BILL vs BLESSING

BILL:

I just returned from the dentist. After having been kept up last night by a tooth that decided it was time to go bad it wasn't a option. I missed a day of work, and I'm sure a bill will arrive for the dental work very soon; they are never cheap either.

BLESSING:

The dentist is great. He is very good at what he does, as is his staff. He is well qualified and has the knowledge and technology to resolve my dental problem in a timely manner so as not to require me to suffer for very long. I can only imagine what our poor ancestors must have endured without this 'luxury'.

The company that I work for helps me purchase dental insurance, which will pay a portion of the expense (It also covers 100% of many others - yea!).

The company also provides me with paid time off, and I work for an individual that is very understanding in these types of unplanned and unscheduled events. I also work with some very kind and knowledgeable people that will not only take care of any issues that arise while I am gone, they are very understanding as well.

BILL:

The clothes dryer no longer does it's job very well - it produces no heat, which makes drying clothes in a dryer a pretty futile task. We will likely end up purchasing a new dryer very soon.

BLESSING:

Tyson came home from college last weekend and was able to figure out and repair the problem with the dryer. After looking at the problem and doing some research on the Internet, he discovered the issue likely was due to a thermal fuse. The part was ordered and arrived yesterday. Tyson put the fuse in and... was correct, that was a problem. Unfortunately, it didn't resolve the issue permanently, and it once again has gone out. :-) It is a real blessing to have someone in the family that is not only mechanically inclined, but willing to try to fix things without having to call and pay someone else to do so.

We will get a new dryer that will likely be far better and more efficient than the dryer we have had for many years. Also, the government has seen fit to provide the funds in the form of a one-time rebate, which will help with the expense.

The children are learning what it is like to not have the benefit of a dryer, and I believe this is a blessing. Doug didn't care for the ruff towels that had been air dried, and Jamie was looking for clothes the other day that were wet. We are very blessed to have so many modern appliances that we too easily forget that we are truly blessed to live at this time in history.

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One the things that I've learned over the years is that we choose how we are going to respond to, what I like to refer to as opportunities (challenges or problems) such as those I have mentioned.

As many of you know, we had a young lady live with us for approximately 6 months. Kerrie and I did a great deal to help her feel comfortable and welcome in our home. We believed this young lady to have been in a position that was not only unsafe, but unnecessarily uncomfortable. She had been asked to leave her sisters house because she claimed not to have room or her, and so she was sleeping in her car. Kerrie and I invited her into our home, and did so rent free so long as she was attending college. In exchange for room and bored she committed to help keep the house clean, and do other things around the house to help out.

Unfortunately, after 6 months we found that it was not good for us to allow her to remain in our home because of various trust issues. She was told that she had 3 days to find someplace to go, however; she choose to leave immediately and stay or a few days with her grandparents.

While at the dentist today one of the assistants, familiar with what had transpired, told me that she was very impressed with Kerrie and I for taking someone in like we had. She went on to say that she thought the young lady was a bad person, and made various derogatory comments about her.

At this point in our conversation I could have choose to participate in the comments by voicing my personal feelings for this young lady. I choose however, not to allow myself to do so because is would have been very negative and not at all productive. Instead I explained to the dental assistant how I felt about our conversation and where it was leading. I explained that I have learned in life that we need to forgive, forget, and move on. We need to recognize that, individuals who had behaved as this young lady had, was not something that was anything that I desired to spend my energy on. I wish the young lady well and have personally choose to look at the experience as a positive one rather than dwell on the negative events, even though they did exist.
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If those of you that read this have not had the opportunity to listen to a motivational speaker by the name of Zig Ziggler, I highly recommend that you purchase an audio tape and do so. He has some great advice on how we should choose to live our lives. Before I finish the post I would like to share one of his stories; or at least a somewhat abbreviated one. It has been a few years since I have actually listed to the story, so I hope to be able to at least convey the jest of the stories meaning. Please understand that this is 'my' version, and go out and by the audio.

Zig Ziggler related an experience in which he had to hurry to the airport to catch a flight so that he could get to another speaking engagement. He arrived at the airport in plenty of time to catch his flight, and then waited in line for a short period of time so that he could obtain his boarding pass.

When he reached the desk the ticket agent told Mr. Ziggler that his flight had been delayed because of severe weather. Mr. Ziggler's reply to ticket agent surprised her. After having been told the news Zig replied, "fantastic!". Mr. Ziggler's comment was not said sarcastically or in angst, which is what the agent would have expected based on prior experiences with other passengers. His comment was sincere and made with a true smile on his face.

Not positive that she had heard him correctly, she repeated the news to him regarding the delay of the flight. Once again Mr. Ziggler stated, "Fantastic!". The ticket agent was curious as to why someone, anyone, would have such positive response, and therefore asked why he said the news was fantastic. Zig Ziggler explained to the ticket agent a few things that he understood, and most passengers would if they took the time to think about how they were going to choose to respond to this type of news. Mr. Ziggler told her that he made that comment for the following reasons.

• In his experience, he didn't believe that the airline wouldn't cancel or delay a flight for no reason. Therefore, something had lead them to the decision not to place the flight in a position of possible harm. For that reason I am grateful the have choose to delay my flight. This being the case, he said that he would most definitely rather be on the ground than in an airplane that they did not want to fly. It didn't matter if it were due to bad weather, mechanical problems, or anything else. The decision was made that the plane was not going to take-off.
• My Ziggler also told the agent that he is extremely busy and rarely gets to simply sit and read a book or flip thru a magazine. The current situation would allow him to do so, and he was glad to have been given the opportunity.
• He also said that he couldn't complain because he would be in a warm, clean, and safe environment in the airport, and he was grateful for that as this is not something that many in the world enjoy.

I often think of this story, as well as others of Mr. Ziggler's. It definitely helps me make the decision as to how I am to respond when presented with opportunities in life that could be looked at as negative. He tells another story about being grateful for the job you have, but I'll let you buy the audio and listen to the story so that I don't 'butcher' it as I have this one. :-)

I'm going to finish now, as my mouth and jaw are beginning to ache because of the work I just had done. Fortunately, there is medications that will help with the discomfort, and for that I am very grateful!

...I am choosing to take a pill. Have a good night!