Overwhelmed

I am overwhelmed.  My blessings abound and I am thankful.  How much more can I continue to receive, enjoy and hold when there are others hurting, worried and lost.  

Losing my mother when she was only 57, losing my middle sister when she was 56, and six months later losing my dad when he was 84.  The big "C" word invaded our lives with Mother's illness and it seemed downhill after that.  My sister, Cathy, fought a pituitary tumor for 10 years and my dad fought lung cancer for 1 + years.  Where is my debilitating, life-ending disease?

My friend, Sammy Carroll, has been and is fighting for his life, and his sweet wife, Faye, hangs in the balance.  

My Alabama relatives continue to recover from a devastating tornado, losing material things but thankfully, not their lives.  Hundreds more lost it all.

There are hundreds more going to bed tonight on a dirt floor or maybe concrete sidewalk.  There are children starving in third world countries who cannot seem to advance past their greedy governments.  There are marriages riding a roller coaster of abuse/love/hate/dependency. 

So much unfairness, so much hurt, hunger and hate. 

Yet, I, one who is most undeserving, feel the blessings of her children and grandchildren, a faithful and caring husband, see the pleasing view of God's nature in abundance, know the hope and trust of her saviour and redeemer, and wonder...as blessed as I am...am I fulfilling my God's plan for my life...am I reaching out for those who are lost, hungering and thirsting for a better life...am I growing and changing into Christ's likeness?

 "Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15)

Dear Father, help me to appreciate my life, but don't let me grow comfortable lest I miss an opportunity to help someone see your faithfulness, your love and your abundant blessings...and your promises.  In the name of Jesus.