Thanks for the update, Billybob: Some of the greatest blessings in my life came from short-term disasters. There was a time in my life when I seemed to be getting it from all directions and just for survivals sake I developed what I jokingly called pre-hindsight. It's easy to look back on terrible things in our lives that turned out to be blessings, but I had so many difficult things happening that I couldn't wait for enough time to pass for hindsight. I guess what I was really asking for was instant-hindsight. No waiting necessary. While I joke about it, it was a very helpful attitude to have. Sometimes I'd have to laugh at everything that was coming at me and I say to myself, "O.K. God, tell me why I should really be thankful that this is happening." Sometimes he did.

Without a sense of humor, I never would have made it.

Jerry