Archive for April 14th, 2010
Junk in the Garage?
At our Monday morning ministry meeting, one of my teammates, Jack, said the following:
I’ve got more stuff in my garage than most people in the world have in their entire lives.
Having been to Uganda and seen the tens of thousands of “houses” that the non-poor live in — 40-60 square foot houses shared by 7-12 family members of 2 or 3 generations — I know what he says is true. While I’ve been in poor neighborhoods in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and large U.S. cities, the folks in Kampala neighborhoods weren’t the truly poorest of the poor.
So today, I’m trying to take stock of my blessings. As our ministry teams has read through Good and Beautiful God, we have been taking time to thank God for the mundane, the everyday, the often overlooked blessings that are ours. Simply listing these — the touch of a loved one, the smile of baby, the laughter of a child, the humor of repeated stories in older family members (or maybe myself), the feeling of the soft breeze at sunrise, and … the junk in my garage, attic, closets, and pantry.
If you haven’t done it in awhile, pray like a three year old — with your eyes wide open, thanking God for everything you see, especially the stuff you hold as inconsequential. When you do, and if you let yourself get really carried away, I think you will be surprised at how many blessings our gracious Father has poured into your life everyday that you take for granted.
Many years ago, I had an closet in my office that had a small poster of a little boys eyes as they lit up with excitement. It said something like, “See as a child sees: the joy, the laughter, and the wonder!” Today, I would would urge us to thank God as a child does, and be caught up in the laughter and wonder of it all.