Gratefulness

The other day, I had a bit of a mini-meltdown. I was so frustrated with our condo and just wanting to find a house RIGHT NOW. It's not just that our place is small (which it is), but that it was designed for someone who works long hours, eats out most of the time, and is rarely home, hence the lack of cupboard and closet space. Sigh...

Anyway, I don't really want to complain about our home; the point is that I have been very frustrated. Since then, I've had a few reminders to be grateful. I met with a friend and her two young boys whose space constraints make ours seem like a mild annoyance. I've thought about the homes that we built in Guatemala which were probably the size of my living room and housed entire families. Then I read Genesis 9.

I get a bit sea sick on boats and am by no stretch of the imagination a “country girl”, so the whole living-on-an-ark-with-animals-for-months concept has always been unfathomable to me. When I read the account yesterday, I tried to imagine it. On a boat for months. The smells and sounds of lots of animals. Probably not a lot of variety of cuisine. No air conditioning or central heating, and don't want to think about bathrooms... Crammed in with your immediate family and little privacy. Not to mention the grief of knowing everything in your life is gone, and everyone else you know has died. Of course, the people on the ark had every reason to be thankful they were there. They knew the alternative was much much worse. I'd imagine that when they got discouraged or frustrated, they reminded each other of that fact.

I am not stuck on an ark, and the life that I left was certainly more enjoyable than perishing in a flood. Nevertheless, just as Noah and his family willingly boarded the ark, I have to remember that I chose to marry Gil and to move here. And I would choose it again. And I have more to be grateful for in this marriage than I have cause for complaint. Hope this reminder will take me through the next bout of self-pity!