As my friend Brother Howard so often posts, thank God for waking me up to live another day! And also, as my precious friend Sandra reminded me the other day, "Count Your Many Blessings, Name Them One By One". We do have "So Much To Thank Him For".
I have been blessed far more than I deserve. I guess in a lot of ways we all have been and our country has almost to the point of being spoiled. A new car is introduced and we want one, even though the one we have runs just fine. Someone we know buys a new house and we want to move or remodel. We see somebody with new shoes or a new suit and we run down to Belk to see if they have our size. Yes, all these things are nice and we are often blessed being able to get new stuff, but we have so much more to thank Him for.
I realize, I don't have too look far to find someone who has a lot more "stuff" than me. But I also don't have too look far and find someone who has far less and whose needs are so much greater than mine. I have been fortunate in my life to meet a lot of people, go in a lot of homes and I promise you, there are very few homes that I went in where there wasn't significant needs. Sometimes it was physical, often financial and so very often spiritual. It truly makes me stop and appreciate God's blessings on me!
This morning, Brother John's Sunday message continues to resonate in my mind and heart, to make a difference in this world we live in today. For that difference to be a positive influence, to be rightly motivated and with love. (I think it is ok for me to remember the message longer than just through the Sunday afternoon dinner conversation.) To me it seems, I have a greater opportunity than ever before to exercise these principles.
Perhaps it's just me but have you experienced more people recently that seem unhappy? I think sometimes about that cashier I just experienced at Walmart. Perhaps it's an experience you had with a customer service person you finally got to talk with on the phone after holding for two hours. Maybe I need to stop and think about that cashier a little longer. I don't know what is going on in their life that day. Perhaps, they had to leave their children at home alone or maybe one is sick and they had to come to work anyway because their house note is past due. Maybe the customer in front of you was just plain ugly to the cashier. I'm realizing this year more people are having to conduct business by phone. That message I hear, "our call volume is greater than normal so hold times may be forever" is pretty much true. But when the person answers, there's really no need for them to be rude, right? After all, I'm the one who has been on hold, wasting my time forever. But as I begin to complain, I hear a dog in the background barking and the baby crying and I realize the reason I've been holding so long is because some irate customer before me was not so nice and it took them a long time to prove it. And then again, I may have just come in contact with someone who does not have the happiness we have and the blessings we have been given because they may not know of God's love for us. These "unhappy" people we are dealing with might be "on the brink" of a breakdown and it might be our kind word, happy thoughts, or encouragement that makes a total and complete change in their day or life.
What an opportunity we have to make a difference in people's lives today. But I don't see it as just an opportunity. I feel it is a need, my obligation, my responsibility, my commandment. I have "So Much To Thank Him For" and I want to share the good news of God's love for me and for our world.
I pray you will have an awesome Tuesday and I hope you will enjoy hearing the song I woke to this morning!
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