Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The $5 Blessing

Ok. This may be small to you... but it's pretty big to me.

I was in the check-out line at Wal-Mart the other day, like many others, and I was just browsing the items sitting there vying for my attention. I ran across this little 'universal' remote for just under $5. I was just remembering that I couldn't find my bedroom remote earlier that day. Between me, my husband, and a few kids coming in and out of my room, it's pretty easy to misplace.

So, in my scheming little mind I thought I'd pick up a spare and hide it in my drawer for the next time the original turned up missing. Works perfectly! What a great idea... thank you very much! Ok... back on track. That's not the blessing part...

Here's where it blesses me so. My mother has quite a bit of hearing loss. She can't really hear much at all and what she does hear is pretty jumbled and she doesn't understand anyway. So she has to turn her tv pretty loud just to hear anything. She does have closed caption, but after a while it starts bothering her eyes.... they aren't so good either. And I think she just likes to have a little noise for comfort. Unfortunately it isn't comfortable for the rest of us.

So anyway, I used to have to sneak into her room to turn her tv down when she fell asleep. Sometimes she would fall asleep with the remote in her hands and I couldn't get to it, and other times I would sneak in and turn it down with the buttons... yes, it works without a remote... but I would often wake her up. Not that it's a horrible thing to wake her up. It's just that it makes her feel bad for having someone have to take care of her. She has enough to deal with as she has been diagnosed with memory loss. I know there's a word for it. I just hate to say it. It's hard enough to feel as if you can't fully take care of yourself anymore, so I don't want to add to it. That's where this little $5 remote becomes a blessing.

With this remote, I can turn her tv up, down, on, off... whatever I need to do from right outside her door. She doesn't even know I'm there. It brings me such peace to know that I can do this simple little thing for her - and us - and let her keep the independence she still has. No more apologizing for my having to come in and work the tv for her, or for not knowing it was to loud for everyone else when she didn't hear it. No more of her feeling bad for another thing that she forgot. No more feeling bad because she's lost her hearing. Peace for her, peace for my family again, and peace for me.

In the middle of chaos... a little peace goes a long way. And all from a $5 blessing.

God is so good!

Thanks for reading,
Mary Ann :)

2 comments:

Amico Dio said...

Oh that is so like God to think of ALL of our needs and meet them. He is so good!

I'm so glad that you were given this blessing but even more important that you recognize the gift from Him!

Awesome!!!

Mary Ann said...

Hi Amy!

Thanks for visiting! Yes... it is just like God to meet our needs even if we don't see a need there. I hope I will continue to see the blessings of even the 'small' things.

Have a great day! :)

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