Another lightbulb lit today. I was reflecting on the blessings God has provided for us. How we are so well fed. God has given me the ability to make yummy food and we have grocery stores around the corner. We have fruit stands with just-picked fruit less than a mile from our house. We sometimes have so much food that I have to store it on the kitchen floor (of course in boxes) because our cupboards are full! I also realized that my youngest daughter, Mari, has been given so many dresses lately, that I have to give some away so that I can hang what's left in her closet. I think she has close to 30 dresses! (Not including skirts, shorts, etc...) Here is the tough part: As I am counting all of our blessings, I realized that I wasn't naming any spiritual blessings. Where were they? I look at the people of Afr*ca and they don't have a market on every corner and overflowing cupboards. They aren't giving away clothes because they have too many. (I realize I am making a general statement and that there ARE people in Afr*ca that have more than enough.) I am thinking of the parents living and dying with AIDS, who do not having a place for their children to go when they die. I am thinking of the areas where AIDS has taken 30% of the men and women who would work to provide for their family. And I always thought how blessed we are...and we are...BUT! What about the spiritual blessings?
Is it possible that when you are not able to provide for you physical needs, when you live in a community that is so effected by poverty, illness, etc., that you might be more aware of the spiritual blessings? If so, we are the ones who live in poverty. We are the ones who live in illness. Aren't we supposed to not fear the one who can hurt the body but only the One who cares for our soul? Are the blessings we have received, the very ones I listed in the last blog and this one, blinding us to our spiritual need, leaving us in a spiritual coma?
What would it look like if all of a sudden we needed our spiritual selves to be fully alive and
functioning? Would we look like infants? Would we be able to meet the call? I wonder what it would look like if we all became aware of this and started waking up from our "slumber" and started renewing our spirit. ("A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest, then your poverty will come as a robber and your want like an armed man." Proverbs 24:33) I thought this verse was about being lazy, but could it be about allowing ourselves to fall asleep spiritually?
functioning? Would we look like infants? Would we be able to meet the call? I wonder what it would look like if we all became aware of this and started waking up from our "slumber" and started renewing our spirit. ("A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest, then your poverty will come as a robber and your want like an armed man." Proverbs 24:33) I thought this verse was about being lazy, but could it be about allowing ourselves to fall asleep spiritually? 
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