Appreciation

...always giving thanks to God the Father for EVERYTHING, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

Goodness! Have you every had those times in your life when everything seems to break?! Things like appliances, vehicles, gadgets and gizmos. We are in the midst of one of those times right now. Here is a list of things that have broken in our home over the past five months:

*refrigerator-replaced
*stove-replaced
*hot water heater-replaced
*printer-mind of it's own...not working today
*air conditioner/heater blower in van-currently awaiting repair
*direct tv no local channels-repair man due on Thursday
*wheel bearing on car-currently awaiting repair
*telephone frequent outages over several years..dinosaur line-in process of getting updated line
*air conditioner in house-currently awaiting repair
*riding lawn mower..added today-currently awaiting repair

Whew! Losing the convenience of things that we have become accustomed to can be frustrating. We have definitely had our share of frustrating times over the past few months! I am also aware that most, if not all, of the things on this list are luxuries and not necessities! When we were in China last year picking up Gracie this fact really hit home for us. We most definitely live in a land of plenty! We have so much more than we really and truly need.

Over the past few months, Tom and I have had several conversations about how things are continually breaking. We've been wondering what God is trying to teach us right now? We have made some major decisions for our family over the past few months and have been thinking that God is trying to teach us something that has to do with these decisions or our finances...but what? Hmmm? I know there is always something to learn.

Today it hit me like a ton of bricks. God wants us to appreciate and be thankful for EVERYTHING that he has given us.....EVERYTHING.....this includes our hot water, our ice cubes, the cool air on a hot summer day, etc. etc. Losing these few modern conveniences for a short time has made us more thankful. I have heard prayers uttered by my children that would not have been said if these break downs had not happened. "Thank you God for lots of ice" "Thank you our phone works" etc. We have all learned to be more appreciative. After this hit me today I thought back to a recent email that I received from my aunt Mary Lynn. I went back to look at it again. In the email she said, " I am convinced that thankfulness is the key to a happy life." I couldn't agree more. So, even though all of these break downs have been frustrating the lesson to be learned is to appreciate all of the many blessings that we so often take for granted everyday!

God Bless,

Wendy