Thankful

Wow, two posts in one day. I must be really slow at work getting the hang of blogging regularly. Anyway, I’m interrupting my House Hunters series with a short post that I think is timely and important.

Late this afternoon I read a news story about a newborn baby found behind a tenement building in Queens, NY. I read through a few of the reader comments which, as you might imagine, were mostly rude and unnecessary. And then I read one that stopped me in my tracks – “think about how desperate that mother must have been to do something like that.” The commenter surmised that the mother was likely young and terrified with no money, no options and perhaps no way to get to a safe place. So she did the only thing she could think to do – leave it in a busy area where it was likely to be found quickly.

Is that the case? Who knows. Does it excuse what the mother did? Absolutely not.

It really made me stop and think though. I know I’ve done my fair share of complaining with this pregnancy. I’ve dealt with some uncomfortable symptoms and I’ve had to adjust my activity level and my level of perfectionism. If you ask my mom or husband, they’d probably tell you I haven’t exactly reacted with the cheerfulness of of Pollyanna.

I have a lot to be thankful for and reading that comment today reminded me of those things:

• I have had a healthy pregnancy so far and the baby is healthy.
• I have a clean, comfortable apartment in a safe neighborhood.
• I have plenty of food to provide good nutrition for me and the baby.
• I have access to excellent medical care.
• We are financially stable.
• I get frequent support and encouragement from good friends.
• I have a husband and a family who love me unconditionally.
• I have a God who loves me and a Catholic faith I wouldn’t trade for anything.

All in all, I’m not sure what else I could want. I guess I really needed that dose of perspective today.