You Just Never Know...

Yesterday morning was a morning like any other...well, like any other when our holiday home is alive with visitors!  My sister-in-law, Jan,  & I got up early & went for a beautiful walk down by the water.  We proceeded to go to two coffee shops to satisfy our divided tastes in the afore-mentioned beverage & then home to enjoy.  Soon, Jan decided that she needed a quick professional "wash & blow-dry" so we scrambled out the door again to the salon. And this is where the morning turned interesting...

I had, the day before, noticed a great top in the window of Suzannes.  So, while Jan was at her hair appointment, I had decided that I would go & try on this shirt.  Of course, once I was in the shopping environment, I gathered quite a few other items to satiate my wardrobe urges.  As always, I was debating over the size required, with the sales attendant, as she tried to lower my selections down from the ceiling-high displays.  And, as always, my bosoms were at centre-stage in the conversation.

"Oh, I don't think you will need an XL in that!"  "Oh, yes I will - I always need the XL to allow for my big boobs!"  And on & on I went about my seemingly problematic body parts.  After getting a change room & trying on several of the items, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I did, indeed, not need the XL as I had presumed.  And the kind sales attendant said, "There, you see!  I knew I was right!"
Then she went on to tell me how I should never complain about the size of my "boobs!"  At least I had two of them regardless of their preposterous size.  I was quite taken aback...she told me how she had lost a breast to breast cancer & that she was, in fact, not feeling very well at all that day as she was still undergoing chemotherapy.  She liked to work when she felt well enough but had just called in another sales associate, to cover for her, as she was not feeling well enough to stay...

Well, I apologized as best I could & will forevermore be more chaste about my "body parts" grumblings.  And, if this was not enough, as I was paying, my cell phone rang & it was our son, Anson, skyping me from the Dominican Republic where he was in a remote village visiting one of our World Vision foster children.  He had her & some of her family members there on the phone thanking us & blessing us for our support.  Well, that did it - the flood gates opened & right there in the middle of that store, I was an emotional mess.  I was already overwhelmed by the life's lesson from the store clerk & now this emotionally-charged skype call.

An overwhelming lesson for me on gratitude and appreciation.  I know it sounds cliche but I really need to live in the moment; ever aware of all of the abundant blessings in my life.  Am I ever truly thankful for the two breasts that I do have, however shapely the may be?  And is it even possible for me to fathom what a difference our pittance of a sponsorship makes in the life of a family across the continent from me??  Well, for whatever reason, today I am aware.  What a fabulous, emotional, victorious, crazy, eye-opening morning that was.  And my little world has, once again, been forever expanded!!