The pity party ends NOW

The past few days my sweet husband has gotten quite the earful. And taken it gracefully he has! The complaints coming from this wife have ranged from... why can't the movie theater have a phone number to call instead of having to go there to find out when the movies are playing? why is cooking so much more of a challenge here? why in preparation for thanksgiving do i have to pay almost 2 dollars for a 4 ounce can of cranberry sauce? why do we live miles and miles away from our families and friends as the holidays roll around? why can the stores and restaurants here not accomodate the gringo and play a little Christmas music? and the complaints went on and on.

But the pity party stops here!! Over the past few days God has brought in to view, very poignantly I might add, that I am immeasurably blessed.

I stumbled on a website the other day of a young mother who lost her 3 year old son in a car accident. As I sat at my computer reading her account of the day he died and how she held him in her arms, knowing he was already gone, then crawled up in the hospital bed and couldn't leave his body there for anything, I realized what an amazing gift I have in my precious Nathan. I cry again even as I sit here typing. Sure, he's a little crazy at times, his teeth are driving him crazy, he got shots this week which made him a bundle of joy, but he's still mine, and he's still here. I can still rock him to sleep at night and kiss his sweet face as he lays asleep in his crib, we can still play hide and seek around the house and make fish faces as he giggles that laugh that makes my heart sing and I will still get to watch him grow for years to come... Lord willing. I am blessed!

And then I stumbled on the blog of some fellow Harding graduates. Keith, the husband has recently been diagnosed with cancer, it sounds like it is not the first time, but I don't know the whole story and so I can't say that for a fact. What I can say for a fact is that he has an amazing wife. One who with every word that she writes holds on to hope that there is healing for her husband, and the father of her child! They have a little boy named Lincoln who I pray will know his father for years to come. I think of the "discussions" that Gary and I have had over the last few days in my frustration with life right now. I may be frustrated with late night basketball games, Age of Empires, or that in Bolivian traffic it took him 3 times as long as normal to get home for lunch. But the truth of the matter is that I have an amazing husband, who is healthy, present, and engaged in our life. A husband who is a great daddy, who loves to make memories with his son, and who I pray will have many years more to come with Nathan. I am blessed with a husband who handles this still culture shocked missionary wife gracefully amidst the occasional meltdown, and who sees beyond the craziness to see the growth and beauty that God has placed within me, when I cannot see it myself.

So there's not Silver Bells playing in the grocery store here, so I'm wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt as I put up our Christmas tree, so Nathan is enduring teething a little less pleasantly than I would like, so Gary's more of an extravert than I am, so I miss friends and family from home sometimes so that my heart aches, I am still blessed. The pity party stops here. Thank you Father for reminding me of the blessings you have placed in my life. Thank you for reminding me that this was not a bargain that we made, but a commitment, and that you are faithful to your promises. Thank you for Nathan, and thank you, after 6 years of marriage today... for my precious husband Gary. You are so good to me God, may my life tell you everyday how thankful I am.