Yesterday in our combined mtg. the teacher spoke on gratitude.  He spoke of a recent trip on the river and how beautiful everything was, and how it reminded him of how good our father in heaven is to us.  He was grateful for his senses that allowed him to enjoy the view  and so forth.  He then asked the class to volunteer their recent moments of gratitude.  Benjamin chose that moment to protest the length of the church block and the loudness of the speaker (I think he hates the use of microphones and people who use them).  He was perfectly happy the moment I stepped into the lobby, but screamed when I tried to go back into class to share what came to my mind.  I wanted very much to tell this story:
Recently Daniel noticed that our washer was making a terrible racket when it went into spin cycle.  He decided that the bearings must be going out.  Sure enough in a few days the washer stopped spinning out all  together.  I soon found out that I could not hand wring the laundry well enough for the dryer to do it's job properly.  I learned that I could do without all most any appliance in my home but I was not equipped to do Landry by hand.  I could line dry my clothes, I could shop daily for fresh food, I could cook on a bar-b-q in the driveway if I had to, and I could walk to almost any place if I had enough time, but I couldn't hand wash our laundry and keep up with my families demands.  Well, sometime back Daniel was involved with a remodel where the home owner chose to get new appliances in the process and sent him home with an old washer that was almost identical to the then new front loading washing machine we had.  I think that when he brought this thing home I probably said that it was a crazy thing to store in the garage just in case we needed it for parts.  But lucky for us my husband is a chronic pack rat because sure enough we needed it.  Late one night Daniel gutted the old washer and put the guts in our "new" washer and hooked up all the appropriate hoses,pugs, nozzles and cords, when he was done it worked like a dream and was absolutely silent!!!  He later fixed the air conditioner in the front room when it went out on one of our 105 degree days this summer, but by far the washing machine was way more impressive to me.  I was very much in love with my husband at that moment when he fell into bed sore and exhausted at midnight after what I would equate with brain surgery.  So lest you think this was all about the washer, I am grateful for a man in my life who is good for something, in fact good for lots of things!  GB