Grateful Meditation

Scripture: Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. Philippians 2:14-16

We moved into the house where we are living Labor Day weekend of 2006. I am married to an appliance salesman and my ice maker did not work. It was so irritating and I complained about it constantly for 3 years. We remodeled the kitchen recently and now my ice maker works. I was so excited at first, but quickly began taking that for granted.

During the renovation something happened to my dishwasher and it has not been operable since before Christmas. This week we have had extremely cold conditions here in TN. The drain line to my washing machine froze and busted.

I went from having a broken ice maker to a broken dishwasher and a broken washing machine. As I sat in the laundry mat today, I suddenly had a change of perspective. I watched the television from across the room as the images of the cracked open Haitian capital flashed all over the news. My heart gushed with conviction!

How could I have complained about not having ice? The dishwasher and washing machine are much more important and I had taken them both for granted. But how can I complain about washing dishes when there was a family in Haiti that had never seen a dishwasher? How could I complain about going to the laundry mat when there was a woman in Haiti who washed her clothes in a muddy creek and had no running water? Furthermore, how could I complain about anything when there was a mother trying to find her dead child under the rubble of a school building or wondering what she will eat and drink for the next week or month?

Perspective...

Leslie Stephens
Winchester, TN

Prayer: O God Please forgive me for complaining! Teach me how to be content with what you have given me. Amen!
Prayer Tip: Always open and close your prayer time with thankfulness and praise.