How much time do you spend thinking about what you don't have?
I don't know about you, but I frequently find myself citing the list of things "I don't have." I flip through magazines and walk through stores making a mental list of all the things I eventually hope to have. Over the last few days and over the coming weeks, I will be spending quite a bit of time in the apartment homes of my students. After only 48 hours, I have already made another list of the things I don't have.
I Don't Have
I don't have a 3 room apartment with 7 roommates.
I don't have concrete slabs for floors.
I don't have mattresses on the floor for beds.
I don't share my bed with my 2 sisters every night of the week.
I don't have parents who sleep on the concrete floors, so I can have a bed.
I don't have an infant who sleeps next to me, crying all night long, while I still have to go to school/work in the morning.
I don't have a home full of someone else's discarded furniture.
I don't wear clothes that someone else decided were too old, too worn or too out of style to keep.
I don't have cracks and holes in my walls, sinks, plumbing and cabinetry.
I don't have cabinets that hold empty shelves with very little food.
I don't have paper plates and paper napkins as my china.
I don't have sweat dripping down my face because of a lack of air conditioning and I don't wear layers upon layers in the winter because there is no heat.
I don't have to walk to the laundry mat or wash my clothes by hand in our sink.
I don't wake up at 5am in the morning to get my little sister ready for school because my parents are already at work.
I don't stay up until midnight doing homework, because I was cleaning, cooking and babysitting until 9pm while my parents worked yet another shift.
I don't have a monthly income of only $400-$800 to provide for my whole family.
I don't have a history of persecution and fleeing from place to place.
So, yes, there are a lot of things I don't have and for that I am grateful.
