I
Thankfulness,Oh How Soon I Forget Thee! AKA "What does my face look like again?"
Like a man who see's himself in the mirror & then walks away & forgets what he looks like...
So are the days of my life it seems.
Finally after 5 days of putting it off,yesterday I went grocery shopping. I was almost out of everything,but I was just in one of those funks where I just didn't want to deal with being around people in general & the grocery store is one of those places (like Wal-Mart) that I allow to bring out the worst attitudes in me.
I am shopping. The entire time I am annoyed because I am grumbling in my head about how they set up the layout of the store to get consumers to buy things they don't need & place stuff in ridiculous areas of the store,so that you have to back track 10 times the entire length of the store to get everything you need.
I have tried on many occasions to map my way through so that I get all items on my list in order of who the isles are arranged,but to no avail...it's not happening. Finally after getting all my stuff & checking out,I get home start to unpack & put all my nom nom's away. I notice as I'm doing this,I am still in my mind grumbling...now I'm grumbling about how much time it's taking me to put the food away & why wasn't this packed with this & why did the bagger only stick 2 items in that bag when clearly 5 would have fit?
I actually out loud told myself to SHUT UP!
Once I did this,I started to reflect & realize,all the things I learned so long ago...things I take for granted every stinkin' day...things I need to remind myself a lot more often than I do because I get complacent & start taking all my blessings for granted.
The fact that I live in a nation with more wealth & abundance than many nations put together is almost sickening. Where even the homeless are Kings & Queens compared to the common man in someplace such as Haiti!
The fact that I have the nerve to complain about going to the store...with money to buy food...not just the basics,but ANYTHING I WANT & MORE THAN LIKELY MY FAT RUMP DOESN'T NEED...and that I would have such selfishness & shortsightedness to not be thankful to have a place to come home with said food & have a place to keep it fresh...and have electricity that is in perfect functioning order 99.9999999999999999999% of the time!
God has blessed me with so much in the spiritual...the fact that he would even consider my physical needs,in & of itself shows how awesome he is.
I remember when I went to Haiti to do missions work for 3 weeks in my younger years...and upon coming home,I vowed (big word we toss around w/out grasping it's importance) ..I vowed I would never take for granted what I had,even if I don't have as much as my neighbor...I still have more than most will ever have in their lives. I promised myself I would remember that in all of the poverty,sickness,sadness & oppression the people in Haiti go through on a daily basis they still had such thankful hearts & still gave God glory because he was faithful & worthy of it..not because they did or did not have food,or shelter or clean water...but because he is GOD!
So I had to again remind myself what I look like...where I come from...what I have,what I've been given...what awaits me...and more importantly...who my God is.
So I thank Him for being so long suffering with me & not just kicking my rump to the curb when I become selfish & ungrateful.
I dunno why,but just wanted to share that with Ya'll ("Ya'll" btw..is my bestest southerney down home country-esqe-ness I can muster)
Like a man who see's himself in the mirror & then walks away & forgets what he looks like...
So are the days of my life it seems.
Finally after 5 days of putting it off,yesterday I went grocery shopping. I was almost out of everything,but I was just in one of those funks where I just didn't want to deal with being around people in general & the grocery store is one of those places (like Wal-Mart) that I allow to bring out the worst attitudes in me.
I am shopping. The entire time I am annoyed because I am grumbling in my head about how they set up the layout of the store to get consumers to buy things they don't need & place stuff in ridiculous areas of the store,so that you have to back track 10 times the entire length of the store to get everything you need.
I have tried on many occasions to map my way through so that I get all items on my list in order of who the isles are arranged,but to no avail...it's not happening. Finally after getting all my stuff & checking out,I get home start to unpack & put all my nom nom's away. I notice as I'm doing this,I am still in my mind grumbling...now I'm grumbling about how much time it's taking me to put the food away & why wasn't this packed with this & why did the bagger only stick 2 items in that bag when clearly 5 would have fit?
I actually out loud told myself to SHUT UP!
Once I did this,I started to reflect & realize,all the things I learned so long ago...things I take for granted every stinkin' day...things I need to remind myself a lot more often than I do because I get complacent & start taking all my blessings for granted.
The fact that I live in a nation with more wealth & abundance than many nations put together is almost sickening. Where even the homeless are Kings & Queens compared to the common man in someplace such as Haiti!
The fact that I have the nerve to complain about going to the store...with money to buy food...not just the basics,but ANYTHING I WANT & MORE THAN LIKELY MY FAT RUMP DOESN'T NEED...and that I would have such selfishness & shortsightedness to not be thankful to have a place to come home with said food & have a place to keep it fresh...and have electricity that is in perfect functioning order 99.9999999999999999999% of the time!
God has blessed me with so much in the spiritual...the fact that he would even consider my physical needs,in & of itself shows how awesome he is.
I remember when I went to Haiti to do missions work for 3 weeks in my younger years...and upon coming home,I vowed (big word we toss around w/out grasping it's importance) ..I vowed I would never take for granted what I had,even if I don't have as much as my neighbor...I still have more than most will ever have in their lives. I promised myself I would remember that in all of the poverty,sickness,sadness & oppression the people in Haiti go through on a daily basis they still had such thankful hearts & still gave God glory because he was faithful & worthy of it..not because they did or did not have food,or shelter or clean water...but because he is GOD!
So I had to again remind myself what I look like...where I come from...what I have,what I've been given...what awaits me...and more importantly...who my God is.
So I thank Him for being so long suffering with me & not just kicking my rump to the curb when I become selfish & ungrateful.
I dunno why,but just wanted to share that with Ya'll ("Ya'll" btw..is my bestest southerney down home country-esqe-ness I can muster)
we all need to remember daily just how fortunate we are...those on here have computers, phones...luxury!! I find Nick Vujicic inspiring...a man with no arms and legs who love the Lord and lives an amazing life, finding the glory and wonder in life despite his disabilities and giving all the glory to God. Inspiring! Thank you for this post, it does us all good to remember how precious life is.