Some days you just know how lucky you are

This message was edited Wednesday, Aug 1st 4:35 AM

hey jewel, great story! Sometimes we overlook the best things that we should be thankful for!

Sometimes a serious thought puts our lives in balance.
Thank you for sharing.
ICE

Jewel, I can relate to your day. A few years ago, while DH was in Europe and the sitter was on vacation, we had to put our 7 year old family dog to sleep - big bummer for everybody. I decided to take the kids to a waterpark one evening to cheer up everybody. On the way to the waterpark, the car started overheating. We pulled in a WalMart, and their Tire/Battery department doesn't do radiator repair, and they were ready to close for the evening. But the two guys working saw our plight and were kind enough to add water and antifreeze and keep an eye on it until the temperature dropped back down, which took a couple hours. We were bored silly, but at least we were indoors where it was nice and cool. We drove it home without incident, and the next day found out the water pump was busted. The guys at the shop were amazed when I told them how we made it home - about 15 miles - after leaving WalMart, they said it should have overheated almost immediately. And if you've ever had a water pump go bad, the car will only go so far and then that's it.

The kids and I talked about it several times that week, and realized the good Lord was watching out for us and gave us people along the way to help......we never did make it to the waterpark, but I think we all got a better perspective on life!

http://davesgarden.com/showthread/18845.html This is good thread about - "How lucky we are"

8 years ago, on June 3, i will have been disabled with a serious chronic pain illness. my daily pain average is a 6 or 7 on a scale of 10. this is a miracle however, because only 2 years ago i was able to go on an experimental medication program, that the insurance company would not cover, but my husbands company's CEO said...i want Leo's wife to have every chance possible. he didn't know me, but had made a decision, that life had been good to him, and he wanted to return that to others now that he was in the position to do so. so god blessed me manyfold.

i can actually say today that i am grateful for the chronic illness i have. would i rather not have it? sure but i have learned so many important lessons from it. i have learned my true self worth, only comes from within, not from what "i do". it has brought me closer to god, my friends, husband and others i've met on the computer. i can have a day where i only sit in the chair and watch the squirrels frolic, read a good book and listen to the birds and i've a smile on my face. when you slow down to see gods blessings all around you your problems really do seem insignificant.

a friend once said to me, if there were a group of people sitting in a circle, every one put in there worst problem they wish they didn't have, went around the table and listened to everyone, at the end of the time you had to take one of those problems, you inevitably take back your own. :-)

thank you for starting this thread it does my heart good to hear of peoples ability to find the positive in life, despite the pitfalls. :-)

and the best part of all...........i'm able to garden. i never gardened before, but when i was blessed with this extra energy, i chose to try to grow the flowers, i had only painted before. with god's help, the blessing of finding this website, the wonderful people here that guide me, when they may not even know it, and my dh's unwavering support, i'm able to realize a green thumb, when i thought it was brown. and not from dirt :-)
god bless you all
debi z

There but for the grace of God go I. Words that have been said over and over and words that come easily to my lips on so many occasions. I had a similar experience to go-vols. We had been staying in a hotel overnight with our 3 cats and in the morning hubbie filled the van up with gas. We all piled into the van and the smell of gas was quite strong, but I put it down to the fact that the tank had just been filled up and maybe some had spilt. I asked DH what he thought and he wasn't too concerned - the van was quite old after all. It was such a hot day in August and we had only travelled about 5 miles when the smell started to get stronger. I have asthma and I wasn't very happy about the situation. We opened the windows but the heat was too intense and by this time one of my pets was also being affected. There wasn't a gas station in site. I started to pray and pray very hard that somehow we find a garage and a vet. I was feeling ill, but my main concern was the cat. About 5 minutes later we saw the services sign at the side of the road. We pulled off the interstate and into the town and the first thing we saw was a vet and a garage almost side by side. I knew my prayer had been answered. The girls in the vet's office were wonderful and the vet looked over my cats to make sure they were OK. It was so lovely and cool - the cats were given water and they soon seemed more comfortable. My husband meantime had taken the van to the garage. He was gone for about an hour. He picked us up and then I found out what the trouble had been. The main gas pipe was cracked and leaking!!!! I don't know how serious this might have been and I guess I didn't really want to know. But what I did know was that I was so glad to get home with my animals safe and sound and I have no doubt in my mind who had been watching over us. Another time I was about to have an operation on a calcified disc in my back. A friend suggested this healer friend of hers. I was very sceptical but agreed to the hands-on healer. It was a weird feeling. The healer's hands were so hot she had to keep running them under water. After about 10 mins I told her I wanted to stop - I felt very uncomfortable. But, I never did have that operation and I never used the wheelchair again. I try not to sweat the small stuff now, but it isn't always easy. But I am thankful for all my blessings.

And to echo everything that has been said on this thread, I would ask you to read the new thread from Paulgrow.

Many years ago, bringing my eldest to school, with three other children in the car under school-age and one only 10 weeks - the car seemed not to want to go - then a four-wheel drive approached and the driver drew up, rolled up his window and said quietly - ' get out, you're on fire!' I'll never forget the panic of those moments - we all got out and ran back up the road - the car engine (a Volkswagon) was on fire (it wa at the back and that's why I didn't see it). The guy who stopped me was the Leader of the local Civil Defence and had all the necessary extinguishers with him - besides this - the car had stalled right beside a big pile of builde's sand left on the roadway where someone was repairing a wall - a never-to-be forgotten experience but I know someone was looking-out for us that day.
A friend who was a fireman, in uniform and on way to work, was stopped at trafficc lights when a car stopped facing him went on fire suddenly. He leaped out of the van with his fire extinguisher and was there putting the fire out in a second. The amazed driver said - well, I'll never compalain about the length it takes you fellows to arrive, ever again!

