Three weeks ago, I was on a ministry trip in Colorado. After an abbreviated workout in the fitness room before breakfast, I stepped into the shower, and it hit me. I was having a hot shower, something rarely experienced by millions of people across the globe. For those people, any shower would be a luxury but a hot shower? Unheard of.
This epiphany was likely prompted by an interview I was a part of two days earlier. You see that interview was with a European missionary who is doing covert ministry in the slums of a highly restricted country in Southeast Asia. The people he is serving live in extreme conditions. He shared pictures and a video with us. He and a couple of others are the few westerners still in the country. They are helping to feed families and show the film “JESUS” on tablets. Hundreds, even thousands, are coming to faith and have been baptized. He now has 250 cell groups of new believers, mostly from Buddhist backgrounds.
The thoughts from the interview and my shower revelation continue, as I reflect on God’s
abundant provisions. There are so many comforts and conveniences that you and I have and take for granted. Things like electricity, easy access to doctors and effective medicines and transportation to work and church.
That I am healthy enough to exercise and can eat a hot breakfast at the hotel have only now been truly recognized as blessing.
A few days later I heard a former homeless woman on the radio say that one of the most coveted items for the homeless are socks. Wow! I now look at my socks with newfound appreciation.
I sleep in a bed that is off the floor and out of the dirt. I own a refrigerator, a washer and a
dryer—items that today seem essential but not always. I once was doing my laundry at an apartment laundromat and had a pair of jeans stolen from the dryer.
Last week I went to a couple of annual medical appointments, and I’m happy to say the reports were encouraging. I don’t think twice about scheduling an appointment, because fortunately, I have medical insurance—what I and many others view as a necessity. But if we consider the global situation, many—in fact, most do not.
Others are less fortunate. I have a friend at church who is dealing with a serious case of skin
cancer. I pray for Dave G. regularly and invite you to join me. I am undergoing dermatological treatment myself right now which is for a condition similar to Dave’s. But mine is only preventative.
The fact that I can go to church locally and worship openly is also an often-under-appreciated provision. My church is life-giving. I benefit from two men’s groups which provide spiritual, emotional and social support. And I enjoy opportunities to serve within my church.
I can take advantage of many of these things because of another freedom: the right to vote!
The list of comforts, conveniences and other provisions could go on …
But let me not overlook you, my praying friend and faithful financial partner. I’m truly grateful to God for you and your generous investment in His work through me—thank you!
I guess that hot shower and interview experience started me down a new path … a path of greater recognition of and appreciation for the so many ways I am blessed and rejoice in God’s generous daily blessings.
May you also be able to discern and enjoy His abundant provisions in greater ways today,
throughout this holiday season and in the year ahead. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
“Gratitude is the shortest path to joy—it shifts our focus
from what’s missing to what matters most.” — Bob Tiede
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