Abundance…

1.  A very large quantity of something.  2.  The state or condition of having a copious quantity of something; plentifulness.  3.  Prosperity.  4.  A great or plentiful amount.  5.  Fullness to overflowing.

Each day after our trip to Honduras I see abundance.  In the USA we have so much of everything.  My eyes and heart have been opened repeatedly the past 145 days.  I would believe at my age I had seen and experienced much and I have.  What I’ve now realized, is that the things that matter, are so vast compared to what I thought was important before.  Being raised in a steel town with young hard working parents, taught me to be thankful, work hard, treat others with love, respect and kindness and pray.  I thought that was it.  It was a good start.

In Honduras, shacks are home, with sheets of aluminum for a roof with dirt floors.  Water is collected in buckets from rain.  Soda is readily available if you have money and is cleaner than water.  The carbonated sugar leaves teeth to decay.  A meal of local fruits, vegetables or possibly rice once a day, is a blessing.  Waiting hours outside for medicine or doctors from mission brigades, are a way of life.  These people would consider poverty level here…a gift.

Today, be thankful for a bed without fleas or lice in your hair.  When you sit down to dinner in your cozy home with warm food, give thanks.  As you reach for the phone to a doctor only an appointment away, think of those not so fortunate.  As you turn on a faucet for a hot shower or to drink cold purified tap water, be grateful.

Stop complaining.  You are blessed.  The Honduran people that I encountered had nothing but smiles and grateful hearts in the most dire circumstances.  The children were dancing, singing and playing games in the sun.  They showed me a bigger picture.  Abundant life does not come from a road where someone has removed the bumps, sickness or loss.  It develops from within, through Him, as we look up and are happy.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  2 Peter 1:2

Photo:  Claire…remembering…in Honduras 2015.