Many who are first will be last, and the last first. Mark 10:31 NASB

When I was 9 years of age our Sunday School class went to visit Anita Robinson who was struck down in her teens with polio.  With much anxiety I remember entering the large room whose space was overwhelmed with the loud, rhythmic pulse of an iron lung.  She spoke to us as the machine allowed her to breathe.  She spoke of the faithfulness of the Lord.  I have never forgotten that encounter.

Lesson learned: Be grateful you can breathe on your own.

One of the last adventures I took before I retired as the principal of our elementary school was to join a team of 30 teachers to construct a school building at a parcel in Nicaragua.  In concert with Chosen Children’s Ministry, one July morning we went to a neighborhood to share the message of Jesus.

This was a place where families constructed their homes from materials found in the dump.  We went into the one-room home of a family of five.  When our leader asked what food the family had, the father said,

The Lord provided an onion today.

The father explained they would make onion soup for supper.

Lessons learned: Never go to my pantry and say, “I have nothing to eat.”  Be thankful for the grocery store.  Be grateful for the food on my table.

During the recent flooding in South Carolina, I saw a news report that depicted the plight of a young family.  The water was above the gutters on their house and they only had the clothes on their backs.  When questioned about all he had lost, the father quickly added,

But I have my family and I thank God for that, for that is all that really matters in this world.

Lessons learned: Never take your family for granted and hold the things of this world loosely.

Remember to be grateful for all you have and never take the everyday for granted.

Dear Kind and Generous Heavenly Father, thank you for all I have.  Thank you for allowing me to live in America.  Thank you for the food in my pantry, the roof over my head and the ability I have to breathe.  Make me mindful of all my blessings and the scripture that reminds me “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB).  Amen.