I'm full.

I was sitting here feeling quite appreciative of God's blessings in my life. I'm "full," so to speak! Here are just a few reasons:

1.) My church "brother," Bob, is a hoot! He's the typical big brother in that he constantly picks at you...but he's so lovable that you can't get angry. He and his wife are an adorable couple, and I'm so glad I know them.

2.) I did a little too much yesterday, and by the time I was seated in an evening service my tummy was tight - - - and I was hurting. I folded my coat and held it by my incision and tried to relax, but I was still uncomfortable. After the service, folks were walking around and chatting, but I chose to stay put in the pew. Several teens came over, though, so I wasn't alone. We prayed for one another, and it was awesome! I had a ride to that service, but I had to drive home after returning to his driveway. Unfortunately, I was really hurting, and cleaning snow/ice off the windows was more painful than I thought it would be. But there's something in me that would rather die than ask a guy for help (and one of these days that just might happen)! Last night I had a "I can do it by myself" attitude. As you can see, I lived. :o) No harm done.

3.) My own two teenagers did not fight at all while I was at church. That's truly a blessing! I never MAKE them go to church (other than Sunday morning) because I had to go several times a week as a child. That backfired, though; as soon as I was out of the house, church was the first thing to go. My boys love going to youth group on Tuesday evenings, though. Man, am I glad about that!

4.) My Mom is already here (at 8:04 a.m.) to do my laundry. I'm feeling better, but she insists on helping. She doesn't want me to resume house work until the doctor releases me to go back to work. I'm frustrated, though, and feel like the ultimate loser when my 75 year-old Ma is doing stuff around me, but I must say that, if circumstances were reversed, I'd do what she's doing.

5.) I have the most lovable pit bull/lab on the planet! Actually, he gets on my nerves because I can't go anywhere in the house without him following me. I've heard that simply having the love of a pet can bring a quicker recovery from surgery, and I believe it; I was going up and down the stairs and walking without discomfort within a week of my surgery! God is good!

6.) A prophetic friend of mine had a dream last night about me. It's kind of creepy how on-point she was! I returned her e-mail this morning, so perhaps we'll be able to have lunch today and talk.

7.) Yesterday my pastor's aunt and uncle attended the morning worship service, and both of them uplifted and encouraged him openly. They proceeded to share the reasons why they believe he is truly a blessing to our church, and it was touching and beautiful to watch. It was a bittersweet moment for me: yes, I'm thrilled that they did that, but I also felt saddened because I could not do something similar without someone making a comment. In fact, he is the only person in the entire church whom I never hug. Sad, huh? Anyway, that incident made it on this list because I'm glad it happened.

Yes, I'm full of love and appreciation for everyone in my life right now. I'm even grateful for a guy who grated my nerves when he attacked a friend of mine. Dealing with him on a regular basis has taught me to love unconditionally...something I thought I already knew how to do. I learned that I can truly love someone who constantly seemed mean, and guess what happened? We're cordial now! We're hardly best friends, but he walked up to me yesterday and gave me a big 'ol hug in front of everybody! Yay! God is at work! Don't worry; I'm not going to be stupid and share all of my business with this guy, but I'm definitely going to keep loving him, no matter what he chooses to do in the future.