Gifts of Circumstance

The following is a post I made a year ago.  It must be something with the time of year that makes me think of these things again.  I have been thinking a lot lately about how blessed I am in many ways.  I recently saw an ad for kitchen cabinets and counters touting how "you can have the home of your dreams".  I have been thinking lately about what that actually looks like to different people in the world.  Much of what I have everyday would be considered by many in the world to be at the level of "home of my dreams".  I pray everyday that I don't take any of it for granted.  
September 3, 2017

Today I feel so blessed that the place I call home is not just for survival. It is not just a shelter from the weather. It is a place that I can surround with grass and flowers and trees. It is a place that I can move from one room to another and close a door for privacy if I want. It is a place that I can decorate and clean and re-organize. It is a place with indoor plumbing. It is a place where I can go open a cupboard or my fridge and choose what I want to eat. It is a place that has hot water on demand. I have a closet full of clothing to wear and various styles of shoes, and coats (plural, I have coats) to wear when it gets cold. I have bookshelves full of books, and music to fill the silence if I choose. I have a warm, comfortable bed to crawl into each night with more pillows than I really need. I have a car that is in great working condition. And so does my husband. And we have a third car that our son drives.

I could go on. I am blessed. By many people's standards I live a middle income life. But to many more people in the world, I look to live the life that is full of luxuries they can only imagine. I was blessed to be born in this country. I was blessed to be born to good parents. I was blessed that my parents were never financially in a situation to make us homeless. I was blessed to have access to education. I am blessed to live in a country where there is peace.

There is nothing that I did as a child that would have made these things so. These were gifts of circumstance. I have taken these gifts and built my life on them.

I hope that we can all be aware of how much where we are, what we have, and who we are depends on our gifts of circumstance. I hope that we are more understanding of those around us whose gifts of circumstance do not come so easily.