head. (That happens alot with me. I have a vivid imagination. My mind creates quite a bit of imaginary drama. A good imagination works well in some situations....but not this one.)

It's funny how God has a way of putting us right in our place when we need it most. Sometimes the most important lessons in life are very hard to swallow. I had everything so perfectly worked out in my head....until God threw a kink in my plan. How rude! Why did he ruin my plan?

And then I slowed down long enough to think: Hmmm.....What if my plan isn't God's plan? Perhaps he has a better plan! Could it be????

Well of course I know that that is the case!! Obviously, this house, at this time, is not right for us. Does it make my disappointment go away magically? Well no, it doesn't. But do I know that there is a reason for everything that happens? Yes, I do! And I fully believe that if we give it to God, he will make sure that we are blessed far beyond our imagination!

In the mean time should we sit around in wallow in our disappointment? Of course not! I was about to lick the stamps on the invitations to my pity party when Brett gave me quite the wakeup call. I respect him more than ever now because of it - he is very wise! He told me that we can't let this situation get us down. Being upset won't do any good. And he is ABSOLUTELY right.

Character is developed by our reactions to situations in our life. I am proud of Brett's character and how he has dealt with his disappointment. I'm not so proud of my own behavior. I have some work to do. But, I'm lucky to have such a wonderful teacher, who can show me the error of my ways.

I love a good quote - here's two:

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

“We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes, 'Why did this happen to me?' unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way.”

So after a hard day, Brett and I went running and then indulged in a Molten Chocolate Cake - grateful that we have legs to run on and grateful that we have enough money to buy ourselves a treat!

Looking to the future we plan to wait to buy a house, continue to save, and pray for patience. We need to slow down enough to enjoy the life we have now, the things we have now, the people in our lives now. We are truly blessed and we can't lose sight of that! So instead of numberng my problems I will be counting my blessings. I'm not saying it's always easy but I encourage everyone to do it! It could always be worse!