Counting Your Blessings in America

Abigail and Dolley readers I was at the pool yesterday and was completely overwhelmed by how blessed we are in this country.  I know that is not an original thought, but it became so true to me as I lay there in the sun watching the families around me.  There is one family who adopted a boy from Africa.    In Africa, he was an orphan, likely by disease or war.  He was born into a world where his life expectancy is less than 50, where child soldiers are used in brutal civil wars, and where AIDS is as common as a cold.  How different his life is here, in middle class America!

I have been watching a series on Nexflix called Monarchy.  They are documentaries about the oldest Monarchy in the world, that of England.  The first three episodes chronicle the struggles of the Dark Ages.  What a terrible and brutal time to have lived!  You and I could have been easily born then as opposed to now.

The times in history and the places other than America where we all could have found ourselves is astonishing.  I could be a Muslim woman living in Saudi Arabia, I could be an African mother trying to stay alive and feed my son, or I could be a Chinese Christian facing death for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Instead, I found myself at a private swimming pool where the parking lot was filled with new shiny cars, the swimwear was brand new for the season, and all around us were loving parents and well fed, loved children.  No matter the circumstances that my family finds themselves in due to unemployment, we are still blessed beyond measure.