A tale of two years

Oh, what could  have been.  The year is 2012 and  in January I thought it was going to be glorious.  I love numbers and 2012 is a great number.  It is divisible by 4, it adds up to 5 and those are to of my favorite numbers.  Plus we were leaving 2011 which is such a bad number.  I realize that it adds up to 4 but that is were it's goodness ends.  2011 is an odd number and may even be prime for all I know (I might like numbers but I am not such a math geek that I would know that travail fact!).

It is an election year and I love politics.  But I don't plan to dwell on that topic.

If I was Charles Dickens I would have started this blog by saying 2012 it was the best of times, 2012 it was the worst of times. But if you have ever had the patience to read anything that I have blogged in the past you understand that I am not Charles Dickens.

Let me give you a list of things.

• Refrigerator
• Washing Machine
• Dryer
• Water Softener
• Hot Water Heater
• Three extra days in Manhattan
• Basement flood due to broken sump pump.
• Car Tires
• Pool motor

That is the list, off the top of my head, of things that broke down within the Chapin family's 2012.  Depressing to say the least.  It seems every couple of weeks we were hit with a major financial punch.

Yep.  It was the driest summer in the recorded history of Lincoln Nebraska and we had water damage in the basement of a house that sits at the highest point in town!  All because it rained hard one day and the sump pump didn't work.

The silver lining?  In 2011 our microwave oven and dishwasher had to be replaced so the only appliance in the entire house left to be replaced is the oven.

By now you must be wondering why I am writing and why you are reading this downer of a blog.  Let me explain.

I am writing and reviewing this list of bad news because it was recently thanksgiving and that is a traditional time to reflect on what I am thankful for.  This year while reflecting I thought about

• My wonderful wife and children.
• My extended family and in laws.
• The people I get to work with.
• A turn around in the economy of Willmar Electric.
• The chance to live in the greatest country in the world
• The chance to add  two foreign exchange students, Nathalie (Norway) and Emmanuel (Ghana), to our family.
• The chance to coach baseball this past summer.

The longer I thought the more the blessing in my life continued to pile up in my mind.  It left me humbled.  It left me thinking even with all the things that have gone wrong in 2012 within my house and the world at large I am still thankful for so much in life. Praise the Lord!

I hope you can reflect on your life and find the positive things to dwell on.  It is more fun than thinking about broken appliances.   And when you are done remember to praise the Lord.