Thankfulness

I chipped one of my new plates last night putting it into the dishwasher. Normally, something like that would really upset me. I'm anal. I know it. But this Thanksgiving I'm finding so much to be thankful for.

My teeth weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. The tooth on the left that I thought had died was just an old amalgam filling. She drilled it out and put new fillings in that one and another. I have to get X-rays of the other one that looks and acts dead and then go back on 1 December.

Clay didn't appreciate having the door shut on him when I went in. He didn't complain, he just kept asking where I was. Since there were no other patients they left the door open and gave him a mask to wear. He was fascinated by it all and kept studying the book about kids going to the dentist. He didn't want to leave when we were finished! That's a good start. I really liked the dentist and thought she did a very good job.

Our friends, Matjaz and Magdalena, from the coast who have started a Teen Challenge Coffee House, were in Italy to attend some TC meetings. They had borrowed our friend Tatjana's car to go there. Driving in Italy is crazy. It's like the bad drivers in Nashville and the fast drivers in Atlanta have teamed up. They were in a pretty bad accident and both had to go to the hospital. Matjaz was released, but Magdalena has three broken ribs and had to stay a few days. They didn't have their daughters with them, they were with his mother and I believe are still there. It could have been so much worse and we're so grateful that it's nothing more than three ribs and a totaled car.

I was talking with our neighbor, Mateja, yesterday morning. The last few times I've seen her she's seemed so sad. Yesterday, before going over there I had determined I was going to tell her about Hope in Jesus. Mateja and her husband farm and have three children, Natalja, Anze and Eva. She said something about the two older not being the same since someone dying. "I'm sorry, who died?" "Eva." I had no idea! She was only 10 months old and it had happened back on October 12. She asked if I hadn't missed her. I said that I just assumed she was napping or being kept inside from the cold air. Mateja had put her down for a nap and she never woke up. It happened on a Wednesday afternoon so we would have been in town when the ambulance arrived and everything was going on.

An autopsy showed that she had some kind of virus in her heart and it just stopped beating. Mateja told me people have tried to comfort her with words like, "'God needed a little angel', but why mine?" I agreed with her. God isn't selfish and thoughts like that aren't really comforting. I'm assuming they're Catholic; she said she believes in God and Heaven. After a shock like that it wasn't very easy for me to say much of anything else to her.

Now she has to go back to work. Mothers get the first year off work for maternity leave. She hasn't worked since April of '03. I offered help with the kids or anything else they need. People say things like that a lot, but I told her I want her to inconvenience me. She laughed at that and looked a little surprised when I said we would pray for them. Her husband has pneumonia now too so he can't work for a week or so.

Yeah, a chipped plate isn't too much to worry about. I know God loves me and my family is healthy. I'm learning that that's all I need.