Thoughts...,

Today's post is not about the wee ones I spend each day with. It's about a different life consuming hobby: The Pioneer Woman's blog! If you don't know who she is, you're missing out! The woman is hilarious, a fabulous cook, and a great photographer. Plus she does give aways! Ye-ah! Today she was giving away a Kitchen Aide stand mixer and all your had to do was leave a comment answering this question:

"If you could snap your fingers right now and grant yourself one wish, what would it be?"

Without thinking I wrote that I would fast forward to August 7, 2010--my wedding day! So with my one sentence entry I'm just positive I'll win....I mean only 22,000 people left a comment. My odds are good, right? Ummm yeah...

I started to skim through comments 1 through 250 and found myself wanting to pray. I skipped a few pages and looked through many comments. It seemed like almost half the comments were people wishing they could pay off houses, students loans, or debt in general. People were wishing to not be having marital problems, their dear family's cancer would be healed, wishing they or family members could find jobs, and on and on. The most heart breaking one I saw repeatedly read "That I could have a baby". Man, people are battling so much more in life than I have to deal with right now. I pray against it, but there's nothing out there that says I couldn't someday be in each situation.

To me, this is just a reminder to pray for strangers, not be judgmental, and live life with opens arms. I used to say prayers for people driving past me or walking down isles in grocery stores. I mean, I don't know their story, but God does. His love for them is as unending as the ocean. On my fridge I taped a fortune cookie paper that says, "Be nice to everyone, for everyone is fighting their own battle." Don't judge the idiot who cut you off in traffic, don't give a glare to the extremely loud and irritating person at the movies. Just get over yourself. Who knows what their life is like? (Please, no accountability for the writer on this one. Not my strong suit :) Instead of being frustrated, send a smile, a nod, or note of encouragement if possible. A smile has turned my day around before, I think I'll do my best to pay it forward.

Love y'all! Stay strong!
Mary Poppins