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What blessings can you count today? I just got schooled in blessing-counting.

Let me start by telling you that I just returned from a weekend trip to Nashville. My daughter had an academic competition there so we made a weekend of it. Considering that it was both my kids’ birthdays (my son on Friday, daughter on Saturday) it seemed like a great opportunity to enjoy ourselves while fitting in this little school activity at the same time. Ummmm…..not so much. First, we drove well into the night to find our hotel. My mom and stepdad drove down to meet us at the competition on Saturday, but we were pretty much chained to the campus waiting for the results of the competition, so didn’t get to do much before they drove back to Kentucky. We ate fast food the whole trip, so we were looking forward to an amazing lunch at a great restaurant on our way back home. This morning as we drove back, we had planned to do some sight-seeing, but our van decided to light up and we were scared to turn the car off in case it wouldn’t start back up. The air conditioning petered out on us as the battery drained of its lifesource, so we drove most of the way with the windows down and wind raging in our 80+ degree ears.

Do you hear all that complaining?! It is anathema to God, I’m sure. Because tonight when I finished reading Hope Runs, I realized what a big whiny pants I was all day. Catch all those blessings in that little summary I just vented. Trip. Kids. Birthdays. Hotel. Visited family. Ate. Van. Air conditioning.  Every one of those things is a blessing in my life, yet my entitled self decided to look at the negative side of things.  In Hope Runs, we get to peek into the life of Sammy, an African orphan who sees the best in things.  He describes his life as a child, hungry yet full of love for his family, and how much the smallest kindness meant to him.  His years spent in an orphanage were seen as a gift as well, because he was provided with a roof over his head and regular meals.  As he befriended a pair of adventurers-turned-missionaries, Sammy gets a new life in America yet never loses touch with the loved ones he left in Africa.  He chooses to use his powers for good by dedicated his efforts in providing a better life for his sister, who was separated from him when only a young child.

I feel so uplifted by Sammy’s story.  It’s a message of hope and inspiration, reminding me to realize the blessings that come with life.  The statement  “I have nothing to wear” will put things into perspective when I remember that Sammy really only had one pair of shorts and one shirt.  His shoes flapped open at the toes.  His friends Claire and Lara teach him (and his classmates) about love and integrity through running, laughing, and loving.  The story is hard to follow at times, mostly because so much of it is background information, but it’s the undercurrent of love that really reached my heart.  I’ve met children like Sammy both in my college classmates and then in my own classroom.  There are those children who come from a foreign land, unable to speak this strange language of English yet I can see that spark in their eyes and know that they’re intelligent, hopeful, and longing to be understood.  In the case of Sammy and his friends, the simplest gift of shoes or even paper becomes a tangible reminder of their need.  Sammy is that child on the commercial that makes you cry.  He’s the one who makes you want to put a little extra in the offering plate on Missions Sunday.  Read this book and you’ll know what I mean.

As I sit amid my comfortable home and type on my “ancient” computer, can I really appreciate the blessings that have been showered on me?  I promise to try.