Life is what you make of it. But more it is what you do with it that really defines a person. As a Pastor of a church told me many years ago, “It is a God given right to be a Saint or an asshole. And it only takes a split second to go from one to the other.” That comment kind of stuck with me even though it’s been over 10 years since I last heard him say this. July, 2010 has been one of those months I wish I could forget.
I spend my vacation plus two more weeks preparing for as well as recovering from my Gallbladder surgery. My wife had an MRI done to confirm that she will be given two shots of steroids in her lower back. Two wonderful children of ours whom after being cooped up in the house during days of over 100 degrees of heat and humidity had started to get on each other’s nerves. Add that all up to a huge storm that took out many trees around our house as with the power for a couple of days while trying to survive on only one week’s paycheck for the entire month of July.
Oh the joy. It could have been worse. Although I too was cooped up for three weeks, recovering from surgery, encouraged through constant fighting between the kids and their mother yelling at them to get well as soon as possible and to get out of the house and back to work. And as I can always count on my family, I was up early and ready for my first day back to work. After all I have a lot of medical bills to pay and a desire for peace and quiet.
But once I was physically able to work much better I had a lot of catching up to do. Mostly cutting a lot of grass that was growing more than ankle deep and moving a lot of fallen tree branches as well as trees lying all around our house. If it wasn’t for my MP3 player it would have been a very long day. It helped to drown out the constant boredom of listening to two boys complaining of nothing to do. Only to run back into the house once I tell them what to do. Peace and quiet always comes to those who recognize it.
I look forward to the rest of the year and to the next. We may be a poor family holding on to a weekly paycheck but there are times I really can see the beauty that life has given me. Even though it’s been a really bad month for us, had never took away the bond we had grown into as a family. Instead we grew closer together.
On days when I was lying in bed, my youngest son would join me as we watched cartoons for hours. My wife would fix me something to eat and serve me in bed as my oldest son would help around the house such as washing the dishes and folding the clothes. Experiencing hell or heaven is all around us when one wishes to choose a course in life. The group U2 may still haven’t found what they are looking for but I have. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment