Two Sticks

This past Passover, my husband's siblings and families were in town visiting with my in-laws.  We walked (2.5 miles!) to be with them for part of the holiday, which included visits to his grandmother, who lives right near my in-laws.  At one point, a bunch of her great-grandchildren were over at her home visiting, and my mother-in-law walked in.

"So nice!" she said.  "All the kids are visiting Grandma!"

It was silent for a moment, after which my little niece loudly said, "Uncle Ben said whoever visits Grandma gets a dollar!"

My mother-in-law laughingly repeated this story to my sister-in-law and me, noting that Grandma, who thank G-d is turning 90 this summer, has perfect hearing and thus was probably perfectly aware of the comment, although she didn't react.  "You know," my mother-in-law observed, "she has perfect eyesight too.  It's so unusual for a woman her age to have such good vision and hearing."

My sister-in-law remarked, "My grandmother always says in Yiddish, "G-d doesn't hit with two sticks.'"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She means that if God sends you problems, he spares you in other areas.  Grandma has terrible arthritis and other issues, but her hearing and sight are perfect."

This conversation really stuck with me and got me thinking.  When I stand before G-d and pray, I tend to store up all my problems, tie them up in a bag, and toss them onto G-d's shoulders in my prayers - which means my prayers are very problem-oriented.  But, I realized, I'm only thinking of one stick.  What about the other stick?  What are all the things that G-d is sparing me from?  Which stick am I NOT getting hit with at the moment?

Compliling THAT list has been a lot of fun, and is now the basis of my "thank you" prayer to G-d, whenever I pray.

How about you?  Which sticks are you being spared from today?
What's the basis of your gratitude list?