Talk about grateful...20 years ago I broke my back in a motorcycle accident and couldn't walk for three years. gradually I went to a walker and then a cane. i am grateful for every step i take and all that i am able to do. Sometimes I trully believe that adversity makes us stronger and far more appreciative of the little pleasures that God puts forth for us..his children
Sandy

Last night someone used this story http://www.aspecialplace.net/InspirationCorner/is_your_hut_burning.htm as the basis for a short devotional lesson. Bottom line: attitude is everything. That's something that I have to reinforce with myself every day.

GoVols
We used that story for devotion too.
In October 1989, I was the main grower at a large greenhouse operation. I usually didn't work on Saturday. My boss told me I "had" to work the following Saturday. I was angry, I had planned a trip with my husband out of town. He left early in the morning, around 2 am. At 6 am I received a call from a hospital in a town a hundred miles away. He had been in a serious accident. I drove to the hospital to see him before they put him in Lifestar to take him to a trauma center in Chatanooga. He had been driving a Ford van and was hit by a drunk driver head on. The passenger seat of the van now held the engine. The firemen said I would have been killed if I had been sitting there.
My boss later told me he didn't need me to work that Saturday, something just told him to make me stay home.
My husband wasn't killed, just hurt really bad. The driver had passed out and hit at an angle, missing the drivers side. The passenger side took most of the hit.
I am still thankful that my boss was obedient to God's leading and kept me safe.
Calalily

Wow, Cala - there sure are some things in life that don't make sense until we look back, huh?

Wow, ya'll are an inspiration!

Being a military wife, with DH (Dear Husband) away lots, it's hard when he comes home, and with his own friends...

He had tracked down and contacted one of his few female friends (read loud grrring here) and invited her to one of our group events labeled Scoot & Shoot. We are a large varied interest motorcycling group, NO brand name stigma PLEASE, and several of us are markspersons. So we combine the two for the above named.

I was already not so happy to meet and greet graciously this 100 lb blond, but a friend is a friend (after 18 years I KNOW this). We headed for the gun range in East Hesus, and a good time was had by all. The fun (for some) here is that most members have more than one firearm and tend to bring all with ammo and share. So whether you can afford a Mac9 or a black powder gun you have the experience and enjoyment of subject. (Also give some credit to responsible adults who fully utilize and enjoy gun safes, locks and responsible messures including a Range Master [actually two, on any ride DH is involved in]).

I was enjoying the end of the S&S which involves clean up, when I walked down a hill I had traversed half a dozen times and my feet went out from under me. I sat down on my ankle then proceeded to roll. I KNEW when I came to a stop that things were bad... DH's friend was the only person (female or not) that thought about what I must be going through. Being a sailor herself, she applied thought to cause, action, and result and provided comfort and common sense till they managed to get me in the car. We had invited her, provided her transport, so needed to get her home. California law is unique on some issues of transport and storage. Transport of firearms said we could go to and from show/purchase/repair events but not stop for a Coke at 7/11 with, so after settling her, we needed to go home and store firearms.

In the meantime we called the local military facility to ensure they did Xrays, casts, and could see us soon, etc. When we got there I had forgotten the major fact that my military ID had been expired for four months. DH and DS(Dear Son) still had valid ID's but I was ... exempt. By this time my ankle was the size of small cantaloup, forget walking on it, and they said to the red, shaking man "sir, we're sorry, you will have to take her to the main Navy hospital" (20 miles away). Well to add insult to injury being an insulin dependant diabetic, it was past my lunch time and things could get ugly soon... We popped by BK for $.99 Whoopers and headed for the hospital. Unbeknownst to me, while in line at BK the temp gauge on the car started to climb.

We were at the bottom of the last hill when the car started dying. Hottest day of the year so far, who would'a thunk it in APRIL? That hill is a looooooooonnnngg one, before we reached the top the tension in the car had my son telling his dad to be mindfull he was going to get out and PUSH! We managed to make it to the top, but wiser heads had decided that the Navy Hospital needed a new parking lot... so not even a place to pull over to fetch a wheelchair. Finally at Emergency they took one look and said Go To XRay...DH called nearest friend to tell him of the seal he was sure we had blown, would you pick up part, yeah ankle's broke, we'll be here, oh water too... The first Xray confirmed three breaks, and while the guys spent hours on the car in the lot they could never know that we had cracked the block on a perfectly wonderful car because the water pump decided to go out on the hottest day of the year.

Well a first broken bone at 38 is not a sentence, but I live in a two story house. My bed and the bath are upstairs. Function and sq footage require the placement of my bed combine one cast which totally altered long held sleeping arrangments. I was banished to the Hide-A-Bed downstairs and my pillow was adopted by the Siamese. By the time it was all said, I had four broken bones, (tripping over rotten siamese!) and they wouldn't give me a walking cast or let me out under four months... Not to mention all the weight I gained on DH's (and Son)'s Cooking. But being a first broken bone, coulda been much worse. 'Learning to Use Crutches' is a whole nother post!

All I can think about is if anyone of these things happened out of order from the way they did...

Thanks for hanging in there for a real rambler...

Cena

Hey Cena,
Sorry to hear about the chain of events! I certainly have a sympathetic ear, as I broke 2 bones in my foot moving into a new house 3 years ago. Same thing - they wouldn't put me in a walking cast and my bed and bath were on the second floor. Worst part was, I couldn't unpack all those boxes for 7 weeks! Then when it was time to finally get my cast off, the doctor had an emergency and had to postpone my appointment. Well, I took a pliers, wrench, hammer and started to break the thing off myself. Seemed like an eternity then, now I hardly remember it unless it rains!
Cindy

This message was edited Saturday, May 26th 7:39 AM