Thankful

When I was growing up, we did not have air conditioning.  I was thinking about that the other day as I walked the seemingly 5 MILES from the door of Wal-mart to my truck (that's stretching it of course, seeing as how I'm able to park in a handicap zone lol), at 6pm, in July in Texas, and I felt as if I would melt into a puddle before I reached it and got into the A/C, full blast!  I told my friend I was with that I don't remember it being this hot when I was a kid.  We had an attic fan and window fans in the bedrooms, and, it would get a little warm in summer, but I never remember sweltering and thinking we were poor because we didn't have A/C.  I do remember however, when I turned 18 and got married, my husband and I lived in an all bills paid apartment and we took advantage of it, it was like living in a meat locker LOL!  As hot as it gets in North Texas now, I honestly do not see how folks live without it. 

I woke up very early today (Saturday) so that I could get out and get my grocery shopping done before it started getting too unbearably hot.  I shop around at different stores for the specials, but today I just stuck to my 3 main ones, (haha YES, I do have more) so that I could get back home.  Even though I made it back home before 11am, by the last store, I was really starting to melt.  I felt like Dracula trying to beat the sun LOL!  If I hadn't had groceries in the car, I would have stopped at the clubhouse at the entrance to our neighborhood and jumped in the pool clothes and all!  It looked so cool and inviting, and there wasn't even a soul in it at that time!  When I got home, I unloaded the groceries and put them away as quickly as I could, went straight in and took a COLD shower, aaaaahhhhhh!  As I was getting dressed afterward, I began to think.....

We are so blessed with so many things we never, or rarely, think to thank the Lord for.  Even though we ALL go through financial problems at times, some of us worse than others, I'm pretty sure that if you are reading this, you have a computer, which probably means you have a dwelling place of some sort, and electricity?  Even if you don't have a computer of your own, maybe you're at the library on their computer, or at work- thank God you have a job.  The other day, on my F/B status, I wrote "A FEW things I'm thankful for: A/C, cold water, soap, ice, SONIC ice, fans, ponytail holders, swimming pools, shade trees....deoderant lol, and most of all, FALLLLLLL!" - in a light-hearted manner, but I was also VERY seriously thankful lol.  Someone 'gently reminded' me that GOD was the most important thing to be thankful for.....I said of course! But he's in a category all by himself -which he definitely is of course.  When I wrote the status, I wasn't 'forgetting to mention God'- of course not!  The word THANKFUL reflected that.  I tell him all the time I'm thankful TO HIM for "little things" like these.  Some people think it's kind of silly, or frivolous to pray things like that.  I DON'T.  I thank God for BIRDS all the time, and my dogs, and my vehicle, and my little house, the things in my house that make my life easier, my bed, my recliner, etc etc etc......it is HE who gave me all these things!  and when I take just a minute to think about what my daily life would be without any one of the things mentioned here, and a thousand more, it's worth saying "thank you Father, for ________ that brings me such joy, or that makes my life easier, or that simply brings a smile to my face.  If we belong to God, then EVERY blessing in our life is from him, HUGE or small, or even insignificant and unnoticeable by a lot of people, sadly. 

When I got home today from grocery shopping, extremely hot, thirsty, tired....I thought, after my shower that cooled me off and relaxed me, how very blessed I was to have a comfortable home to come home to!  Yes, it's a plain little 2 bedroom 2 bathroom mobile home, in a mobile home park, and we are not one bit ashamed of that- because GOD blessed us with it, and we don't owe one red cent on it either LOL!  How many millions of poverty stricken people in 3rd world countries, or even the homeless people right here in my own city, would DREAM of living in such a home!  I'm so blessed to come home and have running clean water, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and a toothbrush all my very own to get cleaned up and refreshed with!  What a blessing! (that SOME people who ARE blessed with these things take advantage of and don't even use on a regular basis, but THAT'S a whole different blog...) -what a tremendous blessing to go to my refrigerator, open it up and get all the ice I want, and have a huge variety of different drinks to pour over that ice to quench my thirst- (diet)soda, iced tea, lemonade, fruit punch, flavored waters, juices....some people would give just about anything they had for one bottle of cold clean WATER on a hot day like this.  I am SO blessed.  After making that drink, I can come kick back in my recliner or stretch out on my couch, in front of a fan, and relax in that A/C for as long as I want- if it weren't for God's mercy, it could be ME out there on the hot concrete street corner, holding a cardboard sign begging for money for "food", whichI would use to buy a can of beer or a pack of cigarettes, or WORSE, because I was bound by addictions.  Addictions to things that a lot of "Christian" people willingly dabble in, "as long as you don't do it TOO much"! (again, a whole other blogging subject)  I am SO blessed to be free, thank you Lord for freedom! 

I thank God for the smiles my dogs bring to my face, and even watching little birds eat out of the feeder on my porch, or squirrels chasing each other around a tree- how many people are so weighed down by worry and other emotions that they can't see or understand the beauty, the joy, and the blessings in these little things?  Sometimes, I have been guilty myself of falling into this trap.  I thank God for his mercy, his grace, and his patience and forgiveness, which are NOT such little things- where would I be without all of it?!  I NEED all of it, every day.  And, I thank God that I don't have to be afraid when my husband comes home.  I thank God that I can make him angry, and not have to wear sunglasses the next day as a result. I am so blessed to lay down and sleep at night without wondering if I won't be awakened in the night by a raging maniac beating me senseless, a man who promised to love and cherish me years before.  I am blessed to have peace in my life, and in my home.  I am blessed, and I am so thankful, to have God's love, which has given me all these other things, and more.

"Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars....."~ James 1:17