Thoughts

I've been thinking about the "power of positive thinking" lately. Some people are just so positive, it makes me sick. I'm super skeptical of them. I always assume they're charismatic and are just always "filled". Then that makes me wonder what I'm filled with. Then you have the negative people. After you've been around them, you want to  1. jump off a cliff, 2. kick a dog, or 3. write a country song. Why can't there be a happy medium? 


I come from a family who laughs...a lot. We laugh at anything. Even people getting hurt. We're kind of sadistic, I think. But it all stems back to growing up in PNG, I think. When we first got there, we were little and of course like all kids, we were always falling. It may have had to do with the big parachute skirts we wore. Or maybe we were off balance because of our big, beautiful bangs. Or more realistically, there was a lot of mud and we were always barefoot, so there isn't a lot of traction. I remember my sisters and I were with a group of our friends walking to our village and I tripped over something and went down hard. I remember looking up and seeing Tracy and Robin's concerned faces and then hearing the shrieks of laughter from everyone else. Then, Tracy and Robin laughing as well, and once the initial pain wore off, I started laughing. I guess that's what started it all off. From then on, we laughed. I think it's made life easier...but just because I  laugh a lot, doesn't make me a positive thinker.


Over the years though, it seems that the more I see, the more negative I have become. I don't see the good in everyone. I look at them and wonder what they're trying to get. "Why are you being so nice to me?" This time back in Tonga, I've noticed it about myself, and I've decided to try and look at the positive.  Here are a few people that have given me positive thoughts.


Pastor Tony- When we went to church, he took time to give the kids and I an overview of the sermon in English...so we weren't just sitting there with no idea of what he was saying. He took a good 10 minutes giving us our own personal sermon while the church waited patiently.


The bus driver- No idea what is his name was. Bridger and I were coming home on the bus from town. He knew that I lived in Tofoa, and even though it wasn't his route, he drove me home. Then had to turn his big bus around in a vacant, muddy lot and go back to his route.


Beulah- my neighbor. She heard that the kids were sick and she came bearing a platter of bananas, coconuts and papaya because she wanted to make sure they were eating something while they were sick.


Happy- that's the name of the woman who saw the kids and I walking 2 miles to church today and stopped and asked if we needed a ride. Even though she was on her way into town to get some food for her husband who was sick at home, she went out of her way to drop us off at church. (side note- David is sick now as well)


I know there are more, but these are the ones that have made an impression on me...so far. I'm sure that there are a lot more to come, as long as I keep wearing my hair in two braids and being nice to even the grumpiest of people...oh wait, that's Pollyanna.


Thanks for all the prayers for the girls. They are up and around and a few pounds lighter, unfortunately. David is down but not being quite as dramatic as Elizabeth was. Miracles do happen!