My Glass Half Full

"Ooooh," Benjamin (a.k.a. Eeyore) moaned from the couch, 

where he lay covered in cold compresses on multiple stings.

"Why does everything bad happen to me?"

"Everything bad?"  I asked.

He went on to mention half a dozen scrapes and owies he has sustained being the red neck kid he is,

not to mention the current itching wounds.

"Your glass must be half empty,"  I said, sitting down on the couch next to him.

   "but really," I went on,

 patting his skinny bare leg, 

noticing his grubby bare toes as I continued; 

"Your glass is half FULL! 

 Just think of all the good and beautiful things in your  life- just today!  

He had a hard time with this,

 so I started him off..... did you wake up this morning?  

Yes?  That is GOOD!

  Did you have a good meal to start your day?

  Yes?  That, too, is GOOD!  

Do you have parents who love you?  

Well, there is another one.

 You are already leaps ahead of most of the boys in the world your age.  

We went on until he could easily add to the list by himself. 

 Pretty soon, He pulled himself off the couch and went outside to play,

 his countenance much changed.

It is easy to let circumstances get us down. 

 The best antidote I know is to sit down and ponder the many, many blessings we do have.  

Literally counting our blessings. 

 Naming them one by one.  

Seeing What the Lord has done.

There are many to count here at Providence Lodge this week: 

 Grammy and Grampy have come for their end of summer visit, 

bringing with them their California garden produce. 

 We are enjoying yellow squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, cucumbers,

 tomatoes, peppers, Grammy's zucchini bread, pickles, 

and oh so many other wonderful things. 

 I love watching "The Grands" playing cards with the children,

 eating peanuts out of the shell on the porch, reading them books,

 and just being grand parents.  

The children adore having the grandparents here.
 It is a special celebratory time.

When else? they would say, would mama let us eat peanuts out of the shell?

The children are enjoying the last days of summer,

 knowing that mama is planning and organizing 

and that means schooling is just around the corner.

  Besides playing with Grampy and Grammy, 

there has been the usual swimming in the pond,

 lots of Cowboys and Indians with the little figurines that John played with when he was a tot,

 much playing in the dirt,

 getting dirty, 

and more dirty.  

Bad-mitten is popular here all of the sudden,

 as is a plethora of imaginary games, 

mostly involving guns.

The flowers and squash are still growing in our garden,

the goats are healthy and providing our family with good milk to drink,

God still loves us, and won't ever ever stop, 

and thus, 

our cup is definitely half full.