Am I absolutely where I want to be in my life? Not really. I’m still praying for God’s perfect provision and timing on a job.

But then I see a meme like this, and it’s almost like a punch to the gut (in a good way).

Did I sleep last night in a comfortable bed with a roof over my head? Yes.

Did I wake up to good health and a sound mind? Yes.

Did I have a shower this morning and a second change of clothes to put on? Yes.

Did I have at least one good meal today as well as access to clean water? Yes.

Do I have reliable transportation? Absolutely yes.

I remember reading that somewhere out there someone is wishing and praying for one of your bad days because your bad day (to you) is better than one of their best days. My bad day is losing my job. Their bad day is going to bed hungry yet again and getting sick from drinking dirty water because there’s no clean water anywhere around.

Then there’s the meme with a man wearing plastic Coke bottles strapped to his feet for shoes. The meme goes something like this: to the man with shoes, all he wants is a better pair of shoes. To the man with no shoes, all he wants is a pair of shoes. To the man with no feet, all he wants is to be able to walk (or something like that). The point is that having shoes (and having feet to put them on) is a blessing that I can easily take for granted.

As much as I want to not be complacent with my life and strive to do better and be better, I also want to remain grateful and mindful that so many do not have what I have. It helps most of all to remember that every good gift is from above from the Father of lights. Everything that I have in my life that’s worth anything is God’s gracious gift to me that I didn’t deserve and couldn’t earn.

So I think that qualifies for an “oof” and an “amen!”