Things I took for granted!

This weekend has brought many things to my mind that I used to take for granted.  So I have spent much time in prayer asking God to forgive me for not being more grateful for the things I had.  After having 8 months of what I called "striping away" - letting go of stuff I had accumulated through the years - selling a house and making no money - not to mention the spiritual stripping of my pride, I thought I was ready to leave the "comforts" of home and move to a foreign country. I'm not saying that I wasn't ready - I knew I could trust God and could follow Him where ever He asked me to go and stay. I am just realizing how good and comfortable I had it!!! Some things in my "new" life are the same and overall we do have it very comfortable but most things here are different.  So this weekend every time I realized some of the major differences I spent time confessing my ungratefulness and then being grateful for what I do have.

One of the major differences today was at church.  Sitting in service with every seat taken (and I mean every seat!!!) Keep in mind this is one of the largest Baptist churches in the country and by their standards one of the wealthiest churches. These seats I talk of are small plastic seats like you might see at an ice cream parlor at the beach.  Every seat was touching the seat in front of you when you sat and the seat behind you was touching your back and the seats on both sides of you sitting right up against you so that you had to hold your arms in so everyone would fit on the row, not to mention there was no air-conditioning therefore very uncomfortable!!! This made me realize how good I had it in the churches I had always been in.  I never sat in church on a Sunday morning and thanked God for my comfortable place to worship.  I might have said a prayer of thanks for my freedom to worship but it never crossed my mind to be thankful for comfort.  Other than an occasional Christmas eve service did I ever have to cram into a pew or seat with any discomfort.  The temperature in the churches I attended was climate controlled and the seats were padded and there were usually available seats between my family and others - you know an empty one to put your Bible on.  Today I told God how sorry I was that I never thanked Him for my comfortable places of worship!!  I thanked Him today that I had a place to worship and asked Him to help me to remain grateful and I thanked Him that He is still stripping away the parts of me that He sees the need to.

Another major difference I really noticed this weekend for our family is no TV.  I used to say "I don't really watch TV" and really I didn't very much but it was always there when I did decide to "veg" in front of it.  My kids, Scott and even I am really missing just having TV in our life.  We kind of thought we would be able to find some of our shows on the internet and watch them after the fact but even that isn't possible here.  For some reason the country blocks American TV - no Hulu - no ABC.com - no NBC.com - no CBS.com.  Again I was saying to God how sorry I was for the things I took for granted.  Small things - petty things - unnecessary things - but things we enjoyed none the less.  I could go on and on about the differences - the grocery stores - the convenience foods - bread with a shelf life - a clothes dryer - a dishwasher - etc. etc. etc.  But instead I am going to tell you some of things I am very grateful for!!

Yesterday I spent the morning sewing a ruffle on a pair of curtains that someone had given me.  I was very grateful that I had brought my sewing machine from home and that we had a transformer to plug it into.  But I was most grateful yesterday that I had a Mom that could sew!!  I was thanking God over and over that my  Mom had sent me to the 4H sewing class and that she had trained me over the years how to run the machine and just do some basic sewing.  When I bought my sewing machine several years ago on clearance at Target, it was a big joke among my family.  We would all tease about me making Scott some tennis shorts.  I never really used my machine that often but it was there when I needed it for something simple. This weekend I was thanking God for my machine and for knowing how to use it!! (and Thanking you Moma!)

Two weeks after we arrived in Botswana two young guys came here from the US.  They are here for a year with Campus Crusade for Christ.  We have had the privilege to meet them and spend some time together.  We have had them over for meals, games and just fellowship.  My boys love having them here and ask me everyday if we are going to invite them over.  I am thanking God this weekend that He placed Seth and Matt in our lives so that my boys would have some comfort and connection to home.

I am also very grateful to God for a comfortable home to live in, a safe place in a safe neighborhood.  I am grateful for transportation, for food on the table, for safe water to drink, and for electricity.  I am thanking Him again and again for technology.  I am grateful to be able to Skype with my sister and parents, to Facebook with all of my friends and to be able to share what He is doing in our lives with all of you!!

As I close this post I want to encourage all of you to take some time today and THANK GOD for everything He has blessed you with.  Think of your day and tell Him how grateful you are for every little detail of your life!! Thank Him that He has blessed you with comfort and never take that for granted!!!

I love you all and thank you for reading and praying and encouraging us!! Please keep us in your prayers as we make Botswana our new home!!   Tonya