If you are around me at all in real life you will hear me say real quick that i’m
“Not made for the American life.”
Today as we celebrate the good ol’ birthday of America…
I ponder why I am thankful.
I am thankful for air conditioning.
For ten months straight
We either froze our asses off
or we sweated our faces off.
Never a happy “I’m chill.”
Month 11 arrived and the Lord knew we were OVER IT
So naturally he blew us up with a place to stay with an AC.
You bet your bottom dollar we cranked that baby on the lowest possible.
Ice box.
I know what it’s like to be in inescapable heat
and because of that…
I am thankful for the cold I’m currently coming down with because of Starbucks’ insane AC.
I am thankful for shelter.
All over the world
we saw homeless people everywhere.
Yeah, some by choice or bad decisions in the past…
But there are hardly any homeless shelters.
You drive past the dump and there are houses built out of garbage.
Families protected by trash.
Vulnerable to the world.
Not that it’s a pity party but it’s real.
Street boys sleeping on the streets…
Huddled together for warmth and protection.
Babies taking care of babies in the forest.
I am thankful for the roof over my head.
Dramatic debbie.
I have never felt real hunger pains.
I can guarantee 99% of America has never felt legit hunger pains.
People steal just to feed their families.
To provide.
Not because they are wretched but because they are desperate.
Babies walking for hours to get but a spoonful of ugali.
I am thankful for a plethora of food.
I am thankful for clean water.
Clean water is not as normal as we may think.
Approximately 6000 kids die DAILY due to lack of clean water.
2000 in Africa alone.
That’s ridiculous.
Those are my babies.
Most of the water we saw on the race was burgundy
Or had sick bugs floating in it.
Women walk for miles and miles to get to a well
to then walk miles and miles with a bucket on their head and one in each arm.
Or splashing in puddles.
Or rain.
Or simply a wet cloth.
I am thankful that we have the freedom to worship in public.
But then I immediately think back to the eyeballs I gazed into
whose bodies were beaten to a pulp because they professed the name of Jesus.
Those who would worship in cellars
And sneak into home churches in order to praise Him.
Who lock the doors behind them and have to sing quietly..
even in the privacy of their own homes.
I take for granted the chill drive through Starbucks and scenic drive to
the gorgeous building we call Church.
I am thankful for the freedom to praise the Lord wherever and whenever I please.
I am thankful…
That we can flush toilet paper.
That I can walk down the street and not worry about my safety.
For brilliant doctors and
I mean yeah our government may not be perfect but we are way better off than most.
For a legit police force that doesn’t hold random people up just for bribes.
For the freedom to show my face as a woman in public.
That I’m not in prison for loving Jesus.
That I can make eye contact with men.
That when disaster hits we have the support of our country.
For the freedom to vote.
The freedom speak my mind.
That I have more than one outfit.
I am thankful that I can crack my bible open in starbucks and not be persecuted.
I am thankful for fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, siblings and friends in the military
that sacrifice their lives so we can live ours.
I am thankful for a freaking Savior who has given me his Spirit.
I take all these things for granted most days.
Yeah, I can bash America in a hot second too because the world as a whole is SCREWED
because of the fall of man…
But we are so freaking blessed to live in America.
So celebrate.
Love.
Laugh.
Praise Jesus.
Flush your toilet paper.
Be thankful.
