Some Things To Be Thankful For

When there is much to complain about THAT is a time to remember A FEW THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR:

1. Clean Water.  One in eight people around the world don’t have access to clean water. When you take a five-minute shower, you use more water than a typical person in a developing country uses in a whole day.  I’m thankful for clean water!

2. A Bathroom.   I still think plumbing is the greatest technological invention in the last millennium.  Did you know that about 40 percent of the world's population don’t have toilets?  It’s a major cause of disease and death around the world.  Thank God for toilets!

3. Electricity.  Electricity is definitely #2 (right after plumbing) on the list of greatest inventions.  Statistics say that 1/4th of the world does not have electricity. I can barely even imagine what that would be like.  I’m thankful for electricity!

4. Food.  Statistics say that about 990 million people in the developing world are malnourished—many of them are children and die of actual starvation.  And here in America, we have an obesity problem.  I totally enjoy eating.  As for many of us, it’s my second favorite thing to do.  Thank God for food!

5. Income and Opportunity.  Did you know that about 80% of the planet lives on less than $10 per day.  That’s about $3,650 per year.   If you are doing better than that then you’re in the top 1/5th of the world richest people on the planet!   Better yet, we live in a land of unlimited opportunity to provide for our needs and bless others besides!

6. Education and Personal Development.  Allegedly, about a billion people on the planet today can’t read.  It’s heart breaking.  If you can read and write and do arithmetic, then you are blessed beyond measure.  The world is limitless for you.  I’m thankful for my education and my ability to learn!

7. Freedom of Faith.  Are you free to worship God? More than 400 Christians die for their faith every day around the world—just for believing in something that others don’t want them to believe in.  I’m truly thankful that my family doesn’t face that threat.

MOSTLY - FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND LOVE.  Maybe it sounds cheesy.  If so—then so be it.  But if everything else was taken away from me, and all I had was my friends and family that I loved—then I would be blessed.  And I would be thankful.  Not just on Thanksgiving Day but throughout the year, I want my friends and family to know that I love them and that they matter most to me.

I aim to do better at showing and saying how much my dear ones mean to me because they are counted as my personal and dear friends… and I will never forget that.