So lately I have been waking up in the mornings and looking at the ceiling which is only about 19 inches above my face. It is only 19 inches above my face because for the last year Jan and I have been living in a SMALL master bedroom of a home with 3 other people. Because the room is so small, I had to build a “loft” that is about 7 feet off the ground, so we could fit a couch underneath and have somewhere to sit. Anyway, it is easy to feel like we are lacking, poor or even get into the mentality of “things will be ok when we get this/that.”
Back to waking up at looking at the ceiling. Lately as I lay in bed and prepare for my day I have been filled with gratitude. How many people wake up in a warm bed with a ceiling over their head? How many fewer people get out of their bed(or climb down a ladder in our case) and take a warm shower? How many people walk to their kitchen and CHOOSE what to have for breakfast? We are hooked up and I am very grateful. As my friend Mark Scandrette discussed recently, we are surrounded by a culture that embraces a mentality of scarcity or “we don’t have enough.” We are worried that we don’t have this and we need to get that, rather than being grateful for what we already have been given.
Interesting that after God hooked up the Israelites with Manna that He told them to put some in a jar and keep it to look at so they wouldn’t forget how well God had provided for them. I need to more often remember the Manna and not get so caught up with attaining the golden calf.