Blessings and Appreciation

The blessings have poured down on us today!  A friend is moving away from our little town and though she will be missed, along with her sweet little girl, Emily, we will have reminders of them all around us. She called us earlier and said she had some clothes she needed to find a  home for and asked if I would be interested.  Of course I am not going to pass up free clothes.  Anything I can't wear I can always use for the women's ministry at church, so it is a win-win.  However, when we got to her house she was in the garage going through all sorts of things that she was desperate to give away.  She simply did not want to deal with moving all of it.  Other 'shoppers' would be arriving soon to take away a variety of items, but there were things no one had claimed yet like wrapping paper, ribbon, gift boxes, car wash supplies, and countless other goodies she just didn't want.  We even got two awesome beach chairs and an umbrella!  My husband, fairly stoic most of the time, was perfectly giddy on the way home.  I asked him if he was okay with getting all that stuff and he said, "Are you kidding?  We can't buy anything for a year so this is like Christmas!" 

I was reading something the other day about The Great Depression.  The people in the article commented that they were not as poor as the farm folks at the time but they remembered being so thrilled at getting a piece of fruit once or twice or month, and maybe some kind of bite of dessert every month or two.  People today have no idea what that would be like - we are entirely too self-indulgent but it has me thinking about going on a dessert fast for a solid month just to get an idea.  Even though we are not purchasing non-depletables, we have not done without.  We have not missed out on anything except the hustle and bustle of running here and there and everywhere, trying to get something on sale or find some new gadget.  Just like today's windfall from our friend, Kim, we were all very excited to have something new (to us) and we appreciate the giver much more than the gifts themselves.  Maybe that's the lesson - appreciation.  You think that's what the people who survived The Great Depression got out of it?  Perhaps it wasn't about the loss of things, but what they gained - an appreciation for the people in their lives and the faith in their hearts.  Thanks Kim.  You will be missed.