Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Looking back at my childhood, I fondly remember the busyness of my mothers hands. Her hands were rarely idle for she had four young children always at her skirt hem.

She prepared meals from scratch making a feast appear out of seemingly nothing as if Jesus’ miracle of the loaves and fishes was reenacted each day in our kitchen. She stitched torn seams, replaced lost buttons, and ironed everything we wore so that our well-worn garments looked shiny and new. She vacuumed crumbs out of couch cushions and dusted and buffed the furniture until it gleamed.

Growing up on a farm on the coast of crystal clear waters without electricity, killing chickens for the family supper, my mother was taught that nothing is to be wasted for everything we have is a blessing. Everything that we have been given should be cared for and appreciated for what you have today you may not have tomorrow. And when we have more than we need, we need to pass it along to another. My mother is a woman who has learned in her lifetime to take nothing for granted which has produced in her heart a spirit rich in gratefulness.

How often have we rummaged through the kitchen cupboards looking for something to eat but wishy-washy in what to choose? How often have we stood before a jumbled mass of clothes bunched and crammed in the closet indecisive in what to wear? How often have we grumbled that the gas tank is getting low and we have to stop to fill it? Or we feel overwhelmed because the monthly bills need to be paid… again? Too often we take such things- food, clothes, cars, and even the bills– for granted. We have too much from which to choose, and too many thing to care for.

But what if we only had one loaf of bread that sat in a basket on the floor? We had one shirt that hung on a peg for no closet existed? Our feet were calloused and brown for no car sat in a driveway, and there were no bills to pay simply because we had no money to pay them? I am sure whatever we did have would be precious and well cared for. Within our minds we know that all we have belongs to God, but in our emotions we often struggle the war of comparison and competitiveness for it is easier to look at what we don’t have than count up all the things we do have.

Romans 11:36, For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

But perhaps if we walked through our day giving thanks for everything we put into our mouths, expressed gratitude for what we wore, shouted praise for everything we used, and even acknowledged the bills we pay with a positive attitude, we would grow within our hearts an overwhelming spirit of gratefulness. And when our soul begins to overflow with a spirit of gratefulness, the temptation to take our blessings for granted begins to dissipate for everything we have is precious.

Father, everything we have is on loan to us by your hand. May we not take it all for granted but see how very precious it is. Birth within us a spirit of gratefulness and a soul so overwhelmed by your blessings, we can’t help but shout for joy at your goodness and mercy giving glory to your name. In Jesus name, Amen.

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