Miserable and Thankful

It was really hard doing the necessary garden work in July.  I was hot, sweating, nauseous and tired.  I really felt like grumbling all the way through it.  Then I remembered something I saw about first world problems and third world problems.  This was definitely not a problem!  Getting food is a problem–not weeding the vegetable garden which only supplements our groceries.  We actually have a garden.  Lots of people in drought stricken places can’t grow anything.  We own our garden–and the land it sits on, and the house next to it.  We have our own home and a piece of land to call our own.  How many people can say that?  Owning a home entails responsibilities, but this is small compared to not having a home, or maybe not having shelter at all.

I decided to be thankful, and while I was at it, I found myself looking back on my life at God’s faithfulness to me over the many years I’ve lived.  Sure there have been hard times.  There have been times when we did not know where our next month’s rent was coming from, times when illness struck fear, times when a beloved one died, and other times of loss.  But God always saw us through.  God is faithful, and thinking thoughts of thanksgiving changed my whole attitude and my whole day.  I wiped my face, the job was finished, and my thoughts redeemed the hot, sweaty, miserable time.