Gratitude for Grace

As I sit here at my desk this morning, with my coffee next to me and a blank screen before me...I think about the shoeboxes we packed at our church last night for Operation Christmas Child.  113 boxes of love and grace, gifts for children who have so little.  I think of the videos I have seen of children receiving those boxes - the joy, the smiles on their faces, the excitement of receiving something that was packed hundreds of miles away...just for them.  And I am humbled.

I have so much.  And I am not always content with what I have.  I have two pair of shoes right now that are falling apart and in need of replacement...and yet across the world...even here in my own community...are people who have no shoes.  Not even falling apart shoes...and I have two.  Not counting the several other pairs upstairs under my dresser.

I have a home to live in.  I grumble because I do not own my own home.  I fuss because I want one to call my OWN.  Yet, I have a roof over my head, walls to keep the weather away, clean floors to walk on, and a wonderful landlady who loves my family.  The children I sponsor through Compassion International....they live in homes made of plywood or tin with dirt floors, bags over their windows, roofs made of materials that may provide shelter from the sun but not much else...

I have food to eat - enough that I have three meals a day, and several snacks throughout.  If I miss a meal, it is by choice for the most part.  Not because of desperate need.  There are mothers in this world who wonder each day how they will feed their beloved children even the smallest of meals once a day.  They watch their child slowly starve, while they themselves go without as well. 

I am humbled.  And grateful for my oh so old, definitely NOT HD tv, my couch that has seen better days, my food pantry that may not be as full as I like it but has plenty of nutrition for my family, my car that needs constant work, my falling apart shoes....my home full of what to many would seem extravagances.

I am grateful for the grace God extends to me every day.  For each morning I wake, for each breath I take, for each person who crosses my path, for the gift of living in God's blessing.  I am grateful for my Savior who loves me for me, who gave His life for mine - the ultimate loving sacrifice and gift.  What more do I need?

And so I pray that I will be an extension of His grace....shining His light...sharing His hope...giving His love...blessed to be a blessing.