Jonathan and I were talking in the car the other day on the way home about how blessed we really are. And by blessed, I sure don’t mean rich, or perfect, or never in need. We face financial problems, we fight with each other sometimes, and we want things that we can’t have, just like everyone else.

But seriously, we grew up with great families, both of us. We grew up with loving discipline from great parents, and we knew about Jesus. We were both able to go to college with help from our parents, and we have great jobs that we love. Isn’t that already a wonderful beginning? Some of the biggest struggles of our life have been making small amounts of money and barely getting by, but we made it didn’t we? We’re not on welfare. We’ve never missed a meal, or been so hungry at night that we couldn’t sleep. In fact, we have savings and we own our cars. We’ve always had our own beds to sleep in, a warm house to come home to, new clothes to wear, clean water, cell phones, and we even have friends who truly care about our lives. We’ve gone through times of financial uncertainty, sure, but didn’t we still manage to go on vacation? We’ve been making barely no money at all, but somehow God helped us pay the bills. So you ask me, what do we not have? You know…we have everything, because God has been everything to us. And you know what else? It’s nothing we have done or deserve.
I think of all the people that didn’t grow up so lucky, that didn’t get to eat 2 meals a day, much less 3, and didn’t really even know who their parents were. We didn’t have to wonder if we were going to have heat in the house, or why our dad was in prison. We didn’t have to wear shoes to that were too small and walk in them to school without a coat. So yes, we have truly been blessed.
Thanks for this life, God, which you’ve allowed to have. I’m thankful to serve a God who loves me, and allows me the great responsibility of showing His love to this world. I will not take my place in this world for granted. When I really stop to think about it, I honestly can’t believe this life is mine. Thank you.