Dudes... I can't stand it... All of this is real stuff that is REALLY going on (if not for me, then for someone else.)

1345. My husband hasn't been locked out at work and growing more depressed because he can't find a job that will provide for his family.

1344. My parents haven't moved to another continent.

1343. My husband's company has not decided to relocate us (again) half way across the country where the cost of living is 15% higher.

1342. Our family has reliable income.

1341. We have health insurance.

1340. Our children are not in the hospital so sick that they almost have kidney failure before the doctors figure out what is wrong.

1339. Hateful militia are not ravaging my neighborhood, burning down my home, and chasing after me until I reach safety in another country.

1338. When my daughter needed a cast on her arm, we were able to get her one.

1337. I haven't lost a child.

1336. My home hasn't been flooded.

1335. I sat in a room full of women today and ate chocolate covered strawberries and drank tea with my daughter.

1334. And my mother-in-law came over TOTALLY last minute to watch the other two children when I could not, for the life of me, find a babysitter.

1333. My husband does not belittle me.

1332. Or beat me.

1331. And he is asking me all sorts of questions to try and figure out how he can love me better.

1330. I am not having seizures which my doctor can't determine the cause of.

1329. And my husband wasn't relocated by his company to the other side of the world, effective, like, NOW, and had to leave me behind to sell the house and take care of our belongings... and our kids too.

1328. No one that I know was killed on the job today.

1327. My mom did not suddenly and unexpectedly pass away this week.

1326. My mom didn't pass away after a long illness either.

1325. And I don't have the dried up flower arrangements from my spouse's funeral sitting in my family room because I just don't have the heart to throw them away yet.

1324. And I don't have a 102.5 degree fever.

1323. None of my children have a hole in their heart.

1322. And I have not had to endure the excruciating wait for results of tests to determine if that heart has a rare and terrible disease.

1321. I don't have three kids to care for AND several major health problems that keep me laid up on the couch some days.

1320. But I do have a husband who offers to come home from work so that I can take my child to the doctor without dragging the other two with me.

1319. And I go to a church where our pastor will ride his motorcycle down the center aisle of the fellowship hall during the Mother-Daughter Tea... with his hair slicked back and wearing a leather jacket.

1318. I can hear my sleeping kids breathing right now.

1317. If I wanted to get pregnant this month, I probably could.

1316. People pray for me.

1315. I can pray for other people.

1314. My (big) daughter sat on my lap today and I had enough peace in my heart to endure the pain of her sitting there (she's heavy!) because I knew how much it means to her to be able to sit in my lap.

1313. I have not had to endure the pain of divorce... as a child or as a wife.