The brand new dishwasher refused to work; a horrible stench permeated the air in the laundry room because of a malfunctioning thingamajig; a broken clothes dryer and broken glassware; eight days and two service calls later and still NO WORKING INTERNET; AND because of my husband’s hectic end-of-the-month work schedule, I was solely responsible for a large portion of the unpacking task. To top things off, both my husband and I came down with a nasty cold on day three of the moving/unpacking phase and had little energy for the rigors of a major move. Oh the joys of change!
In spite of all these setbacks and my “whining,” I’m smart enough to know that these “trials” are what most would consider nothing more than “first-world problems.” My life, (and likely most of you reading this post), have lives that are significantly better than at least two-thirds of the rest of the world.
These “first world problems” was the subject of a recent Facebook article entitled, “Don’t ask me to pray for your First World Problems.” Quite frankly, the title alone left me feeling so convicted, I barely did more than skim the article. I KNOW that I live what is considered a privileged life.
In a couple of short weeks, our country will celebrate Thanksgiving – a day devoted solely to giving thanks by gorging ourselves on mountains of food followed by a day of marathon “Black Friday” shopping. Many of us are likely to spend more time “whining” over our bank accounts and all the “stuff” we want to buy rather than actually being thankful for everything we already possess.
And while yes, there are some of us who may truly have significant problems and hardships going on in our lives right now, most of our hardships are easily remedied because we as a nation have been blessed to have many advantages that third world countries don’t have – things like medicines, doctors, clean drinking water, military and police protection, electricity and indoor plumbing, to name just a few.
As we celebrate the holiday season, my prayer is that rather than sitting down with a big glass of “whine” and a side of “boy I’m “cheesed off” because I can’t get the 70″ flat screen!” let us choose rather, to take time DAILY to thank God for His many provisions that we may have a tendency to take for granted. If you have a blanket on your bed, thank God. If you can grab some Ibuprofen for your headache or backache, praise Jesus. If you are facing a holiday season of time spent with difficult family members, thank the good Lord that you aren’t homeless and you have someone to be with rather than being isolated and lonely.
Every day is a precious gift. Don’t forget to thank our Heavenly Savior each and every day for all that He has blessed us with! Happy Thanksgiving one and all!
Blessings in Christ,
Kathy K.
O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 107:1 (KJV)
Oh, Kathy, you’re so right! We are so very blessed. I really appreciated the “first-world problem” concept and really enjoyed this post.
Happy thanksgiving!