Finding Comfort

As I sit here drinking my morning coffee, I am reflecting on the events of the past year. In the past year I have lost a mother, brother, family friend, a beloved family pet and sent my only son into a war zone. I have had a heart attack, had a stent put in place while struggling daily with lupus, fibromyalgia and RA. Some days I wake up thinking "what's next?" and then I have to get myself in check and be grateful for the good things I have in my life. I know God never gives us more than we can handle. As you all know I lost my Glory girl day before yesterday but I have to tell you what almost happened on that same day. I got a message from my son saying "I almost died today"! My heart almost stopped when I read those words. I immediately responded, "OMG are you ok? What happened if you can tell me"? You always think the worse from a war zone, "did he get bombed?" "was it an IED?" "did he take small arms fire?" but this was not the case. He says. "while walking to work the driver of a humvee came hauling ass out of the motor pool and almost hit 4 of us walking on side the road. I had to pull one of my soldiers with me while jumping out of the way"! He said, " you are always on your toes because of where you are and had we not been "on guard" we would all be dead or seriously hurt". I asked if they were walking on the road and he said no they were on the side of the road on base. I am sure there is more than what he is saying being he mentioned it. But he felt he needed to tell me so I am not taking it lightly. I am not laying blame on anyone because that will be taken care of in Iraq. My point is that although I lost my pet it could have been so much worse. I believe things happen for a reason and even though I lost a family pet, my son's life was spared and that is a gift from from a higher power. He has a dangerous job and has had many close calls and I am sure he does not tell me everything. So while I grieve the loss of a pet, God blessed me by sparing the life of my child. It's easy to get on a pitty party because it seems easier to focus on the negative. But if we take time to find the positive things it our lives all to often the good out weighs the bad. I read blogs and realize how fortunate I am for having a love and support of a caring family. I am blessed with a son who has morals and values, who is willing to fight for what is right. I am blessed with a wonderful husband who is a cancer survivor of 12 yrs. I am blessed to have had a mother who taught me the importance of family values but yet could still be my best friend. Although I have lost both of my parents I am so grateful for the way they raised me and the lessons they taught that I was able to pass on to my child. Some days are so much harder than other that I will admit but then I will read a comment on twitter and it will bring me comfort when I didn't realize that was what I needed. I am blessed by my online family who all to often do not know the comfort they bring by their tweets or emails.