Find a Bigger Problem

A couple of days ago I passed along some wisdom I’d learned by reading missionaries’ letters. I have one more to share. We have many families living in Nigeria, engaged in a wide variety of holistic ministries on behalf of the people there. As you know from following the news, the president of Nigeria is trying to reduce corruption, and his attempts have brought on quite a bit of civil unrest. Often our friends have been close to the fighting, but thank God so far this year there have been no casualties. The writer of this letter said, “Seeing these incidents has made me grateful for the safety and freedom that I have spent my life taking for granted. The frustration and anger that festers behind these outbursts is magnified by people’s feelings of helplessness and lack of political power. It is easy to wallow in criticism and negativity towards the social and political issues in the U.S., but I’m reminded of my mother’s motto: “Find a Bigger Problem.” That’s a tough approach, but sensible. Next time I’m tempted to whine about something, I’ll try remember to “find a bigger problem” to compare mine to. And next time someone starts complaining, I might just take a risk and advise them, also, to “find a bigger problem.” We could witness an outbreak of gratitude if we’d couple this motto with the happiness-creating formula of naming three good things that happen each day and identifying the reason why they occurred.

The CA 125 test shows a continuing increase, but the rate of increase has slowed considerably. A month ago it was 185 (up 83 from the previous month). Now it’s 222 (up only 37). The literature about Doxil (the kemo I’m getting now) says it is not uncommon for the CA 125 to rise after receiving this treatment. Both the oncologist and the surgeon advised us to hope for the incline to level off somewhat. I haven’t drawn a graph, but I think that’s what these numbers indicate. So we take the report as good news. We’ll see what the doctor says this afternoon.

I haven’t passed along any blonde jokes for awhile. Here’s one. She had heard about the fun of ice fishing, so she purchased all the necessary equipment and set out for the ice. After positioning her comfortable chair, she proceeded to break a hole through the ice with her spud. Suddenly, from above a voice boomed, “Lady, there are no fish under that ice.” Startled, the blonde moved further down the ice, poured a thermos of cappuccino, and began to work on another hole. Again the voice bellowed, “There are no fish under that ice.” The blonde, quite worried, moved way down to the far end of the ice, set up her equipment, and tried again to cut a hole. The voice came once more, “There are no fish under that ice.” She stopped, looked skyward, and asked, “Is that you, Lord?” The voice replied, “No, this is the manager of the ice rink.”

All my blonde friends (with or without help from Clairol) are extremely intelligent, so this joke is not intended for them. Suzanne in Niger, I especially apologize to you!

Somehow blogspot changed the rules and made it difficult for you to post comments. I think I’ve got it fixed now.

Love,
Carol