Worry less, laugh harder, love more

At work, I send out a lot of email announcements to keep everyone informed. As a Christian organization, we actually get to send out prayer requests. Most of the time, these are about deaths—older individuals, people's parents, etc. Very sad, yes, but the one I sent out yesterday broke my heart. It was for a student who attended one of the external sites. His family was asleep when a tornado went through their town a few weeks ago. His wife and young son passed away fairly quickly, while the student and his young daughter survived, but were in critical condition. He passed away over the weekend leaving his little girl without her family. Every time I think about it, tears immediately form. I've been in the loop on her updates, and it sounds like she is in excellent hands with her aunt's family and doing really well. It still hurts me.

I hugged Emma extra tight last night and squeezed Denny's hand a little longer than normal and thought about all of the things that really matter in life. It's so easy, in the day to day, to get caught up with the little things that go wrong. A flat tire, slow drivers, etc. all can make a typical day seem awful. Those examples stink. I can't think right now! This tragedy has really put things into perspective for me, and at least for the time being, all of those annoyances really just seem like annoyances. Not anything that would make me lose sight of what is truly important. So, when things go wrong, I am going to try to think about all that is right.

So last night, I didn't try to accomplish too much. I made lasagna while Denny worked in the garden and then we "watched" a movie while Emma raced around the living room like a mad woman. She is such a blessing! It was the perfect evening. I think I will try making less plans and concentrating on taking advantage of every moment I have with Denny and Emma.