When I wake up in the morning I ached in places I never ached before.

If I felt this way when I was young, I might have called in sick.

Now it is where I begin and end my day.

I just discovered that a friend of mine is dying from cancer. Now my aches are little to complain about.

“Thanks for reminding me, God how blessed I am.”

I keep my cell phone in my pocket and somewhere in my travels I pulled it out to use it and must have dropped a twenty dollar bill.

I was angry.

Then in the grocery store I watched a young mother pay for her child’s milk with all the change she had in her pocket.

I reached out and paid for it instead.

“Thanks for reminding me, God.”

While washing my 2007 Honda Fit the other day I discovered that someone had “keyed” the side of my car with a deep two foot scratch.

It’s not a new car. Still, I was angry that someone would do that.

When I left the car wash I passed a man changing a tire on an old beat up van. It was rotted out in spots and it appeared the spare he was using was worse than the flat.

His family stood by the side of the road.

“Thanks for reminding me God.” I remember those days. I may never have another brand new car, but I still have a good one.

I made an appointment to speak to my psychologist because I was facing new challenges and needed help.

While I was sitting in the waiting room I met a mother and her son. She told me his father had died recently and he was struggling with the loss.

My problems suddenly seemed trite.

“Thanks for reminding, God.”

I met a long time friend in the mall today. We talked about high school and he told me about all the people he spends time with from our class.

I felt bad because no one calls me. I said, “You know you always have been one of the most popular guys.”

He didn’t believe it.

I went on to list all of his positive traits and big accomplishments in his life.

He paused for a moment and said, “Funny, I never saw myself that way. I always felt like a loser. Truthfully, I never heard that growing up.”

I remember he had a hard life as a teen.

Then he said, “Thanks for reminding me.”

Take a look at your own life. Then take a look around. If you made a list of all the good things You’d be surprised at what you found.

God spoke to me just now, “You might not be wealthy and you need to work on your health, but you are alive, Bob!”

“Thanks for reminding me, God.”

Bob Perks