Count Your Many Blessings

As a follow up to my previous post I wanted to take time out of each day to remember that even during the sometimes negative parts of my day/life, God is at work.  Below are ways which I took something negative and tried to see the positive.  This exercise was a really great way for me to become more aware of how many negative thoughts I have throughout the day and try to channel them into something more positive.  Though I did this daily, I realized that this post was going to be WAY too long so I decided to leave a few days out. :)

11/28 – Jason had knee surgery so we can't really go out which meant we had to miss church and small group.  The blessing is that we got to spend all day in bed together watching Supernatural and just enjoying each other’s company.

11/29 – Had a very stressful morning at work.  Though I had a very stressful morning, I was able to knock out all of the stressful items and be much more productive in the afternoon.

11/30 – Today I was on my way to lunch and was behind someone driving 10mph and at times even stopping completely to turn.  I was getting so frustrated and angry.  When I got out at the restaurant I noticed that the car in front on me held a cute little old lady and her husband.  What a blessing it was to see them together.  He dropped her off in the front and she waited for him at the door before going inside.  I imagined that they have been together for many years and this changed my attitude immediately.  Once I got inside I ran into an old friend who now lives out of town and we had lunch together.  Had the elderly man in the truck gone faster I might have arrived sooner and missed my friend.

12/1 – Today I had to wait patiently for an answer on something from someone at work.  It wasn’t really too hard to do since I didn’t feel impatient about it but I knew that it was important and a high priority so I took it very seriously.  Because I worked with my supervisor to resolve the issue and stayed clam, it was recognized.  I just happened to be told I was going to be given the associate of the month award for CS in the same day and that after the work I had done over the past two days it was well deserved. 

12/2 – So I had a difficult time coming up with something which I felt negative towards today because it was my birthday and it was great!  So I thought I’d look back at something I used to complain about growing up.  Ever since I can remember on my birthday, my Mom and Dad have woken me up at 6 am to sing the loudest and most off key version of happy birthday in the world.  When I was younger I would complain and get angry that they woke me up so early and with something so awful sounding.  After complaining year after year my parents decided not to sing to me anymore.  When I woke up one birthday morning to discover that it was daylight outside and I had not been awoken by my birthday song I was devastated.  I called my parents upset and they were surprised by my reaction. They never missed another birthday song again and to this day I still get my birthday song, although it is usually through a phone call since I no longer live with them.  I’m so blessed to have such an awesome family tradition.

12/3 – Today I complained about the cold.  I hate the cold because it makes me tense my muscles and hurts my neck and back.  The cold however is a blessing because my utility bill goes down by 2/3.  Another great thing to come from cold weather is tulips!

12/4 – Today I came home to find Jason staining the doors in our bedroom.  We’ve been meaning to do it since July and haven’t gotten around to it.  When I took a look at the carpet I noticed Jason had dripped stain all over the carpet.  I was not very happy.  We are however blessed to be able to afford to do renovations and I am blessed to have a husband who is willing to take the initiative to do work around the house without me asking.

12/5 – Today I listened to friends talk about how they wouldn't want members of their own family around when the day came for them to give birth.  They talked about how certain members of their families think more about themselves than anyone else and that if an event revolves around someone other than themselves, they get upset.  Though my family can sometimes be frustrating, I know that they would never make something like a wedding/baby being born etc, about themselves and would be very understanding of my wishes.

12/8 – I felt annoyed that Jason had to work late because we had some things we wanted to discuss about finances and future plans.  When I got home I found our new living room furniture completely set up!  Because Jason had to work late he got to take a longer lunch and went to set everything up at the hose to surprise me when I got home.

12/9 – Jason and I got in a small disagreement about how to handle a certain situation.  I was frustrated and couldn’t understand why he reacted the way he did.  The blessing that came out of it was that he was able to take some time to explain the way he felt.  It helped me to understand more about him. Marriage is always a learning process J

12/12 – Went to Petsmart and was annoyed that for the billionth time no one was there to help me get crickets.  The positive side to this trip to Petsmart was that when I was finally able to track someone down to help me they tried to make it right by following me to a closed cash register and checking me out right away.

