Gratitude is the Attitude

This morning I got on facebook and this was the first post that came up on my newsfeed.  It was an old High School classmates friend that I don’t know.  I have to admit I have been irritated by that particular facebook feature where it posts things on your news feed from friends friends that aren’t your friends and you are thinking who are these people and why do I care….Ok , rant over.  I am Grateful for old friends that have friends and Facebook!  

Thank you God this morning for reminding me that life is not meant to be lived without struggles and that gratitude is an attitude. 

Numerous rounds of Chemo, several rounds of radiation, too many biopsies and surgeries to even count, 3 or 4 port installations and removals, 2 bone marrow transplants with a month long hospital stay each time, mouth sores so severe morphine is required, going a month at a time without eating or drinking a thing and getting nutrition through an IV, throwing up so severely that you cry for their pain and suffering and you can't do a thing for them, several blood transfusions, shots given daily to increase white blood cell counts, ports being flushed daily and cleaned, so many medications taken daily you have to read a chart to remember how many and what time taken, missing out on being a teenager, but trying to keep up with friends like none of these things exist, a hospital bill that I can not even imagine the total (probably in the millions) and all of this done in the span of 2 1/2 years. Finally getting a call from the oncologist saying that the spots in his chest are resolved and still resolving and that your child is finally in the beginning stages of remission.........PRICELESS BEYOND IMAGINE!!!!!
Thanks to every single person who prayed and prayed for this day for Cody!!!! Our Family is blessed beyond measure!!

Anyway, after my Diabetic Blues pity party the other night, this really hit home  in reminding me just how good my life really is.  So what if I have to prick my finger so many times a day that they are sore and calloused a lot of the time.  So what if my belly has a few bruises where the insulin shot needle has hit a vein amist the pockets of fat on my belly (of which there are plenty).  So what if I have to miss a day or two of work and complain that I have to use my precious PTO time for doctor visits instead of vacation.  I have a job and I have paid time off to use. And not just that,  I have a job I love and feel honored to serve in.  Hospice blesses so many lives.  So what if my health insurance won’t cover insulin pens and insulin pumps.  I have insurance and I have fingers that work and are capable of preparing a syringe.   Anyway, you get my point.

As we head out the door to serve my “stint” at the Hope Hospice Booth at Old Settlers Day in Checotah, my attitude of an hour ago (I just want to sleep in…I don’t care about cow poop throwing and spitting and I hate frogs and certainly don’t care if they jump 10 feet) is gone and replaced by Wow, Joe and I get to go spend some time doing something fun and silly( I almost said stupid) and be around some of the most awesome people I know (my co-workers) and it  may be 102 in the shade but when we leave I have an air conditioned car and home to cool down in. 

Dear Lord, May every negative thought I have today be turned around with a so what, I’m blessed because thought .As for the child in the post I copied and pasted, Thank you , God for watching over this young man and for giving him the strength to endure and a family that rallied around him and friends who surrounded him with prayer.  Though he doesn’t know me and I don’t know him, he has touched my life and given me some pretty powerful food for thought today. May he continue to be cancer free and bless lives thru his experience.  Amen