Oh, what a week!!!  Lost my keys, then found them.  Lost the spare key to the car but found it by the end of this day.  Restarted physical therapy  with the hope it will reduce my falling and increase my strength and mobility (only to have my forever present back pain multiply itself beyond the top digit on the pain scale).  Yet, there have been highlights as well.

The younger golden retriever, Mike, has a mysterious way of turning bad events to laughter.  At the beginning of last week, he discovered the toilet brush, and carried it to the family room. Shortly after, he removed the toothpaste from the drawer in the bathroom, again bringing it into the family room.  Did he want to brush his teeth??  Oh, what an odd way of expressing himself....   A few days later, Mike pulled the box which contained fish cutlets out of the trash can . . . only to have his head so deep inside the box that his head was buried and he proudly wore it as a hat, bringing on a huge belly laugh.

All this made me wonder just how many times I have worn a "box on my head"  or brought together opposite items to accomplish a goal.  When I was very little, I was able to cut my bangs while there were four adults to supervise me.  Another time, the wind up alarm clock no longer functioned and another was purchased. The broken one I pulled from the trash can, poured some milk from my glass into it, and  to everyone's amazement the stupid clock began to ring its' alarm loudly (before it stopped forever).  There was another time that I pulled a rusted watering can from the trash, and upon carrying it back into the house, fell on the jagged edges, slicing my neck (but I did get to ride to Frankford Hospital in the back of a paddy wagon of Philadelphia's finest).

All events make me remember that despite the many attempts in life, failure will try to desperately follow. Now, we could all sit by and let failure dominate us or we could try again and again (even if it is a toilet brush and toothpaste) to succeed.  The brave men and women who dreamed of flying to the moon and beyond did not permit failure to smother their goals and dreams.  They kept trying.  Their dreams were realized.

Even God allows us to try and try again, encouraging each of us to shed disappointment, fear, and discouragement to be our very best.  God doesn't want any of us to be perfect.  He just wants each of us to be the best of who we are as individuals, and to try and try again as we attempt to reach that goal . . . and if we fall short, who cares?  God just wants us to try.