Being grateful

How many people have said "I have nothing?" Do you really have nothing? You're sitting down reading this, my guess is you're in a house or building. You have shelter. Did you eat anything this morning? Yes? You have food. How did you get to where you are now? You have some sort of transportation. Shelter, food, and transportation, you have more than half the people on the planet.

Webster defines grateful as:

1 a : appreciative of benefits received b : expressing gratitude <grateful thanks>
2 a : affording pleasure or contentment b : pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated

I have a house that me and my husband share. It might not be the biggest house in the world, and it might not have the most expensive furnishings in the world, and it might not be in the greatest neighborhood in the world, but it's mine. I'm grateful that my husband works so hard to supply this house for me and our son. He doesn't have to, but he does.

Be grateful for everything in your life, because many many people have nothing. There are actually homeless people who panhandle for food, I know the majority of those who panhandle aren't homeless, but there are homeless people out there. There are two that live under the bridge in the town I'm from. They live in a tent and all of their belongings reside in the tent with them. You never see them together unless they're in their "home" because people have stolen their tent and from their tent before. Yes, someone has stolen from the homeless. There are no homeless shelters in my town because of the size of the area. The closest is around 30 miles away, so these 2 men get along by what people give them. Feel lucky.

Many children in under developed countries work for pennies a day to help bring in food and money for their families. My son is 4 years old and I sponsor a child from Venezuela. This child lives in a house made of mud and the roof made of straw. He has shelter. He also has 7 siblings and only his mother to provide for them. This child is 5 years old. Can you imagine living in a house made out of mud? Makes my cinder block house seem like a mansion.

The children of Africa rarely go to school because they have to pay for it. They're educated by what little bit their elders of the village know. The AIDS epidemic is off the charts, there are no abstinence programs, no AIDS programs for that matter. Many of the Chiefs believe that a man with AIDS will be cleansed by having sex with a virgin. Now we know this is not true, but that's their way of life. They have no sort of hygiene, and typically drink dirty water from the dirty rivers. Imagine the poisonings from the water, from E. Coli to Hepatitis B, to Dysentery. Many children die from childhood diseases that my child has been vaccinated against. Many of those that survive these diseases are killed by gorillas from internal warfare.

Now look around your room and think you have nothing. Your little house looks better and better doesn't it.

My thoughts: Be grateful. God is good and merciful. He provides your needs, not your wants. I can't answer why some people are this poor and others are rich. I'm only reminded of the verse "God helps those who help themselves" Be grateful for what you have, and don't desire more than you need, greed.