Give Thanks 31

People All around us each day, we face other people outside of our home. Some we see walking the aisles of the grocery store, people waiting for the bus, people hurrying through traffic, kids playing on the street, some smiling, some sad, still others on a corner holding a sign. It seems that most of these individuals are strangers, as we only know a small circle of the overwhelming almost 7 billion people on the planet.

Are we really strangers? Do we really live that different of lives? Don't we all want and need the same things??

This morning was a rather low point for me. I regrettably answered my phone in between sprints, and low and behold, I spoke to none other than the wonderful insurance people of Aetna and the various surgeons, anesthesiology groups, and surgical center reps. Don't get me wrong--they were all very courteous in nature and such, but I guess I'm fighting our circumstances. Ethan will have surgery again this Friday--three in fact . . . and to the tune of a LOT of money.

I begrudgingly turned off my treadmill, scooped up that bundle of goodness who longed to see his mama smile, and drove us to the ENT for our pre-op(in tears and praying the entire ride there). My pity party didn't stop. I proceeded to send out complaint texts to my mother and showered her with all sorts of negativity.

At any rate, I hung up the phone when Ethan began fighting a little girl for a toy in the office. Just as that happened and I calmed him down, I noticed an elderly lady being approached by the office manager with the exact information I received not much earlier. Her face dropped a little bit in shock and she came to the same realizations I did. She dismissed the worker and told her she could no longer keep her appointment, and her daughter or nurse proceeded to push her wide wheel chair through the seemingly narrow doors. Without thinking, I jumped to my feet and raced to the door to hold it open for her and help the two out. We smiled at each other and exchanged a kind word, and that was it. . . . but there was a change in my countenance. A little bounce brought back to my step and a smile in helping someone else.

Of course, that didn't change everything permanently. I found myself waiting for quite some time to see the doctor for my mere five minutes of question and answer with a screaming and quite volatile little child, who insisted on climbing and what not. And again, I left the office feeling a bit down about circumstances.

Then, I arrived home to greet a certain Mr. off the bus with smiles and hugs. After lunch and laying said children down for naps, I began researching different people. For whatever reason, I came across another "stranger" who seemed to be down on their luck a bit. She unexpectedly buried her husband today, after having buried one of her babies just three months ago. I don't know anything about this person, other than her severe trials as of late. I don't even live in the same country with her; yet, my heart knows her. I feel compassion for her. I know we can't compare trials, because we live entirely different lives. I know that mine are difficult for me and hers are for her. However, when I look at the changes she has to live with in her life in such a short period of time, it helps me to get through mine. I can deal with what's on my line, and if laid out and offered to swap with someone else, I would take mine without hesitation.

Heavenly Father has blessed us with people all around us that are just like us and can teach us and help us. He often answers our prayers through others, comforts us, and builds us. We just have to look around. I'm ever grateful today for the people I have brushed shoulders with--they were just what I needed.