Thankful for this life...

WWJD- It sounds corny, but seriously....consider this...

I stood at the sink grumbling to myself, this morning, as I washed a pile of dishes that I had allowed to pile up over the last 2 days.  I HATE doing dishes!  I kept thinking that I wish my husband would pitch in with the dishes more often, or that I could get my 6 year old to unload the dishwasher every day like she's supposed to.  Then suddenly, I felt very convicted.  How selfish of me to stand there complaining about my beautiful life! 

I was standing in my warm, cozy kitchen with the oven preheating to bake some of Nana Cunningham's famous sweet potato casserole for my hard working, loving husband to take to work to share with his coworkers.  My beautiful, healthy daughter is with my parents, happily baking all morning long.  My gorgeous, healthy son is running around in fuzzy pajamas, eating cheerios and wrestling with Daddy.  Later, I'll take a group of teenagers to pick out a Christmas tree to decorate together in our youth group building.  Then, I'll swing over to my parents house for an early Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  I have NOTHING to complain about!  I have more than enough food to eat, I have more than enough money to support my family..........

I was born in a country where I'm not persecuted for my religion, where I don't have to worry about a a war that's going on right outside my front door, where I don't have to pack up my family, pay every cent that I own to take a treacherous journey to a safer land, only to be turned away because of the sin of others who are extremists. 

Many people are saying send them back to their own country; let them fight for themselves and for their land, but most are not armed, most are probably traumatized more than we know, many are women and children.  These are human beings!  Children of God, just like us, whether they worship our God or not.

I know there are homeless people in this country and that we as a people have not done enough for them; that our government has failed them!  But what if everyone who is using that as an argument goes out and does something about it themselves?  What if we take it upon ourselves to show other human beings love and compassion?  If we ALL did SOMETHING, maybe we could solve the problem.  We can't sit back and expect our government to do everything for us.

As we approach Thanksgiving, these things are weighing heavily on my heart.  I know LOTS of people will disagree with me, and I know the risks of bringing them into our country, I know I'll probably be verbally attacked by people who have strong feelings that are not the same as mine, but that's allowed in this country too.  We all have a voice!  I also know that I follow a God who does not want me to live in fear, who does not want me to make decisions based on fear, whom I trust to protect me, whom I know loves everyone, no matter where they come from or what God they believe in.  I know that I am called to love others and treat them the way I want to be treated, and to show love and compassion. 

That is all.  My heart is full of thanks this year, but it is also full of sadness for all of the pain, fear, and hate in the world.