Deliver me…

When my aunt was a tiny little girl she misunderstood part of the Lord’s Prayer and rather than praying “deliver me from evil”, she prayed, “deliver me from people”. My grandfather, who was a bit of a character, loved this and chose not to correct her. There may be something to be said for her version.

When I feel the need to pray “Lord, deliver me from people”, I find it helpful to focus on those in my life who bring me joy:

• My husband. David has been the love of my life since I was 14 years old and sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am to have him. We’ve been married over 28 years and he still makes my heart go pitty-pat. We are having an absolute blast together these days!
• Our son. When I was pregnant with Chris I prayed that I wouldn’t have a boring child and God blessed me beyond measure in that regard. Chris is smart, talented, hilarious, tender-hearted and has made me a better person in so many ways.
• Our daughter. I knew she would be our last baby and barely dared to hope for a girl. When I held her tiny perfection I knew that God had blessed me immensely. She let me play dress-up with her much longer than most daughters will allow and now, as an adult I consider her one of my closest friends.
• Our son-in-law. It can be a little bit hard on a devoted mama when her *baby* gets married but I couldn’t ask for a better *son-in-love* than Justin. We enjoy hanging out together and he loves Lisa. What more could I ask?
• My parents and various other relatives. I’m fortunate to live close to so much of my family and enjoy spending time with them.
• Friends. I am blessed with so many very dear friends. Hardly a week goes by that David and I don’t have the opportunity to go out with friends. Even in New Orleans we have an ever-growing circle of friends. Our first night there last weekend, while at the Tropical Isle watching our friends, Debi and Bryan perform, several other friends came by to see us, including a friend of our son’s who always makes an effort to meet up with us when we are in town. And hardly a trip goes by that we don’t make at least one new friend.
• Our church family. On Sunday mornings I look around and realize how very dear these people are to me. They are truly the most loving and accepting folks. I know without a doubt I could call any one of them if I needed something and they would be there for me.

As I read back over that list, I smile. How did I get so lucky? I’m sure I don’t deserve such blessings but that makes them all the sweeter. And it helps put things in perspective. My life is so good that I truly cannot complain about a little bump here or there.

The other thing I tend to do when I need to work through something is to clean house. Which is what I will now get back to. Some fun music on the iPod and the scent of Pine-Sol should have me totally at peace in no time.