Creature Comforts
November 13, 2008 | My Jottings
It’s Thankful Thursday! I’m so very grateful for the lavish creature comforts I have in my life. A good mattress. A working furnace. Hot water. Many options on what to make for dinner tonight. Socks without holes. Reliable transportation. Indoor toilets. Cold milk. Fresh fruit. A soft chair on which to sit and read. Countless books. Drinking water. Soap. Healthy teeth. Flannel nightgowns. Manual dexterity. Electric appliances. Electricity to power them. Lip gloss. E-mail. Accurately refracted lenses.
And I’m also thankful for the things that are not a part of my life. A wheelchair. Lice. Dentures. Frostbite. Solitary confinement. Shoes with mildew. Infidelity. Cockroaches. Hatred. Chronic pain. Friendlessness.
That isn’t to say that life can’t suddenly take a turn for the worse. I know it can. And I know that for many of God’s beloved children, creature comforts such as I enjoy are not part of their reality. I don’t know why I am warm and others are not. But I would rather notice His generosity to me, not understanding it fully, than to let it go by as if it were inconsequential and random.
In years to come I may not have the things I’m thanking Him for today. But I thank Him anyway. If these things are taken from my life someday, He will give me the will and the joy to praise and thank Him no matter what.
“Naked (without possessions) came I [into this world] from my mother’s womb, and naked (without possessions) shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed (praised and magnified in worship) be the name of the Lord!” Job 1:21 (The Amplified Bible)
What creature comforts are you thankful for today? And what don’t you have that makes you grateful?
Amen to all that you are grateful for and I can agree. Also,
I am so grateful to watch my children as they know God in such depth that I learn from them. I am also so grateful for my 27 years with your father and God is taking me on a new journey without the terrible grief that would immobilize me.
I am grateful for the people that are supporting me in the upcoming golf tournament. I am grateful for when I tripped over Kacies dog Maggie that I only bruised my little toe and did not break it. Because of my age, I know my health is good and I am so thankful for that. I am grateful that the feeling of despair over the election left me so fast and I can
concentrate on praying for the new President and can also
concentrate on doing the work we have to do if we want our party to get back in and fight like Sara Palin will fight for us. I am grateful for my daughter Kacie putting me on a fat flush diet that is working. I am very grateful that I will be
getting a paycheck this week for the last three months. Thanks Julie, for letting me put to words what is in my heart.
Love, Dorothy P.S. I am also grateful that I have finished the scrapbooks for Sharon, Carolyn, Sara and Savannah. Will get them in the mail Saturday.
The biggest “creature comfort” that I am thankful to have is a home away from home with my motor home which enables me to take care of my grandson while my daughter works. I too am thankful for health and that my bills are paid right now (in this day and age that seems to be a bit of a creature comfort). I am thankful for the health of my children and my grandchildren. A creature comfort that I am the MOST thankful for is my loving husband. He loves and cherishes me in a way that I never thought was possible. This is a creature comfort for me because I lived without it for so long. I am thankful I am growing and learning to love him more and more each day. Things I am thankful I DON’T have – someone I love in prison, an unemployment check every two weeks, unpaid medical bills. The creature comfort I most value is my salvation and the knowledge that if I were the ONLY sinner in the world, Jesus still would have gone to the cross for me! Thanks Jules for the reminder!!