Count My Many Blessings . . . and Counting . . . Counting . . . .

Count your many blessings,

Name them . . . George, John, Abe and Al.

Count your many blessings,

They won't last too long . . . . .

Please forgive me for if I seem a little irreverent, I don't mean to be. This week has really brought back some memories of the first few years of our marriage. Procrastination has sent the chickens home to roost in a big way, and I am grateful that we can take care of some needs, grateful that I can take the brunt of the decision making this week before Jon gets home so he doesn't have to deal with it, and have faith that a promise will be kept.

So I will back track a "little" . . HA! You know me better than that, huh?

In 1979 we moved to Thatcher with a 4 1/2 month old baby and stars in our eyes. We were so glad to get out of the "big" city. We missed friends and family (mostly family) in the valley but felt like it was a good move. We took what Jon's salary was going to be, figured how we would we would live on it, packed up and moved, full of faith that we could make a go of it. Of course when you figure that closely and have older cars . . . you know the rest of that one!

Fortunately, we moved there with no debt, we had been married only 16 months, I was so in love that I would do anything to make it happen, had lots good cash cutting ideas, and we had parents that would find little ways to help our food budget. I had $20/week for food, clothes, medicine, paper goods (I still wrapped sandwiches in wax paper, and Jon brought it home so that we could reuse it the next day, along with his brown bag). He started to get some side work fixing avionics on planes, etc. and was so excited to get a "little ahead" . . and then something went wrong on the car. He was so discouraged. I reminded him that at least the money came through just in time to do the repair! He agreed that we were blessed.

When I got paid for sewing, Jon told me to use it for something just for me, that I really wanted, just for me. He got a little upset when I spent it at the grocery store. The two of us would eat a 6-quart pot full of beans each week, I made all of our breads, was happy when I had the sugar to make syrup (used corn starch to thicken it so I could use much less sugar . . I still prefer that!) When I found weevils in our flour, I sifted them out. When I caught Mariah playing in my tub of flour with an old fly swatter, I just gulped and prayed that any germs would die in the baking . . . don't worry, I didn't feed that to anyone else! I learned to make TVP into all kinds of things in place of ground beef. So when I got hold of some extra money, I went grocery shopping. It was wonderful to have more than just 3-4 tomatoes and head of lettuce stretched for a two

week period.

So here we are 30 years later, kind of in the same boat. I have shelled out so much money on three vehicles this week that Jon's pay check will be gone by the time he gets home. The good side is that I am still madly in love, have stars in my bleary eyes and want to help Jon in the best way that I can by stretching every dollar Jon works so hard to bring home . . . stretch it til it squeals! I have had to learn so many hard lessons that have taught me what is really important. Our family is healthy, they have remained faithful to the Lord so that they are w

orthy of His blessings, want to serve the Lord and their fellow man. They live close by and make an effort to stay in touch to keep our family ties strong and are working hard to build future

s to care for their own families. We still have a roof over our heads, such as it is. We have vehicles to fix, still do . . . there are two dead ones in the back yard ( giggle) Our "pet cemetery" is becoming a "car cemetery" . . but not for long . . . ?

The best thing, Nanny's magic band-aids (cute with silly pictures) and magic cream (neosporin) can fix just about anything ( Garrett just fixed a "boo boo"). I am blessed and life is good and fortunately, my best blessings are not named after great American presidents, they are named, Jon, Mariah, Stephen, Rob, Brianna, Sarah, Gabriel, Arianna, Garrett, Tatianna, and Lincoln.

Now to have a little session on those secondary "friends" on that paper and figure out who gets to go where . . . . well maybe after "Gawwett hewps me wash and cwean my ban . . . it weawy needs it, Nanny!