I Thanked God For My Trash Today!!
I am in the habit of counting my blessings and thanking God for them
daily. Today while I was crying in exhaustion and emptying my garbage, I
surprisingly found myself noticing the items in the garbage and being grateful
for them, and being grateful that I live in these days of convenience, if I have
to be sick.
I looked at the milk carton and was grateful that I didn't have to milk
the cow myself and make the dairy products myself.
I saw the empty insulin bottle and was grateful for modern medicines
that keep us alive and improve our quality of life.
I saw the CD cover and was so grateful to live in the age of Internet,
where I can stay home but still have friends worldwide, find people who I can
learn from, and even earn a living from home.
I saw the TV guide part of the newspaper and was grateful for a TV for entertainment any time I want, and company when I'm alone, and distraction from my pain.
I saw the TV guide part of the newspaper and was grateful for a TV for entertainment any time I want, and company when I'm alone, and distraction from my pain.
I saw the empty herb bottle and was so grateful for natural medicine
that I didn't have to go find the herbs in the fields myself. I’d love to if I
had the strength, but I don’t.
I saw a frozen meal container, and was grateful that those exist for
when I am too weak to cook.
I saw the banana peeling, and was grateful that we get so many
different kinds of produce shipped to us, year round! It was not that long ago
that even getting an orange at Christmas was considered a real luxury.
I saw the toilet paper roll and OH HOW GRATEFUL I am for indoor
plumbing! Especially in winter.
I saw the light bulb, and I’m oh so grateful for indoor
lights/electricity. Even my mother didn't have that until she was a teenager.
She was so allergic to the kerosene lamps and the horse she road to school each
day.
Even the garbage bag made me grateful for trash pickup, so that the
trash doesn't build up in my yard.
I stopped crying and thanked the Lord, realizing that if I had to be so
ill, this is certainly the best age to live in. With drive-through banks and so
many other conveniences,it makes things that are already very difficult to be
easier. I think of people who lived even 50+ years ago, and think of how hard it
would be for them to survive and raise a family if they were homebound. Of
course it’s still hard, and even with the conveniences, I can barely function,
but with the washer and dryer and microwave and dishwasher, I am able to be much
more independent than if I had lived 50-100 years ago and had this illness. I
have a real sympathy for my ancestors who also lived with lupus in such trying
times. My great uncle died in his 50s from what the local Dr. called “rheumatism
with internal involvement”, which I think was a bad case of fibromyalgia, which
also affects internal organs and endocrine and nervous system. Auto-immune
diseases go back quite a few generations in my family. So I give them so much
credit, and I’m almost ashamed of how weak I must appear to them, watching down
on their family from above.
We take so much for granted, just trying to get through each hour, each
day, but at this moment, I want the Lord to know that I take nothing for
granted. I am grateful for all my blessings. Especially for being born in the
country I was (Canada) where women can say and think and do anything they can
dream of, and not be sold off as child brides and not become only second class
citizens, as in almost half the world.
Thank You Lord!
Welcome back, sheila. We really have to stop and look around us and see how blessed we are to appreciate life now. We gave to count our blessings each day. Life is beautiful, challenging yes, but that's life. I hope i can also leave you some sort of a voicemail too.
Pia said... Thu Oct 31, 12:35:00 am GMT-6
It's good that you are back to blogging again. I'm sure your readers missed you so much like sis Pia. I will still be in limbo in blogging and will still concentrate on my Facebook account. Thanks for the post. God bless you always my dear friend.
Mel Avila Alarilla said... Thu Oct 31, 03:46:00 pm GMT-6
This is beautiful, Sheila!
Thanks you for your lovely and loving email--I have not been blogging for a while so I am glad you told me about this post!
I will post a new poem as soon as I can find a photo to go with it--hopefully today.
Yes said... Tue Nov 05, 11:29:00 am GMT-7
Hello Sheila,
Greetings and good wishes.
Very useful post.Most of the time we take things for granted and crave for things we don't have. We are blessed in many ways compared to millions in the world.
Best wishes,
Joseph
Joseph Pulikotil said... Sat Nov 09, 09:09:00 am GMT-7
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