Things we take for granted

So…. it’s been a while.

Things have been great since I’ve last written. The hubby and I are now doing Financial Peace University. We are working through our first prepared budget this month!!!!! Needless to say we will have to make some changes… kinda shorted ourselves some in the gas department… but overall, its been great!!!! It does help that I’ve had a few extra hours here and there! We are excited to see what God will do when we are debt free!!!! So far we have our baby emergency fund (before you freak out on me… I’m not talking about a BABY fund… for those of you unfamiliar with Dave, the first step is to have a "baby emergency fund" in place… meaning 1000 saved up for emergencies! We are not planning on the real baby for a few more years!). We are not on baby step 2, our debt snowball. This could take a while, but we are trying to get everything in debt paid off with exception of the house! Credit cards are closed and gone!!! Now its time to pay off the rest of the stuff!

This weekend was fun. My cousin got married yesterday, and although the weather was horrible, the wedding was still beautiful. I actually did the pictures. I, by no means, am a professional nor do I claim to be one when it comes to picture taking, but it was fun and I hope they turn out well! I will post some pictures later once I’ve had time to look through them! I did miss the vows though cause I was so focused on getting good shots. Wish I would have heard them cause the part I did catch was beautiful!

Now, on to my thought for today….

Last night as we were headed home from the beach, the hubby and I stopped to eat dinner at McDonalds with my mom and brother. As we were starting to eat my brother decided he needed some ranch dressing for his fries. Well mom told him if he wanted some to go up and ask for it… so he did… it was so cute. He walked up kinda scared and said "May I have some ranch dressing for my friends please?" And he was granted what he asked for. Well a little later he wanted some ice cream for dessert. Mom told him to go order and gave him 2 dollars and said to bring back the change. Well being the big sis and to make sure that the wasn’t picked on nor was he taken advantage of, I watched as this next scene unfolded….

Steven walks up to the counter, hands almost kinda shaking a little and asks the man behind the counter, "Could I get an ice cream cone please?" Well the guy rings him up and its $1.08. Steven looks at his hand and gives him one of the dollars he has. The guy is like ok its 1.08 so I just call out to Steven to say "Buddy, he needs both of the dollars cause the cost is bigger than just 1." So Steven gladly hands over the other dollar. The guy gives him a receipt and change and Steven stands there looking nervous as can be. He is wringing his hands the whole time. Finally he gets his ice cream cone.. says thank you… and comes back to the table.

By this time I am crying like a baby at our table and my mother and hubby are laughing at my reaction. It hit me as I watched him walk up to that counter that he was so nervous and innocent. We walk up, usually impatiently, and give our orders out then throw the money at them… not even having to take the time to think about the price. Heaven forbid something go wrong as we stand there because we have done this so many times we could do it with our eyes closed.

Seems like such a mundane task. But for someone like my brother, it was one of the biggest tasks of the night for him! And as I watched him, my heart broke…. here he is at 20 years old and he’s not confident walking up and giving an order to a stranger. He doesn’t know if they guy gave him the right price… or the right change for that matter… because in his world 2 quarters is more than a dollar because there are "more" of them. In his world, things like that don’t seem to matter all that much…

We take for granted all the things that we have the ability to do. As simple as it may be, we take for granted that we can walk up at a restaurant, read the menu, place our order, know if it’s the right price, count out the amount accurately, and hand it over. We take for granted that we can understand an intelligible conversation in the break room at work… We take for granted that we can understand how to play a game on playstation…. or even how to play a game at all. We take for granted that we can walk through the mall without any assistance…. better yet to even walk at all. We complain about all the things we HAVE to do, or DON’T get to do… yet we don’t take the time to appreciate all that we are ABLE to do.

The next time you walk up and place your order, really think about it. Don’t take things for granted. You never know when your life may change and you cannot do all the things you once could do before. Don’t wait until it’s too late…. start appreciating the little stuff today. And make sure to appreciate all the people in your life. The smallest baby can teach the biggest lessons, the disciplining mother can be your greatest encourager, the hurting family member can teach you about love and humility, the craziest friend could give you the best comfort in hard times, the loving spouse can be your greatest treasure here on earth, and the younger brother can open up the eyes of your heart… I know mine did for me.

Until next time…

P.S. If any of you are wondering about my brother, well, he has a heart of gold! He is 20 years old (where in the world did the time go), loves to talk to everyone he meets, extremely loving, loves to dance (got the pics to prove it), can be totally stubborn and at times, tends to get angry when he doesn’t get his way, smiles a lot, laughs a lot, and he is autistic. He has taught me so much in his 20 years on this earth and I am so lucky to have a brother like him. There are times when we get angry at each other, but which brother and sister don’t… all I know is that I love that boy and am so thankful God blessed our family with him. Its hard sometimes, easy at others…