Giving thanks for life

     Friday 2 March 2012 began like most mundane Fridays. I woke hubby up for work, then got ready for work myself. On most Fridays, I have to go to school early for my Catholic Society meetings. Never a fan of canteen food, I prepared my lunch to take to school, in spite of a slight headache clouding my day.
     The headache began to take a turn for the worse as I used the laptop to revise Luke's gospel with my charges. I felt my head spinning and nausea threatened to throw me into embarrassment. I prayed for the dizziness and nausea to ease so that I could finish my meeting. Fortunately, I managed to plough through the entire one hour and forty five minutes. Dismissing my boys fifteen minutes early, I went back to my table to rest.
     My discomfort yo-yoed its grip on me throughout the day. At times, I had to rest and at times, I was well enough to carry out my lessons in class. But towards the end of the day, the toll was too much. The dizziness and nausea returned with a vengeance. Driving home was an agony. To make matters worse, it was pouring and traffic was down to a crawl. Throughout the journey, I was praying hard to be able to reach home safely as I was truly in no condition to drive. I kept telling myself that as long as I reached home safe, it didn't matter how late or if I had vomited in the car.
     In the end, God did deliver me home safely. But before I could swallow my painkillers and sink into the comfort of my bed, I had a phonecall from hubby. He was supposedly on his way to Kuala Lumpur as he had a photography workshop over the weekend.
     I was shocked to hear that hubby had been involved in an accident. He didn't furnish me with further details, apart from telling me that he was all right and that he was coming home. My first instinct was to worry, but I was physically unable to do that as I needed to reach for my painkillers and stagger to my bed.
     Lying on my bed, willing hubby to call so that I can glean more information, I prayed. I prayed that the Lord would bring him home safely, just as He had delivered me home safely a while ago. Soon my phone rang again. Hubby had called to update me on the latest and he was able to reveal more about how the accident had happened.
     Folly had got the better of him and he confessed that he had been speeding in the rain. His car had skidded and had spun a full circle, crashing into the dividers left and right. His front bumper had been savagely ripped off and flung to the back of the road. He had a flat tyre and was now hobbling home.
     But the most important thing was he was physically unharmed. At that moment, I was convinced that God must have been watching over him. There is no other explanation how hubby had escaped such a perilous turn of events, unscathed.
     It was close to midnight when hubby finally arrived home. He told me to brace myself before I went out to take a look at his car. An icy cold fear gripped my heart when I saw the condition of his car as that proved how much danger he had been in.
     In those mere seconds, my hubby could have been lost to me forever. He was, and till today, still is, shaken. I have emerged from Friday, 2 March 2012, with renewed awe of God's power and grace. In moments like these, you realize what is of paramount importance. All of a sudden, physical discomfort, money, looks, job, race, politics, reputation...none of these matter much. Life is about more.
     Life is about giving thanks for every breath in our bodies, being thankful for every morning that we can wake up. Life is about spreading cheer and good will whenever we can, bringing smiles and smoothing away frowns. Life is about cherishing every moment spent with loved ones and anticipating the next time we see each other again. Life is about sharing something that we know with others, thereby enriching their lives. Life is about dismissing petty issues and savouring the joys life offers. Life is about building bridges that transcend the boundaries of gender, generation, race and religion.
     One day later, I again discovered how true this is. I learned that my niece's boyfriend had suddenly passed away on Friday morning due to a clot in his brain. He was a young man of 23, recently graduated, poised to start working, had a gorgeous girlfriend. The world was his oyster. How could he have known that his life was to end so abruptly and prematurely?
     He didn't know. I too do not know how much longer my Lord wants to lend me to this world. But for the rest of my time here, I will give thanks for life.