It Could Have Been Worse!

I wanted to record some recent experiences that weren't necessarily fun, but I was able to count my blessings when they occurred.

First experience:  On Monday, I read a friend's blog post about her experience with a toilet hose that broke while they were gone and flooded their house.  When I read that, I thought, "wow, glad that wasn't me."  Later that night, I was doing some sewing at the dining room table and heard water running in the bathroom.  It was about 9pm and the kids were in bed, so I thought that maybe A had gotten up to use the bathroom.  I waited for a minute and could still hear the water, so I decided to go check.  As I walked in, water was spraying everywhere from the hose.  I quickly turned off the water and found towels to mop up the mess.  I was amazed and how much water there was in just a couple of minutes.  I was so grateful that:
1) I was home
2) I was upstairs and in the kitchen and could hear the water running and get to it quickly.

Experience #2: A couple weeks ago I was getting the boys ready to go do some "visits", I got A's bike out of the garage and the stroller for S.  I got all the bags out of the house and ran in to get one last thing, then shut the door as I ran out.  One second too late I realized that I locked my keys in the house.  This situation could have been so much worse but thankfully:
1) I had unlocked the garage and gotten the bike and stroller already out
2) I had everything I needed (cell phone, diapers, etc.) already with me
3) We were at home - two houses away from the park - with ready entertainment for the kids and a bathroom - (which A needed almost immediately after I locked the door!)
4) I had two sweet neighbors that were a phone call away and willing to help me out.  They are two sisters that are older widows.  One was able to drive me to Jared's work (which is 10 mins away) to get his keys, while the other sister watched the boys (since I didn't have carseats available - they were locked in my car).

Anyway, the boys had fun playing at the park, and then playing outside at the sister's house - they didn't think anything was wrong!  That situation definitely couldn't have been worse.

The last experience happened tonight.  I was doing some shopping at Walmart and they didn't have a couple things I needed (surprise!) so I needed to make a stop at the grocery store by our house on the way home.  I was talking to Jared on my cell phone as I was getting out the car and walking through the store.  I picked up the few items I needed and was checking out when I realized I didn't have my keys - I knew immediately that I had locked them in the car (do we see a trend?).  I paid for everything and grabbed my one bag of items and proceeded to calmly walk home.  We only live about 1/2 miles from the store.  As I was walking home I realized the situation could have been a lot worse:
1) I could have been wearing my flip flop sandals instead of the tennis shoes I felt prompted to put on.
2) It could have been raining like it has been the past week
3) I could have had the kids with me or locked the door with the kids inside (yes, that has happened before - thankful even though A was strapped in the carseat, he could reach the automatic unlock button with his foot!)
4) I could have had a cart full of groceries (like I did at Walmart) and that would have made things a little more complicated getting home.
5) I could have been at a store a lot farther away.
6) Jared could have been working (which most evenings he is) - and unavailable with another set of keys.

I know I could have called someone (not Jared, because we only have one car), but it was almost 10 pm, it was a beautiful night and the walk was actually nice.  I came home, got Jared's keys and then walked back to the store. 

I am grateful for these little experiences.  At first I tend to think "what a bad day", but then I was able to realize and see how blessed I actually was in these situations and think "it could have been worse"!