During our daughters' hospitalization and even after their coming home it was easy for me occasionally to get mired in pity - for my husband, myself and our babies.  Why had we all suffered so much?  I remember talking to girlfriend of mine who'd also just had a baby.  She relayed how difficult it had been for her when in the recovery room they took her newborn daughter away from her for about 45 minutes.  "Forty- five minutes!"  I thought.  "Try going home without her for two months!"  But immediately I recalled an event that occurred during my daughters' hospital stay.  A mother gave birth to twins after just 20 weeks of pregnancy; one of her babies was stillborn and the other died just after birth.  She never got to bring her babies home at all. 

I've thought of those twins often over the years.  When Becky was hospitalized at four with meningitis, and when I was laid off from my management job, and again when our house flooded during monsoon season.  In the end I remember how truly blessed we are!  So be sure to reflect back on your life and put the seeming challenges of today into perspective.