- Catholic holidays when living in a Catholic canton and father-son outings (this time to the transport museum)! Plus a “Getting Things Done” system that works well enough for me to tear though a bunch of tasks when I have a few hours alone in the house.
- A freezer! We have a new 100L freezer in our cellar. That’s bigger than our kitchen fridge and freezer combined.
- Meals I don’t cook. I’ve discovered that I really do enjoy cooking, but it takes quite a bit of time and I love feasting without preparing. Our church had their Christmas lunch this week and it was beautiful and tasty. Thanks to all who served (not that you read this blog . . .).
- A husband who helps keep the house neat and clean the way I like it. Have I mentioned this one before? It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
- No severe winter sicknesses. We keep coming down with things but getting over them quickly.
- Malls. No, really. The shopping center next to us feels a lot like an American mall and it makes me feel at home (though I still don’t frequent it all that often).
- Everything I don’t see. Someone made a comment the other day that bugged me because it clearly showed that that person didn’t realize at all the thought and care I had taken with him/her in mind. Not only does it make it clear that my efforts don’t amount to much (though they might notice if I didn’t put that effort in), but it’s taken for granted and isn’t nearly enough. Talk about demotivating. Upon later reflection I think I might have misheard or he/she might have misunderstood what I said that lead to the comment, and this person is trustworthy, so it doesn’t bother me any more, but it made me think: How often do we say something in ignorance and have no clue just how much effort and care another person has put into whatever it is and thus tromp on their spirit? I’m guessing it happens rather frequently, because life doesn’t just work. So much work and effort goes on behind the scenes of everything, and whenever we complain it’s like we assume things are right all by themselves. Instead of investing a thanks that things normally go smoothly, we tear a person down for not being perfect. To all those whose effort and work sometimes goes unnoticed (that’s everyone!) here’s a big THANK YOU!
#2 - Congratulations -- enjoy it!
#7 - How often? Frequently, I fear. And it can be devastating to find out we've inadvertently "stomped on someone's eggshells." I do better (though far from perfectly) at giving other people the benefit of the doubt when I (all too infrequently) remember this, and hope desperately others will do the same for me.
My friends are too sensitive. I've gotten so many responses of "oh gosh, was it me that said something that bugged you?" that I'll need to amend my thanks #7. (And thanks for being sensitive, btw!) I've talked to the person about the incident just so I can say if I haven't talked to you then IT'S NOT YOU! It really was trivial, so I felt dumb bringing it up, but thankfully the person was gracious (as I anticipated!). Upon re-reading my #7 I see I worded it far too strongly. I guess I felt that way at the time and wrote it harshly to make the point, but almost as soon as I realized how I probably misheard or misunderstood (and knowing it was completely out of character for this person) I completely forgot that it bothered me and went on to thinking in the abstract (and thus felt safe to post about it). In easy cases like these it's easy to calm the extreme emotional reaction with cool reason, but sometimes a comment will stick with me. BUT as most of you know I'm a straight shooter and like to go directly to the source to talk about what might have happened. 99.9% of the time there's been a misunderstanding that's easily cleared up - and that's why I like to talk directly and quickly about problems. I'm sorry I can't be more coherent at this hour, but the short of it is: 1) Don't worry, it's not you, and if there were a problem I'd talk to you about it, and 2) if you are bothered by something I said/did please feel free to come talk to me about it! Such conversations are rarely pain-free, but in my experience they usually make the relationship stronger.
Ugh, sorry to mar my thanksgivings with complaining - that's not what I meant to do! Oh how we all need so much grace no matter how "good" we try to be!
