On my birthday this past Thursday I was waiting for my ride to pick me up and I noticed a man across the street. This man was bent over using the pooled rain water in a pot hole on the side of the street from the early morning's storm to wash his face and head. Water that I would be angry and annoyed if I got on my shoes or if it soiled the hem of my pants he was using as his bath water.
Then I began to remember how I had been so frustrated with the 3 (NON-consecutive) days that I had had to endure with no electricty in the house! What a pain to not have my phone, TV, internet, fan and being worried that the food in the full refrigerator would spoil and being concerned that I would not have an oven in which to bake the birthday goodies for my friends, ticked that I did not even have a light other than the 3 flashlights in which I could use my well educated brain to read a book by, and being annoyed that I had to take a cold shower with water NOT from the dirty street... sadly, I could go on with other feelings that I had while enduring the hardship of a power outage.
What a birthday gift that God gave to me that day! A little perspective on how selfish and horribly unthankful I am sometimes! Perspective that I should endeavor to be thankful in all circumstances! And even if I had to live without all of the conveniences written above, that I do still, indeed, have much to be thankful for! Combine this birthday scene with a Sunday School class on being thankful and a church sermon on grace this morning and beat for 2 minutes with the Holy Spirit and you'll get some humble pie. A quote from the sermon: "Grace is everything for nothing for those who don't deserve anything." I have so much to be thankful for even if all my earthly posessions and comforts were to be stripped away. Isn't it beautiful how God gently reveals things to us! Thank you God for the mashed perspective and overflowing grace... Just in time for Thanksgiving :)
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