Last Tuesday night, Laney read me an article written by Glennon Doyle Melton, who also wrote the New York Times bestseller: “Carry On, Warrior: The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life.”
In the article Mrs. Melton wrote for her blog site momastery.com, she introduces a rather special idea. The article “GIVE ME GRATITUDE OR GIVE ME DEBT.” begins with Mrs. Melton talking about a picture that she had posted on her Facebook page. In the background, you see most of her kitchen. To put it kindly, Mrs. Melton’s kitchen is what you might call “dated.” The floors aren’t modern, the counters aren’t modern, the appliances aren’t modern, and even the coffee maker isn’t..You guessed it, modern. Everything is neat and in its place, but nothing is what you would call “spectacular.”
Once the photo was posted, people made comments; most were offers to “upgrade” her stone-age style kitchen. Glennon states that she was soundly convinced. She hadn’t noticed over the years how far behind the times she had fallen. The more she read, the more she believed that her family were suffering from a complete lack of modernity in their lives.
However, the next morning something changed. Mrs. Melton woke up and decided to try a different approach. She left behind her negativity of the night before, and put on what she called her “perspactacles”.
Perspactacles are glasses which allow the user to put things in their proper perspective. The inspiration for his idea came from Thoreau’s Walden quote: “I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not a new wearer of the clothes.” You need to see things through a new view, before you go making changes.
When Mrs. Melton came to her kitchen with a fresh perspective, she didn’t find it lacking at all. In fact, she noticed some wonderful things for which she was grateful. She points out that she has a refrigerator! In a refrigerator she can produce food for her family, which is a luxury some 16,000 mothers do not enjoy. 16,000 represents the number of children who die each day from malnutrition. Over-all, she considers herself and her family to be well-off in the food department.
Secondly, she notes the water faucet. All she has to do is turn the lever and clean water is given. This privilege is not enjoyed by some 780 million people world-wide.
The final feature she noticed in her “outdated kitchen” is her old floors. The floors don’t look bad, but bring a smile to her face because of the many wonderful memories which they evoke.
The point and purpose of the article was really quite simple. It is time for us to stop worrying over what we don’t have, and those who do have, and instead be grateful for all that God has given to us. When is the last time you looked at your home, your cars, your spouse, or your children and simply said: “Thank you”?
Let’s stop living to please the folks next door, and start living to fulfill 1 Thessalonians 5: 18. There we read:
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
-Rusty
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