At a Standstill

I set here today in a haze contemplating all the things around our house (we've newly moved into) thinking about what needs to be done while issues of life and death flood my mind. Recently there have been 3 family aquaintances battling cancer and two have just lost their fight with the third individual now being assisted by hospice. My heart is breaking for the families who are now left to pick up the pieces. All of these individuals fell in the age bracket of 30-42, they were married and each had small children ranging in age from 7 down to 2 years old. I do believe there is a God and he has a larger plan and that we are not meant to understand but as a human with flaws I want to know where is the fairness in all of this? All of these individuals were upstanding citizens, loving spouses and awesome parents. Where is the justice? I think about the people out there who commit horrific crimes who don't care one ounce about human life, how can that happen? Then I think to my life and what concerns are consuming me today. I'm thinking about how my dishwasher isn't working properly so I'm agitated that I have to wash and dry all the dishes by hand, I think about how I get irritated about socks and underwear not making it into the dirty laundry like they should, I think about the boxes that are still setting around my house that still need to be unpacked and how untidy it makes my house look. Really? These are my top concerns today? It pales in comparison to what our friends are dealing with today. How to go on after spending these last few months watching the love of their life waste away and pass from this life to another, how to raise your kids remembering the parent they've lost and give them all the love and support of two parents even though now they have one, how to help the family be well-adjusted even though they've experienced something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy?! Today I'm going to be content with my defunct kitchen appliance, my family who "forgets" where their dirty socks and undies should go, and the unpacked boxes containing pieces of our family's life around the house. I will cherish being alive to live another day and realize that I am very lucky that I can read a book to my children without tiring, that I can walk and run and hop all without carrying an oxygen tank, and I can have days without pain. Thank you to the one above for the reality check!! Excuse me now as I must go love on my preschooler and watch "Sesame Street"!

Blessings,
Melissa