My week

I am bored to tears. No joke. Having contracted pink eye on the way back from my vacation last week has now restricted me for working at ANY of my jobs for the last three days. Do you know how depressing that is? No, seriously.... A week of vacation was more than enough, considering I was sick for more than half of THAT week as well! After three days I wanted to get back to my work! Now, with no actual physical impairment, a simple, highly contagious eye infection is preventing me from doing what I love!

Isn't it funny what we complain about? Isn't it funny what we take for granted?

We complain about having to go to work until we aren't allowed to go to work. We complain about the cold weather until it turns hot, and the hot weather until it turns cold. We don't have enough food, or fun, or friends, or clothes, or something.

REALITY CHECK: We have more than more than enough. That's right; I said it twice. It should still make sense. If we really sat down and thought about everything we have in this country, everything that we've been blessed to have simply because of the country we've been born in, we would be amazed. Very little about America says poverty. Sadly, that little portion of our country is the portion we most often choose to ignore. Granted, I'm not going to hand a $50 bill to a man standing with a sign at the end of a freeway exit because most of the time, they are moochers or frauds. But what about the people down the hall or next door who struggle to make ends meet because the husband got laid off and the wife has three kids to take care of and can't pay for daycare. What about the people in the inner city who truly do live in cardboard boxes or under overpasses. They are there. I know. I've seen them. And what have I done? Nothing. In reality I'm struggling to make ends meet as well, to pay off the school loans, to pay the rent and utilities and gas, and so often I've decided that there is nothing that I can do for them. I'm wrong. I've been wrong for so long.

I can pray. I can talk to them and show them I care about them as a person even if I can do nothing about their financial situation. Scoff if you like, but when prayer is claimed and believed in, it works. However, before I do that, I need to step back, take stock of what I have, and be thankful. Not prideful, not envious that I don't have the right clothes, fun toys, or fancy apartment that other people do. Thankful for everything I have. It kinda goes back to that old hymn written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. and Edwin O. Excell, "Count Your Blessings". Read the word, don't just skim them. Let them sink in....

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings name them one by one,
And it will surprist you what the Lord hath done

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings every doubt will fly
And you will be singing as the days go by

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth and gold
Count your many blessings money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven nor your home on high

So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged - God is over all;
Count your many blessings angels will attend
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end

Chorus:
Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your many blessings see what God hath done

What do I have to be thankful for?

My salvation. I could be this close to hell if God decided to be selfish and not send His son to die.
My health. Yes, pink eye, the flu, a cold - all are frustrating, but I think sometimes God allows typically healthy people to get a little sick to remind us where our priorities lie. I mean think about it! He could chose to keep us healthy all the time simply because He wanted to. A friend of mine pointed out a couple of months ago that God kept Moses alive and kicking for 120 years. Why? Because He wanted to. Sickness is in this world because of sin, but I think sometimes it's good for us to slow down or even stop to realize how far away from Him we have drifted.

My family. Sure, they're crazy and sometimes drive me to the edge of reason, but I still love them and know that they are and always will be there for me.

My clothes. No, they're not the latest things from Aeropostal or American Eagle, not even Forever 21. Heck, most of them are from high school, free boxes at college, and sales racks at Target and Kohl's, but even that is better than nothing at all. Even the homeless in America are blessed with shelters to sleep in, food shelves that feed them, and clothes from one place or another. There are children in Africa who don't have clean water to drink and are malnourished. There are families in Russian and Czechoslovakia who only have t-shirts, shorts, and sandals to run around in, wrapping them in newspaper from the garbage to keep warm.

My jobs. When so many in America are struggling to keep their houses and are getting laid off daily, I have two jobs that I love. They take up much of my time, I don't get benefits because I'm part time at both, but at least they pay the bills.

My bills. Seems like a funny thing to be thankful for, but when you think about it, having bills means I have something. My bills represent the apartment I have to live in, the water I have to drink, the food I have to eat, and the education that I have worked hard to attain.

These are the simple things. These are the things we complain about and/or take for granted.

These are things that we need to be thankful for.

Be thankful for freedom, too. The freedom to pray, to write this blog, to communicate freely with our loved ones, the freedom to have loved ones, to have whole communities instead of ones divided by tribal strife, to have whole buildings and schools that aren't damaged by the rages of war.

We have to much to NOT be thankful.