Today was a hard day at work. At one point, I thought about quitting my job but then I remembered that we have a family to feed. I work hard to leave work at work each evening but that was a pretty tough thing to do today. Work weighed heavily on me as I went into the house.

My family changed all that. A surprise gift of ham salad from Lisa. Beef kabobs we cooked on the grill. A friend who stopped by unexpectedly with two of her kids while they were out on a bike ride. Watching our son play with her older child. That all softened me, helping to make the memories of work melt away.

A good friend of ours was playing guitar and singing at the local coffee house this evening. We should have gone to hear him -- we would have really enjoyed it -- but we needed some "down time" together, just the three of us. That down time ended up being Blizzards at Dairy Queen. I had their special Monster Cookie flavor. (Well, actually, our son got it first but didn't like it so he traded me for my Oreo Blizzard. It was a good trade.) After we were back home, our son proudly showed me his latest creations on Rollercoaster Tycoon. Today was his last day of school for the year and, as I tucked him into bed and turned out the light, I told him how proud we are of him. Hopefully that will be part of his ham salad in the future. I know it's a part of mine. (see previous post)

Yes, it was a hard day at work. But, once home, I was reminded of God's goodness and His love for me. I spent the evening basking in the blessings He showers on us. Hopefully, I will allow this evening to carry me through some more bad days at work which are sure to come, all too soon. Hopefully, too, I will learn to give the gift of basking away ... as long as I keep some for myself. I suspect, though, that basking is one of those "the more you give away, the more you get" things.