Being Thankful ~

I feel so incredibly guilty. I have been totally stressed out about Mary Dalton being sick and us going out of town. I have prayed for 4 days that she will get better, and she has. It was a fever virus with cold like symptoms...big deal.

Today, on Kelly's Korner she asked for prayer for 2 families ~ one who has a toddler who has cancer, and the other had 20 month old twins, and one died in her sleep. I cannot imagine. The lady who has the sweet baby with cancer, wrote an entry and said that the baby was sleeping but she was holding her...normally she would put her down to do "stuff" around the house, but she realizes all the "Stuff" does not matter....not at all. The lady who lost her precious baby had a blog post dated 11/29 ~ She told about all their Thanksgiving festivities, the fun things that they did, bday parties, showers, etc. The next entry she wrote that her sweet baby had gone to be with Jesus.

Reading both of those posts today made me realize how much I take for granted and it broke my heart for both families.

I also read a blog, Leighton's Lifesong (see sidebar) ~ this sweet girl went to heaven a few months ago. Her mother writes letters to her daughter to help with the healing process. In one letter she writes that she is sorry for all the times that Leighton asked her to play or to make cookies and she did not.

It really makes me think about a lot of things...how would I do things differently if I knew this was my last day with my children? What would I do to make their day special? Would I fuss about toys being everywhere? Would I complain that we have too much laundry? I know that these mothers would love to have toys and laundry all over the place.

We never know what each day will hold ~ tragedy, illness, death, etc ~ but I do know that God knows...and He has a perfect plan for all our lives. Even though it is often hard to see at the time, He is in control and knows what is best. I also know that I am going to try to live each day to its fullest and make more time for my children and spend less time on "stuff."

Please pray for these families with me.