TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you." I Thes. 5:18 KJV

I HATE TO EXERCISE!

There are so many other things I'd rather be doing than exercising. Yet, I know that I NEED to do it. My body looks better when I do and I feel better when I do. Especially as I get older, I know that I need to keep those joints exercised and moving. But still, I don't like to do it one bit!

However, this morning, my attitude was changed a bit. You see there is a young man in our area who recently suffered a traumatic accident. He is 17 years old, about to be a senior in high school and up to now was a star football player. Yet a few weeks ago, while bushhogging for his grandfather, he was thrown from the tractor and then run over by the bushhog. He lost both of his legs and suffered other serious injuries as well. He has been fighting for his life in ICU.

He is improving and had his first skin graft this week. After fighting a serious infection and high fever for several days, he was able to post to his Caring Bridge site today.

I had just finished reading his page and sent a note to him when I drug myself into the den to do my exercises to the DVD I use for that purpose. As I was putting on my tennis shoes, it hit me that Drew no longer has feet to put tennis shoes on and cannot exercise to a DVD as I was about to do.

Suddenly I was so ashamed of my grumbling. I realized how truly blessed I was to be ABLE to exercise! God has given me two good legs to exercise with and I need to be using them instead of whining about the 30 minutes or so I spend working out.

How often we complain about silly stuff like that instead of realizing how blessed we are. In addition to Drew, we have also been praying for another young man, 20 years old, who was in a boating accident last week. This young man lost both of his arms. Can you imagine?! He can't scratch his ear, feed himself, pick up a telephone, tie his shoes....NONE of that!!!!!!!

How often do we stop to thank the Lord for the little things in our life like our arms and our legs? Yet how devastated we would be without them. Unfortunately, we do not often stop to count our blessings until we are close to losing them.

I challenge you today to stop and count YOUR blessings. Name them one by one. I'll help you out by naming a few that I am thankful for:

• Legs that function, allowing me to walk and get around without assistance, that let me exercise so I can remain healthy.
• Arms and hands that do SO much for me, like typing on this keyboard, answering the phone, picking up my grandbaby, cooking for my family, combing my hair, putting on make up, working in my garden, holding a book to read and a million other things they do every day!
• Eyes to see the beauty God has placed all around me....beautiful flowers, a rainbow, a butterfly sweeping from flower to flower, but most of all to see the faces of those I love...my sweet husband, my children, my precious granddaughter and soon the face of our newest granddaughter! Watching them discover their world is a priceless gift!
• Ears to hear the voices of those I love, to hear laughter that brings such delight to my soul, to hear God's word proclaimed, to hear a siren warning of danger, to hear the music of the birds singing in the trees, to hear the crickets chirping at sundown, to hear the wind blowing through the trees and one of my favorite sounds on earth..the ocean!
• Lungs to breathe. After having a bout with pneumonia, I've a newfound appreciation for being able to breathe! It is a scary thing to NOT be able to breathe right. I am SO thankful for healthy lungs to breathe.
• For organs that function properly, allowing me to eat and to function every day without pain, without tubes or machines.
• A sound mind....to think, to speak, to create, to care for myself, to remember all the wonderful memories I have, to read, to write, to have conversations with friends and loved ones
• To drive...to get myself where I need to go when I want to go, not depending on anyone else. How blessed not to be at the mercy of someone else to go and do.

My list could go on and on...but I challenge you to think of the things YOU are thankful for and to take time today to tell God just how grateful you are for the little things you so often take for granted. Then use those blessings for His glory!!!