Sunday Sentiments

If you're reading this early in the morning, may I remind you that the time changed while you were sleeping? I totally forgot to include that in the Saturday Six yesterday! If you're up too early - go back to sleep! If your kids are up too early - there might not be anything I can do about that!

I wanted to spend a little more time today talking about some simple things I'm grateful for, so maybe I should start that list by mentioning how grateful I am for an extra hour of sleep! (Especially today...because Ryan and I have to be at church extra early to prep for being part of the service.) 

Anyway! Today I wanted to circle back to a spirit of thanksgiving by encouraging myself - and all of you - to be grateful for three things we sometimes easily overlook.

1. A roof over our heads.

There are things about living in an apartment building...and living in the same building where we work...that are not easy. It's not always private. It's not always quiet. It's not always easy to turn off our work-mode minds and rest. But even with all those things, I am reminded anew today to be grateful to have a roof over our heads and a place to call our own, even if we don't own it. 

When you work with the population we do, you see people who come here because they don't have a roof over their head at all. Or maybe they do, but it's not a safe roof to live under. Or maybe it's just a temporary roof. I have gained such a fresh appreciation for the presence of that roof.

Our home is safe. It's warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I don't have to strategically place buckets when it rains. I don't have bugs crawling everywhere (other than the occasional spider, but we won't talk about that). The electricity and water work. The internet works. (Most of the time.)

There are people all around us who wish for these very basic things. I don't want to forget to be grateful.

2. Our home is full of all the things we need.

Another thing I've learned from our tenants is that simple things like plates, cups, silverware, and towels are not necessarily a given. They always have been for me. But they're not for everyone. I've seen visible relief fall over a prospective tenant's face when I've opened a kitchen cabinet door to reveal a set of dishes just waiting to be used.

I'm so grateful to have dishes to eat from (even though some have chips and cracks from years of use). I'm grateful for coffee in the cabinet, meat in the freezer, blankets in the basket, socks in the drawer, and toilet paper in storage. (I don't need explain how grateful we all are for the return of good old TP!)

Again - there are many who don't have these basics. I don't want to forget to be grateful. 

3. We have vehicles that run - and we can drive them.

This one begins (again) with a reminder from a tenant. Most of our tenants don't have a driver's license, nor have they saved even close to enough money to purchase a car. But all of them wish they had a license - and a car. They ache for the freedom that comes with both those things, but their circumstances in life thus far have prevented most from achieving that.

Because of these regular conversations with them, I'm reminded to be so grateful for the vehicles we own. They're reliable (and I've certainly had seasons of life where vehicles were not reliable!) and Ryan has worked so hard to keep them in pristine condition. We both have a license to drive and can take ourselves wherever we need to go. We don't have to pay for drivers, nor do we have to arrange times to go somewhere. It really is a gift, and it's one we don't take for granted. 

I encourage you today to think about the littlest things. For some, they're the biggest things.