No problems

I have no problems. I may feel like I have problems, I may act like I have problems. But, seriously, I have no problems. My life is so good, so easy, so buffered from the difficulties that many in the world encounter. My life is problem free.
There is a fellow adoptive mom I used to stalk (vis her blog) a couple years ago. Turns out she and her husband work for the same mission organization that we do. I saw her from afar last summer at the bi-ennial staff conference out in Colorado, but I was too shy to go introduce myself. What was I suppose to say? "Hi, I used to read your blog every week and followed your every move while you were adopting your son from Africa. I think you are so cute and funny, and omigosh you seem to have the sweetest kids!" Well, at the time that felt too weird, and I was too self-focused to step out and be friendly. So, I just smiled and walked past. Well, it turns out we have mutual friends. And on facebook a couple weeks ago I learned that this cute girl has brain cancer - and is about 20 wks pregnant with their fourth child. (So, please pray for "Susie" and her family, and please pray for a miraculous healing)
Tonight I was helping Sadie get her jammies on, and Dave was helping Ruby put her sleep-cap over her braids. She was protesting that he wasn't doing it right. I looked over and secretly agreed, but remained quiet. I thought to myself, "See? my kids need their momma. these girls need a momma's touch when it comes to things like sleep-caps." It was my pride that patted myself on my back and told myself that I'm irreplaceable. It's not true. My kids definitely benefit from having me around, but I truly believe deep down that if I died they would be lacking nothing, because God always gives us what we need.
Do you remember in Corrie tenBoom's book how she tells the story of her father reassuring her of God's care for her by likening it to her riding the train with her dad? He asks her "When do I give you your train ticket?" She answers, "Just before we board the train." He replies, "That's right, Corrie. You don't need you ticket until just before we board the train, but I always give it to you in time. That is how our Heavenly Father is: He always gives us just what we need, and He is never late."
Several years ago I was telling my mom about a family we knew that was adopting from Russia. I was explaining that they had to travel once to meet their son, and then come home for 6 weeks or more before traveling a second time to pick him up and bring him home. "I could never do that!" I told her. My mom said, "Well you couldn't do that if God didn't call you to do that, but if God asks you to do something then He also gives you the grace to do it." I'll never forget her saying that. It's so silly of me to compare myself to other people's life journey. God doesn't give me the grace and strength to live someone else's life, He empowers me to live my life. I can look at other lives and either feel fear ("I could never do that!") or pride ("Ugh, I would never do that!).
So, no, I'm not facing brain cancer...as far as I know that is not the path God has me on. And I am not living in a country that persecutes my family for our beliefs and threatens our physical safety, and I'm not married to an abusive alcoholic, and I'm not wondering if my son serving in a war zone will come home alive or dead, and I'm not alone to fend for myself with no friends and family who care about me. I have no problems. But trying to picture how I'd do if my life had the problems that I see other lives struggling thru - well, that's just a stupid waste of time. Cuz I either end up feeling fearful, or prideful. And honestly, I have plenty of other ways to find myself with those feelings.
Life is so not about me. Even though I'm pretty good at convincing myself otherwise.