12/17 – I was not looking forward to making a drive to Magnolia at night for a work Christmas party by myself.  The drive wasn’t as long as I'd imagined and I had a great time with co-workers!!

12/18 – I got to the Honda dealership at 8:15 am and they said it would take 2 hours to change my oil.  I already had plans to drive to Cynthia’s house to see baby Jack.  I left the dealership annoyed that I couldn’t get it done right then.  This turned out to be a good thing because instead of waiting at the dealership while my oil was being changed, I was able to come back later and drop my car off while we visited my family.  It ended up saving time in the end!

12/19 – The house was trashed after Jason’s poker party.  I was annoyed that I had to clean up after it, but Jason had a great time with his friends.

12/20 – I went to the dentist and learned that they no longer carries grape fluoride.  This is always my favorite part of the dentist visit!  I decided that this is a great opportunity for me to try something new – strawberry!

12/21 – I was dreading the fact that we had to leave on our Michigan trip so late in the day because I had to work ½ a day.  Because we weren't able to leave until later, we were still in town when a good friend's father passed away and we were able to be there with our friend at a very difficult time.

12/22 – One of the gas stations we stopped at on the way home was disgusting.  Blessing is that at least bathrooms are free??? :)

12/23 – Today I was annoyed that we had to wait until 12:30 for lunch.  I was hungry and didn’t want to wait that long.  The blessing was that the timing was perfect for Jason’s sister to join us and we ended up having a pleasant lunch with Jason’s grandfather and his friends.  Also because we ate a later lunch I was able to hold up for a later dinner.

12/24 – I wanted to get Jason one of his favorite beers for Christmas.  This beer is not something we can get in Texas, but it can be found in Michigan.  I became saddened when his aunt and I drove around for almost an hour trying to find the beer only to discover that no one in town carried it.  Luckily one of Jason's cousins (whom I'd never met) was on his way into town for the family Christmas party and agreed to pick some up for me.  It was wonderful to see that even though I was their family by marriage they were willing to help!

12/25 – I was not overly excited about having lunch at Jason's sister's in-law's home (that was a mouth full).  Mainly because I didn't know them.  We ended up having a great meal with good company and since we didn't know them very well, we felt more okay with leaving a little earlier than we had planned.  We were able to get in an extra 5 hours of driving time!

12/26 – While driving home from Michigan I got annoyed that Jason kept getting frustrated over the Lions game.  He’d got especially frustrated at certain plays and also when we would lose internet access to his phone.  Got to see the joy and happiness he had when they won their 3^rd game in a row – the first time since 1995.

12/27 – Today I should have had a full day off of work, but I ended up having to go into work for 1/2 a day.  The morning went by very fast and I was able to get a few things done that would have piled up for Tuesday.  Because I worked 1/2 a day I get to take 1/2 a day off on Thursday to honor the life of Big Bob at his memorial service.

12/29 – This day went by SO SLOW!  All day all I could think about was how much the day was dragging.  Though the work day took a while to end, we got to end the day with a wonderful praise and worship service at church and dinner with some great friends!

12/30 – Today I was helping out a co-worker by contacting their applicant's for them while they were out of the office.  I am not very familiar with the company or position for which I was contacting applicants about so it was very frustrating when they would ask me questions I didn't know.  The benefit to this was that it made me get out of my comfort zone and will hopefully lead me to know a little more about the company so that in the future I will be even more comfortable answering applicant's questions.

12/31 - Today I am not looking forward to the amount of work we have to do around the house.  Lots of cleaning, laundry and house repairs.  In the end it will all be worth it because we are going to have a great New Year's Eve with a few friends and can relax as we start a new year tomorrow!