I am feeling so blessed today!  We had such wonderful weather for this amazing holiday, Memorial Day!  I would personally like to thank those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and didn’t get to make it home.  This day is for you! Also a huge thanks to anyone and everyone who has gone through the training, those who have spent countless years away from their loved ones, those who have put their lives at risk for me.  I am truly grateful!

This holiday is usually a pretty bittersweet holiday around our house, having many members in my family who have served overseas and who have left their family or friends overseas. So we usually don’t do a whole lot on this holiday. Don’t get me wrong, we are truly thankful for all that has been put on the line, but it hits home sometimes when you start to play the what-if game or the that-could-have-been-me game. So we usually just lay low and enjoy the company of our own little family, catching up on chores or just enjoying each others company!

Today we did just that…I heard the forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms, so I started up the lawn mower and was planning on getting it all done before the storms hit.  Only thing…lawn mower wouldn’t start! Now our week/month has not been the greatest around here…having to deal with a broken garage door motor and then buy a new one and have it installed, then my hubby had an accident in his car that put us down to only one vehicle and 12 different places to be! And now the lawn mower…ugh!!  The lucky girl I am, called her daddy to see if there were any words of wisdom he could give us to coax the lawn mower back to life. And I just had to stop in the middle of all the hullabaloo and giggle a little!

So here came Papa to the rescue! …via his iPod that my mom got him for his birthday or Christmas a few years back!  Now, my dad can get pretty creative when it comes to fixing things…but I think fixing the lawn mower with an iPod takes the cake!  For those of you that may not have those fancy-dancy iPhone, iPod or iPad things, there is an app called FaceTime which basically is like video chatting. So we fired up our fancy electronics and over the iPhone and his iPod he was able to see exactly what we were seeing, hear what the motor was sounding like, and low and behold…he fixed my lawn mower with his iPod!

This one will definitely go into the history books for our family!  So we got the lawn mower running, and I was able to get the lawn done before the storms hit. In fact, we’re still waiting for those storms to come!  Go figure! But as I was mowing today, I use my mowing time to just think, and to not think…it all works out, but as I was mowing, I couldn’t help but feel grateful.  Grateful that despite all the issues and downfalls we have had over the past few months, at least we were blessed with all those things that were giving us heartache.

I feel blessed that I have a lawn mower, and that I have a lawn of my own to care for.  I am so blessed to have a garage, and now a functioning door to keep my two vehicles safe.  The accident with the car, I’m so thankful no one was hurt, and so blessed that we even had a vehicle to get around to have an accident in.  Often times, I feel so overwhelmed by all that is on my to-do list that I forget some people don’t even have the chance to create a to-do list!

Times get hard sometimes, but it’s always easier to see the bad things happening, rather than the good.  Take a few moments to find the good…it’s amazing how much better you feel when you realize all the good that is around!