One of my Greatest Talents

Is: "Taking Things for Granted".

Foreword #1: It really takes a LOT to compell me to write on this blog for some reason. And what finally compells me to do it is never what I would expect. I can sit in a hospital bed for a week solid, think about blogging 136 times, and come up with excuses every time like, "Well what am I going to write about now--during the most BORING time of my life....I don't want to sit and complain and that's all I feel like doing"....ect. And then something "grabs me by the collar and smacks me on the skull" (see quote below) and for a minute I have a much clearer view of life! The sad part is that I know my vision will return to it's normal pathetic state sooner than it should--so I better write some things down fast!

Foreword #2: Be grateful there are no pictures accompanying this post. If there were, they would be of me--10 1/2 months pregnant (or so it feels)--and none of us need visual documentation of that. So it's just boring words for this time.


And now back to that talent of mine, some things that I really take FOR GRANTED--which finally convinced me to write:

NUMBER ONE: A good nurse, who, knowing I am LDS because of the screen saver on my laptop, and knowing that I was in the shower and therefore would probably not hear the announcement about the Elders being here to pass the sacrament, stalled the Elders and then came in and asked me if I wanted them to come in. The part I'm ashamed of is this (why not just come clean?): I did hear the announcement but I was in the bathroom getting dressed, looking in the mirror and thinking about how not so happy I am about my looks....and when the word "Elders" was mentioned, all I thought about was that I didn't really want to see anyone at the moment no matter what for. So I ignored the announcement.....and then my nurse gave me a second chance. I am SO grateful she did. Which brings me to:

NUMBER 2: The sacrament (and those who bring the sacrament too). The second the Elders walked in--a couple of the nicest looking grandpas in all the world, by the way--the Spirit accompanied them. They were in my room for a total of 42 seconds which was long enough for one of them to say one comment that taught me 100 lessons. First, before they said anything, I looked at the sacrament trays and realized that it has been WEEKS since I've taken the sacrament. I've only been here for one week but I've been at home on bedrest for several more and I didn't realize until I saw those trays how much I've been missing. And then they asked how I was feeling today, my response being "Well I took a shower and these days a shower is a great thing, so I'm feeling good!" And one of the nice Elders said "Isn't it amazing how certain events in our lives can bring us to realize the many things we take for granted....like being outside, no matter the weather, or what a blessing a shower can be." That is exactly what I needed to hear on this Sabbath Day. Which brings me to the next 100 things that I've been known to take for granted:

My family, my sweet kiddos, so many truly awesome friends, books of all sorts and varieties, being surrounded by people who pray--even for someone they just met, Dr. Fowers, lotion, modern medicine (especially a certain pain medication called phentinel or something like that.....it's a good thing you cannot get it anywhere but inside a hospital), babies, people who know how to take care of babies, I've already mentioned nurses but they deserve to be mentioned again, food (even cafeteria food tastes good when you haven't had anything for a couple days), living by mountains, peanut M&Ms, soft towels, the amazing things our bodies can do, catheters--NOT! I'd rather just wet the bed repeatedly than have one of those installed....seriously I hate them, OK and one final thing.....lets just end with my husband because he is working his tail off and has been for weeks without complaining, trying to manage all of his jobs and most of mine--and he's doing such a good job of it. What would I do without him? (Well, actually, I wouldn't even be in this predicament if it weren't for him, so....)

And lastly, since I'm admitting a lot of character flaws right now, I'll just explain that normally I avoid watching the news at all costs. It makes me depressed. I'd rather live in ignorance and not really know anything else that is going on beyond my little bubble. My husband and my mother-in-law know everything about what is going on the world and I feel like an idiot around both of them most of the time. I think about the Prophet who reads every little tidbit of news there is daily and I wonder how he faces the world. And then I think about our Savior who knows everything that does and doesn't make it into the news.....it is just un-fathomable to me. I know there are happy things in the news but the bad or sad things just stick in my head for way too long. But anyway, I am improving on this while being here as well--I've watched the news every day and even though it is still depressing sometimes, it is making me realize so many more things to add to my list above. So my advise is to watch the news, and then be grateful for the bubble that you live in.

Here is one last quote on the subject:

“When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren't grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

I am so glad for this little bit of quiet time in my life to be whacked over the head and reminded to be grateful for so many blessings! And pretty soon--in a week or two at the most--we'll have two more tiny, cute blessings. There will be pictures then!