Blessed

There are lots of words to describe when things just seem to be going your way: lucky, fortunate, favored, serendipitous, advantageous . . . I prefer the word blessed.

We’re preparing for a fairly large trip in a few days and it all came about quickly.  There was a lot on our plate to accomplish, like booking a hotel so our trip wouldn’t be 12 hours of screaming children (it’ll only about six hours of screaming children spread over a couple of days).  We had to arrange housing, figure out what to do with all of our critters, find someone to house sit and probably most daunting, find a reliable vehicle to safely carry us to our destination.

We dove right in.  There were a few stumbling blocks that discouraged us along the way but everything has worked out beautifully.  For example, we found an apartment complex that offers reasonably priced short term leases and they just happened to have a two-bedroom available.  We hurried and filled out an application but didn’t hear back within a reasonable amount of time.  Jack called the following week and it turned out the woman he’d been communicating with had been fired and it must not have been amicable.  She didn’t bother to pass along our information resulting in the apartment we were vying for to be rented out from under us.  Yipee.  So, we refilled the paperwork and put our name in for a three bedroom apartment.

I tried my best to contain my unhelpful, sarcastic thoughts about having to pay more for a room we didn’t need.  Shortly after the irksome news, the company Jack is interning with emailed with the wonderful announcement that he received a raise.  Ironically, he hasn’t even started yet.  The total raise more than covers the cost of our housing.  Miraculous.

Everything else has been taken care of.  Friends generously gave us an excellent deal on a truck so we can haul some basic necessities down without slicing off an arm and leg for a moving truck.  A family has decided to stay at our place while we’re gone and are ecstatic about having animals to watch over (we’ll see what their sentiments are once a blizzard rolls around).  If that wasn’t awesome enough, the dad is gargantuan.  If any miscreants were nervous about me around, I highly doubt their try anything while he’s roaming the property.  I really could go on and on but I’ll refrain.

I’m not saying sometimes I’m not overwhelmed or discouraged, seeing only the things that aren’t going my way.  I’m trying to have a more grateful heart and right now, I certainly do feel blessed.