Grateful

I have been thinking this morning of all of the things that this time in India has reminded me to be grateful for and it is only fitting that I take a few minutes and exult the Lord over them.

The truth is that you and I have been given so much that I, for one, tend to take for granted until I am confronted with a lack of it. Thank you, my loving Father, for...

• vaccinations and the money to receive them.
• access to healthcare that isn't 20+ miles away on foot. And again, the money that most of us have to pay for it.
• providing food to strengthen my body for the tasks you have called me to.
• access to water that doesn't come from rivers that are green and bacteria/parasite-laden.
• a shower/bathroom in my home so we don't have to pump water and bathe in the streets
• traffic laws and enforcement that keep people from dying at every intersection. Accidents happen everywhere but the rate of those accidents is astronomical around here.
• a justice system that, while littered with its own corruptions, is not run solely on bribes.
• seeing the police and not wanting to run the other way. *Most* of us do not know them as a source of beatings or extortion.
• legs that can walk, eyes that can see, ears that can hear...
• employment and resources to help those who are unemployed. Begging on the streets in order to earn less than $1 per day is something that *most* of your creations will never know.
• access to and money for education. Many children here are never able to go to school due to the family's need for extra income and the inaffordability of basic school fees.
• the ability to read and write
• owning a computer so that I can keep in touch with people all around the world
• having the resources to be able to see other countries and cultures
• having dreams and hope for a future. Many around the world know no such thing.
• my health, my health, my health. Let me say it once more. My health. SO grateful.
• family and friends who love me and care for me. I did nothing to deserve them just as the orphan, widow, and abandoned person on the street here did nothing to deserve that.
• the knowledge of Jesus Christ, apart from whom I am nothing and have nothing. So many in the world have yet to hear. So many have yet to submit. In Him alone is the greatest joy and the most enduring hope in a world filled with brokenness.