The Moral of the Story -- cindy trane christeson

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart

will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”

-- Henry Ward Beecher

I’ve heard many flood stories after my column last week. More people

have slogged through soggy carpets than I ever imagined, and many of you

endured far worse situations than ours. I also heard some amazing fire

stories.

A friend of mine named Debbie told me about a conversation with a

friend who said, “I’m sorry if I seem a little scattered today, but my

house burned down last week.”

Apparently their garage had burned down, and there was smoke damage in

every room but one. As Debbie hugged her, the friend said, “In the grand

scope of things, it’s OK. Nobody was hurt. And I don’t have to worry

about cooking for the holidays this year.”

I was impressed with her amazing attitude, and it reminded me that

humor can lighten heavy mental loads. I’ve laughed more than I would have

thought about this experience. I thank God, my family and friends for

helping me keep things in perspective.

I first laughed the night of the flood when I spread wet papers out on

a patch of dry kitchen counter. I have a colorful tile there that says,

“A woman is like a tea bag -- you can’t tell how strong she is until you

put her in hot water.”

I chuckled and thought, “I think it applies if she’s standing in cold

water too, especially if there’s lots of it.”

Several friends asked if I was feeling swamped, or if life was

showering me with problems. Many of you have kept me laughing with other

funny lines and jokes. And like the woman said after her fire, in the

grand scope of things, it’s OK. Nobody was hurt. Some things were ruined,

like a computer, printer, answering machine, television and carpet. But

they are all just things.

I was especially thankful when I realized that I was only minutes away

from losing about 50 photo albums. Jon and I had to spread some damp

pictures around the house, and most of them survived. Every time I walked

by and saw photos of special people in my life, I smiled and thanked God

again.

I’m sorry if you thought the weather was too warm and dry last week to

put up Christmas decorations, but God knew we needed help drying things.

Our house was very loud for days from many fans, dryers and

dehumidifiers. A nice man named James came by periodically to move them

around. One day he introduced me to his co-worker and said, “Peter, these

are very nice folks. Here they are, their house is falling down around

them and they’ve stayed so calm and nice.”

I shook hands with Peter and said, “This peace is only coming from

God. I’ve prayed a lot.” We had a wonderful weekend with our college

daughters. They didn’t care about the house, and even invited friends

over for dinner and to spend the night.

Our house is still one big mess, but I’m calling it “creative

decorating.” Over the holidays, we talk about counting our blessings. We

should remember to thank God for them as well. And you can quote me on

that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She can be reached via e-mail at o7

cindy@onthegrow.comf7 or through the mail at P.O. Box 6140-No.505,

Newport Beach 92658.