Remember

Had it not been for the wonderful extra day off work, a lot of the tasks on my chore list would have not received their pretty little check mark this weekend. With Monday off, Brian and I looked at our slightly neglected home and decided we needed to catch up. And catch up we did. At least we tried. Promptly at 8:00 a.m. Brian began ripping out carpet in the nursery. By noon he had completed one room. I think he had hoped to get a lot further, but progress was made so he was satiated. By noon I had baked, done all the laundry, folded all of the laundry, and cleaned the majority of the basement. After lunch we assisted each other in various projects - I vacuumed in the nursery and Brian moved furniture in the basement. And the reward for completing these projects? We took a trip to Walmart and bought some petunias, some hostas, and some other pretty plants and went home to plant them. I am quite pleased with the result. That evening I made spaghetti for supper because that sounded really good to me. We ate and then we retired to sofas and pillows and television.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this I sat back and considered how truly humbling it is that so many have died so I could clean my house, bake some bars, plant some meaningless (but pretty) flowers, and lounge on my sofa. Sometimes I even feel guilty. I feel like I should DO more with my life. Make something MORE of myself. Get involved in more stuff. And while all of this is may be true, I suddenly understood that they didn't die so I could kill myself trying to pay that debt. They died so I could clean, bake, plant and lounge. They died so I could rest in the assurance that we are safe. We are well. We are free. And for that I am extremely thankful.