Why is it that we often do not appreciate something fully till it is gone? I have been plagued many times by this phenomenon. And, yet, I will find that once again I have done it. I have taken someone or something for granted. When my mother in law died I was so sorry that I hadn’t asked my husband, her youngest son, to call her more often. When my father in law died I again felt the same way. I thought of the times I was irritated by his phone calls in the night for this pain or that pain and how I would complain and murmur under my breath about the inconvenience of it. I would still go and help him and be kind and gentle with him, but at times I mumbled and didn’t obey with as joyful a spirit as I should have. After he was gone, I sure wish that I had done so more joyfully and also sought out MORE opportunities to serve him.
It’s just like electricity. How often do I think about and thank God for the invention and blessing of having electricity? Usually, I think of it when the power is out. It is quite inconvenient. It is THEN and usually only then, that I remember to thank God for that one. What about our cars? Sure, if we get a new one, we are thankful. But personally, I often fail to be grateful for my car. I'm usually complaining about the price of gas, the cost of repairs, or how I can’t depend on them! What? They are pretty dependable. Let them break down once, though, and suddenly all the millions of times it started without any problems are forgotten. I confess that I don’t frequently remember to thank God for my transportation till suddenly I am without it.
Let’s face it. In America we are so blessed with so much that we could spend the first part of every Thanksgiving doing nothing but listing all the things for which we could be thankful and we might not have time to get to the Thanksgiving dinner. There are a myriad of little things that I have every day that others all over the world have never had and likely are never to have. They can’t even conceive what it is like to have them. It is simply a foreign idea.
