Church has been great the last couple of weeks. Our pastor is preaching on spiritual warfare and while Kevin and I both have learned quite a bit about spiritual warfare in the past, some of what Pastor Jeff is teaching is new to us.
At the end of last Sunday's service, a missionary from Haiti got up and gave us a short presentation on Haiti.
I think mostly people know that Haiti is in deep trouble. The government has been unstable for a very long time and hunger and poverty are rampant. Then in 2010, there was a horrible earthquake and many died. Many who were hovering on the edge of disaster tumbled over the edge. Many are still homeless, many children were orphaned, and an already inadequate infrastructure came even more unstuck.
This missionary who spoke has been affiliated with our church for more than 20 years. He works with orphans and other poor children. He showed pictures of their living quarters, with a leaky roof that was only fixed recently when a mission team came from the US to fix it. He talked about how over 100 children get 2 hot meals a week from their ministry, and for some kids that is the only hot meals they get at all, ever.
It was, of course, shocking and saddening.
And I got a reality check.
I know about poverty and 3rd world living. I spent 3 years of my childhood in Bolivia, South America, and I saw poor and sick people there. We were wealthy compared to most Bolivians we knew, but missionaries are relatively "poor" compared to most Americans.
I am certainly guilty of taking many things for granted, like electricity and running water and food and clothing and shelter and heat in winter and AC in summer. But I do think about those things, often. I still remember Bolivia well. There were many great things about my time in Bolivia, but I did miss hot water, a lot. I do relish consistent electrical service now, as we didn't have electricity all the time when I was a child in Bolivia. I enjoy air conditioning. So I am grateful. I do thank the Lord often, daily, for the blessings of my comfortable American life.
What really hit me was how grumpy I've been about doctor appointments and shopping lately. So a few times a year, we have a cycle where I am trundling kids off to medical appointments a lot. Right now I'm taking kids to the eye doctor. We have 5 kids who are currently in glasses, but they all get checked, every year. Rose will be checked for the first time in about a month. 4 kids have been checked, and I have 5 more to go. Or is it 5 down, 4 to go? I can't remember.
I also took 2 kids to get allergy testing in the last 2 weeks. One of them is having asthma problems and the other is going on allergy shots.
In a couple of months, I need to take the older 7 to the dentist, which will take a few days.
Medical appointments aren't the ordeal they used to be, because I can leave most kids home with a big girl.
Still medical appointments make an always busy week EVEN busier. And the kids don't appreciate them, or like them (usually.) That's logical. Who LIKES going to the dentist? Who LIKES going to the eye doctor and having his or her eyes puffed with the little thingie that checks for glaucoma. So I'm doing it because I'm a good mom and I love my kids and I want potential problems found.
But I don't get accolades or thanks from the kids, and they are boring or annoying trips.
And then I think of Haitian mothers, who love their kids but can't take them to the doctor because no doctors are available and they wouldn't be able to pay them if they were available.
I think of our sweet 4 year old Sarah, who would be close to blind up close without her glasses. She is very far sighted with a bad astigmatism to boot. I don't think she'd ever learn to read without glasses. If she takes off her glasses, her eyes immediately cross as she struggles to try to focus. So without glasses, she would look odd, not read well, and would almost certainly develop amblyopia. I'm so blessed that we live where there is good medical care and we can afford glasses and doctor visits.
Shopping is of course a corollary. Kevin used to do most of the grocery shopping but his job has been more demanding so I've been going to the grocery store more in the last few months. I don't like shopping in general and grocery shopping in particular so I'm always vaguely annoyed when I need to go.
And then I step back. A whole building FULL OF FOOD. Food from all over the world. Food that I can buy with the swipe of a credit card. Food I can pay for, easily. Food that I can use to feed our children. Food that makes me know my kids won't cry themselves to sleep from hunger.
I don't understand the world and why some people are blessed materially like we are, and some people struggle mightily to the point they don't even have enough to eat.
I do know this. I need to be thankful and grateful and full of joy for doctors and food and enough money to care for our family.
I'm grateful. And next doctor appointment, I'm going to work on having a really great attitude.
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