- My mom was in the hospital and will eventually need part of her intestines removed;
- My oldest caught the stomach flu, again. She also had bloody diarrhea for 3 days last week;
My middle daughter smashed her finger and ended up having to get a whole burned in her nail to release the pressure. Then, in an unrelated minor wound, she bled all over my bathroom, much more than she should of, resulting in a third call to the doctor this week; - A recent business trip left me stranded in airports for 24 hours total, between the trip there and the trip home;
- Our truck got flipped by a tornado while I was on the trip. And I only parked it there because they were painting the parking lot where I normally would park;
- Our water heater broke;
- Our lawn mower broke;
- The lawn mower we borrowed from my BIL broke; and
- our account isn't as happy as I'd like it.
Yes, a lot of crappy stuff. But, then I got three doses of persective, back-to-back:
A dear friend of mine has had her children taken away from DCFS. She took her almost one-year-old to the ER, after she had unexplained bruises show up while at daycare. Child services were called in and, after a couple hours of interviewing the parents, decided to take the three kids away pending investigation. I know this couple. They didn't hurt their children. And now, they are looking at more than a month (or much worse) to fight to get the kids back to them. What is WRONG with our government!
My DH and I drove through the critically damaged areas of our region, where the tornado damage was the worst. We're talking brand-new houses just leveled. Ah, what's a truck. We have our house.
And, sadly, a woman who was inspirational to me has passed away, losing her battle to cancer. She was a breastfeeding consultant at the hospital where our girls were born, and was awesome at it. She was a wonderful person, and just like that, she's gone. And as her battle with cancer ends, another's battle begins. A co-worker's 5-year-old daughter is starting her battle against leukemia. Oh, how I despise cancer with every cell in my body. It takes so many wonderful people away from us, and changes lives in an instant.
Lawn mower, smawn mower....it doesn't matter. It's hard to remember that when life's little details just keep compounding again and again and it gets to be a heavy load. But at least I'm here to carry the load. And my mom's here for me to call and ask advice. And my girls are home for me to hug and kiss and take to the park. And I have a wonderful husband whose holding my hand through it all.
Perspective means changing your point of view. When you're taking pictures, it means getting down lower or getting up higher, or just moving. Maybe when they say we need some perspective, it means we need to try to see our lives from a higher up view. What do our lives look like to someone who is already in heaven? What's really important? And how can we remember to search for that perspective when day-to-day gets so crazy?
