Far from home

Blog 12 June 06

Sometimes it helps to get away from home to appreciate what you have. I'm at Ft. McCoy this week doing some Army training - some of you may be familiar with the place. Even if you were familiar with the place MANY years ago, it hasn't changed much-except that even MORE of the paint is peeling.

I love camping and all that comes with it, and I love my Army training events, but I do miss my waterbed. And my REAL bathroom (I'll have to tell you about that sometime-it was also one of our projects), just a few feet away from my waterbed. And my floor that is not a mixture of knee-high grass and sand. And my nice, comfy chairs (and of course my wife and kids, but they're not a Home Reno project! I think I'M more the project for my wife than the other way around!).

One of the soldiers I was talking to also helped put it all in perspective in talking about the many places he's been, and that no matter how bad we Americans THINK we have it-either on the home front or elsewhere-we are wonderfully blessed. We have homes that (usually) aren't falling down around our ears. We have water we can count on, and drink straight out of the faucet that we just twist to turn on IN our homes (in multiple places in our homes I might add), rather than the grueling task so much of the world faces just to get clean water (IF that is possible at all). You'd probably rather not hear about the "water system" if you could call it that, in Iraq right now.

Not only that, even in our most humble of abodes, we have (virtually) universal access to an unlimited supply of electricity that is only a plug away. We are indeed truly blessed in our land of Truth, Justice, and the American Way (which includes electric and running water).

I'm glad I can be reminded of that reality on a regular basis, and if I can help remind you of that occasionally, that's a good thing. So the next time you (and I) complain about a power saw breaking, or that we can't find the right color for our carpet or toilet, or that we need to build more storage for our plethora of "stuff," remember the true breadth of our blessings, and be thankful (and share a little with someone who needs it).

Being truly blessed-

Jim