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God spoke to me as I drove home from the soccer fields. He often speaks to me while I am driving in the car. Perhaps that is because it is one of the few occasions in my crazy, busy, mom-of-many life that it is quiet enough to hear that still, small voice.
Anyhow, I was driving along alone. {With 6 kids at home 14 and under, how does that even happen?} I began to give thanks for the beautiful day, my son’s soccer successes and my hardworking husband. I began to be overwhelmed with thanks for the abundant blessings I have as a wife, mother and daughter of the King.
Out of the blue, I remembered an old photo that I had clipped from the newspaper years ago. I clipped this photo as a reminder to myself of how truely blessed I am.
I don’t know what ever happened to that clipping but God brought the memory of it to mind on the particularly fine Spring day. He is like that with me – especially when I am driving alone {somehow} in the car.
The photo is of a young African woman from Southern Madagascar. Though young in age, she appeared at least 20 years older by the deep creases worn into her face and her tired eyes. She was standing outside her dirt-floored hut with a brood of ‘young-but-old’ children. The extreme hardships of their desert lives showed on their faces. Unused to being in photos, and little knowing that their photo would end up in the Los Angeles Times, they didn’t care to smile for this particular camera.
I began to consider again the differences between me and this woman – this mama of many half way around the world. While our finances here are tighter than we have ever known, we are positively rich compared to my African counterpart. Her husband, tired of the pressures of supporting a family in so bleak a place, abandoned his family while my husband, with all of his faults, is faithful to fight for our marriage and his family.
We have doctors, natural medicines, the Internet for researching the best medical treatments, while this African mama can’t afford the medicine for the malaria that becomes more debilitating each time she contracts it.
Do I complain about my never-ending mountain of laundry? I would like to say that I don’t {and I am improving at this} but yes, I do. I grumble even though my washer and dryer are fairly new, highly efficient and extra-large capacity. Really Marianne? When people struggle to put any clothes at all on their childens’ backs?
I could go comparing my light and temporary struggles to those of others less fortunate. Do I sound cliche? Pat? Extreme? I think not. How easy would it have been for me to have been born in a pace where abandonment, sickness, sanitation issues, hunger and homelessness are staus quo?
So often we compare ourselves to those that we feel are of more value than we are because of their outward appearance, their worldly successes, their apparent happiness. We blog about and encourage one another not to succomb to the pitfall of comparison. I say that today, with a shift in focus, we can be blessed by comparison.
By His Grace & For His Glory,
Marianne
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Enjoyed this.
Thanks for dropping by Denise!
stopping by from Jennifers….and I am glad I did…great post and yes…how we compare ourselves on such trite things…oh to see how richly blessed we are…you are right…sometimes we have to look and compare. blessings to you~
Always trying to find our place in this world, I suppose. Checking our reflections everywhere we go when all of our answers lie in Him. Thanks for dropping by!
wonderful post!
Come check out my list of 100 Smoothies! Comment if you’d like on which one is you favorite!
Love, Traci @ Ordinary Inspirations http://www.ordinaryinspirations.blogspot.com/2012/04/100-smoothie-recipes.html
i hear you…i think sometimes in the right direction, comparison helps us uncover just how blessed we really are, and hopefully that breeds gratefulness…and some humility…smiles.
For sure! Thanks for dropping by.
This will make you laugh. (I hope!) I stopped reading mid-post, turned toward my husband, and whined: “I want an extra-large-capacity washer and dryer!”
Even so, your point wasn’t lost on me. You are I? We’re both blessed, Sister. Thank you for your message, today.
Hilarious! And I have been catching myself complaining a lot today! Glad for a sense of humor. Sooooo blessed! Thanks for dropping by!
oh friend. i’m so glad you linked to imperfect prose so i could find you here. i love this post. i love the reminder to be thankful, but more than that, to stretch our eyes and see beyond our four walls… bless you.
Hi Emily. Baby steps for me today. Trying just to keep my eyes off of the muddy, dripping floor! Blessings to you and your brood.
Nodding my head here.
Yes, yes. If we’re going to compare, let’s note how blessed we’ve been. I think now of my new friends in Haiti, with cardboard walls and dirt floors …
God is so good! Thanks for commenting today.
I’ve used that trick myself a few times, when I start to feel poor or jealous of others. Yes, my house is little and tiny, but compared to the shack smaller than my kitchen that a family of five lives in, I have a palace. A few such thoughts and any poor-me thoughts have fled! We are blessed indeed!
The power of a thankful heart is unmeasurable! Blessings to you!
Lovely. I could stand to turn off the negative keeping up with the Janes comparison game!
Great post. We definitely compare ourselves, don’t we?
Hi Janelle,
Thanks for dropping by. Always comparing but sometimes it can be a good thing!
Blessings to you!
Marianne