A New Perspective

It seems I spend a lot of time griping. For a while it has seemed as if nothing good is going on in my life other than the glimpses of adorable Baby O. However, today has changed my opinion, somewhat.

I have been tending to my dad's mom and getting my haircut today. Being around that woman zaps me of energy and after dropping something off at my parents I was looking forward to going home. By chance I happen to spot Kathryn, a.k.a. Mummy. She's my parents' next door neighbor, mother of one of my dearest friends, and my personal confidant. I have known her for going on 14 years now. She has watched me grow up and I am honored to say I am considered family by her. Mummy is literally the best person I know. Have you ever met someone who seemingly had no evil to them what so ever? That is Mummy. She is nothing but kind and compassion and love. She listens to you and never judges you, offers the best advice, gives you a calming serene feeling, and makes you laugh. Mummy taught me about fairy rings and beauty of nature and how it connects to God, and she is probably the reason I have maintained my religious beliefs. I tell her the secret I dare tell no one else and she's the shoulder I cried on as I found out my Grammy might not make it. She has been my rock in the turbulent seas of my life, and I miss her terribly as I don't get to see her often.

Until today I hadn't spoken to her in about two months. I had tried calling, but I have learned in the past when she doesn't answer her phone or return a call, there is a good reason. Over the past two months her beloved cousin Lea passed on, another friend's mother was stricken with lung cancer, her car was repossessed and is on the verge of losing her home. She was already dealing with a sick son and another friend losing his wife to cancer as well. I couldn't help but thing how lucky I was to just be dealing with my dad's mom. After telling her what had been going on in our lives, we had to part ways so she could pick up her youngest child, Stephen.

Another thought crossed me mind after we finished talking. Why would God let such things happen to someone so good and kind? Surely a fair God would not do that to one of his most beautiful children. For a moment I felt bitter about it. Then oddly enough I remember something Mummy herself had told me once: everything happens for a purpose. Every little thing that happens to us from the wonderfully good to the horribly bad happens to us for a reason. We may not know it at the time, but it does. These events strengthen us and mold us into better people. As I remembered her saying that calmly to me, stroking my hair as I cried one time, I felt a little bit better. Once again I realized how greatly Mummy affected my faith, how thanks to her I had found God truthfully for the first time thanks to her. Times are hard, we are quick to dispair. Today remember that as bad as things can be, they are that way for a reason. Persevere through them and one day you'll realize it was all worth it.

P.S.- Thanks to Mrs. Kari for the healthy chocolate chip recipe. I can't wait to scrounge up enough pocket change to go try it out.