ENCOURAGE- ING

Ok, I know this story is a bit long, but it is good!
First, I went to Dallas a couple weeks ago and while I was there my brother asked me to watch his children on the last real day of my trip (can you really do anything on a Sunday? No). I was only there for 3 days and Naomi was so clingy we were never separated! On Saturday, my parents, a friend and I were going to the Dallas Arboretum and to luch, etcetera etcetera. But my brother asked everyone to help him move, which took all day, and asked me to watch his 3 children. I agree, but I was offended by their lack of consideration.
The "friend" I mentioned is my mother's friend who was visiting that week from Utah. She has had cancer for the past few years and has undergone kemo a few times (first for breast cancer, other tumors and now a brain tumor). She has lost her breasts, her hair and her health. She obviously could not help move furniture, so she stayed and volunteered to help me with my neice and nephews.
After the "movers" left, I was ranting about my brother being inconsiderate, etcetera. A little while later the kids went outside and so did my mother's friend. I was washing the dishes and watching them from the kitchen window. And then it hit me! I was complaining to her! I was seriously complaining to her! To her! Here she was, on maybe the last vacation of her life, watching kids that have no relation to her without even one word! Instead she was happily pushing them on the swing and playing alongside the kids!
I dropped the dish and ran outside and apologized profusely! And I will never forget the lesson of that day! Even when there is a mountain of negatives, you don't have to focus on the scenery! There is a positive and that is worth praising! I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day with my neice and nephews and even enjoyed the site of my brother when they returned. I still cannot believe how immature and selfish I was, how out-of-wack my perspective was! I cannot believe I could give so much control of my emotions to other people!
I play that experience over and over in my head and hope it will never leave me because I never want to forget! And I learn that almost everday with my children... if you feed good behavior, it grows and when you do that, the nagtive behavior starves to death!
I had this story sent to me and it reminded me of myexperience in Dallas:
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end.They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind ' s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days, weeks and months passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.
It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Let's all be encouragers!