We Take So Much In Life For Granted

Such a fascinating world we live in! It's cities, towns & countrysides are filled with all forms of life & lots of fun & exciting things for us to do! Our beloved Creator & Lord made us in His image and blessed us with bodies to use on this Earth so that like the joy within a little child, we might embrace our ability to walk, jump, play, run, skip, hop, gallop, slide, swing, twist, swim, dance, wiggle, clap, snap, wave, high-five, and many other simply wonderful uses our bodies allow us. All too often I hear people complaining or whining about a lack of material things, but if they have their health & use of their physical bodies...indeed they are rich and not in want.
We take for granted the sweet moments of getting to hold our newborn children or grandchildren in our strong, working arms, or the ability to stand up and walk our own daughter down the aisle to give her away in marriage. There are those chosen ones among us who are extremely courageous & strong in heart because of the life they've had to live without the freedom to enjoy those physical expressions of our bodies, but have learned to live on- striving to take each day one at a time, struggling with the physical & emotional battle of their very will to live at times. These brave people have either been born with disabilities, or have had an unfortunate set of circumstances causing them to be paralyzed in their upper or lower body from some form of accident, or have become injured temporarily or permanently by valiantly serving our country in the Armed Forces.
Why do we as humans have to judge so quickly somone who faces a physical challenge of some kind? These shining stars of the human race can be some of the most delightful personalities & friends I know. They did not ask for this lifestyle, but we trust our Heavenly Father had a reason they needed to live through it. Maybe their story of hardship & gaining self confidence in what they could do for themselves & what others would eventually help them with, would be an amazing blessing to all who could hear it? So many have shared their dreams & goals to enrich the lives of others in their path, by simply leading by example on how to live past the pain & persecution & move onward through the struggle to develop support, encouragement & motivation to live the best life you can. I applaud the many family & friends I've known that have taught me so much about how to survive & enjoy life to the fullest despite the use of a limb or their sight.
My own experience of just briefly not having use of my writing hand (which I do everything with!) made it ever so clear that I hadn't been thanking God enough for ALL that I have. I have the use of all my physical body ..even if sometimes those parts are in pain, I still have use of them. And that should be enough to rejoice! I recently had to rely on others in a mighty way as I was put on bedrest for the second half of my pregnancy. I was not allowed to get up for anything. I couldn't assist my four year old or come check on the classwork at the computer that my teen was working on. I couldn't answer the door if the doorbell rang, or even attempt to do laundry, dishes or cleaning bathrooms. There was no opportunity to go out for appts, shopping, or library or church visits, until suddenly it was like God had sent his angels among us here on earth & inspired friends & neighbors to go out of their way to assist my family in getting to their dr appts, church activities, shopping done, & many other necessities of life we take for granted that we can always do on our own. The reason I share this is to open some eyes to the fact that life always changes. Pay attention to what needs your attention now..while you have the physical opportunity to meet those needs on your own, & look around for those dear friends & neighbors who are always there for you & may need you some day when their life demands a lending hand. We should always be striving to reach out to others in our community. Look for ways to be a blessing to someone else ..somone you may not even know. It can be very helpful to someone in any condition whether they are elderly, in a wheelchair, blind, deaf, or just have a back back or on bedrest from pregnancy like I was. They will rejoice in your company (to keep their sanity in their distressed condition) and will greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness to come to their aide. God bless your efforts.