An Incredible Compliment

Samantha gave me an incredible compliment the other day.

She told me the following story:

“At Bible Study last night, we were talking about suffering and how difficult it is to Glorify God through it, and then the leader asked us if we had ever been able to do that or if we knew anybody who had been able to.”

“And Mom, I thought of you.”

As I gasped and said Thank You, she went on to say: “Though your ‘body is falling apart’, you have turned it into something good-by starting your blog.”

I do joke (mostly joke – although I admit to it being a complaint at times) that my ‘body is falling apart’. One shoulder surgery done…the other in question…and sciatic issues in both legs to boot. I’m not saying it to complain…just the facts in my life right now.

I’ve mulled over Sam’s comments for a couple of days now…and the more I think about it, the more I get teary and think of it as a wonderful compliment.

Now, trust me, I’m not holding myself up there…taking great pride in it all:

I give all the glory to God and His work through my friends and family.

It was He who brought my friend Jan into my life who suggested I blog (although her suggestion was more for the home decor side of things…yeah Jan, I’ll get some of that thrown in here too!).

It was He who started this journey of my ‘body falling apart’, taking a step back from the craziness of my life, soul-searching.

The taking a step back part?

Yes, I’ve always been a bit of an overachiever.

In high school, you’d find me working in an office instead of hanging out with friends.

While kids went off to college, I moved into a full-time job at that same office, eventually working myself into the “assistant” job running a program where I only answered to the executive director.

Last fall when this journey started, I was helping some dear family through some very difficult health issues, while working at the store I co-own, while taking care of my household and immediate family, while sitting on our local Young Life board, while watching 2 beautiful babies, while finishing building my rock wall along our property line, while, while, while….(gasp, gasp, puff, puff – just kidding – but you get the picture).

And through the rock wall building, my shoulders started to really hurt.

And then after all the doctoring, my lower back/sciatic/bursitis all seized up.

And that was the end of all the activities as I knew it. I was on the couch.

And my journey began…

And my journey continues…

And I praise God and thank Him for all His gifts in my life.

Amongst them, I count you – yes YOU – the readers who graciously read these sometimes crazy blogs and don’t seem to mind me sharing my thoughts of the day with you!

Here are a couple of songs that have meant a lot to me along the way…

Laura Story’s ‘Blessings’

and

Matt Maher’s ‘Hold Us Together’

Maybe you’re in a place where they’ll speak to you too.

I hope you’re enjoying a wonderful Sunday…

Your friend in WordPress Blogland,

Patty O