Tis a gift to be grateful…

There is an icy fog on the prairie today. I got a quick walk in this morning and it was chilling to the bone. Whatever the infamous Groundhog decided, we are still in for some cold. I laugh when people complain about how cold it is and then will finish with, “But then it is winter.”

Yes. Yes it is. 

But complain we do. It is part of our nature. 

I was reading in Exodus this morning and no sooner do the waves of the Red Sea obliterate Pharoah’s army and the children of Israel are walking free from years and years of slavery, they are complaining. They are reminiscing about the “pots full of meat” back in Egypt. 

I have written in many of my Bible translations in the margins of this passage that they must have forgotten quickly about the bricks with no straw mandate. 

Hindsight is not only 20/20, it is seen through rose colored glasses. 

A mom of adolescents wistfully remembers her sweet little cherub’s face as she laid her down for a nap, but forgets the daily battles to get shoes on and buckle a seat belt. 

A woman looks in the mirror and gently touches yet another new line, reminiscing on days when the neck was firm. But she fails to see the wisdom she has gained that holds her far more steadily than when she was learning the ups and downs of life in her thirties. 

A man oofs as he bends to tie on his sneakers to head to the golf course and longs for his youth, but he forgets his youth was spent heading in to a desk five days a week. 

The Israelites did indeed need food and water to survive, but instead of asking God for it, they complained about their need. 

It is a gift to learn to discern needs from wants, and to be grateful for what is right in front of us every day. 

Blessings friends <3