Two Promises

I made two promises to myself:
1) I will not complain about the heat.
No matter how hot it gets.
2) I will not complain about kitchen renos.
No matter how inconvenient things get.

Two promises I intend to keep.

The first is easy.
I move from my air conditioned house to my air conditioned car to the local swimming pool.
Easy-peasy.  I deal with the heat.

I think it's easy ...
And then a friend posts a plea for spray bottles, freeze-pops and water to bring to women at a local homeless shelter.
Yikes!  My heart sunk.
I forget that for a whole lot of people "not complaining" isn't the issue - survival is the issue.
In my air conditioned world I pride myself on not complaining.
How lame.

After five years of complaining (endlessly!) about my kitchen, a running faucet and a flood forced our hand and this week we proceeded with renovations.  Lots of talking, lots of contractors and lots of friends giving their two cents.  And finally a decision - keep the layout, change the cabinets, counters and floor.  If it sounds anticlimactic, it is.  Nothing drastic.  But it's us.  It fits.  It functions.  I am thoroughly thankful and feel so blessed.

Sunday after church my hunky-handyman-husband got to work deconstructing.
The old is GONE (along with a lot of mold!).
The new is coming.
In the meantime no kitchen sink and no stove.
But oh - it is so do-able.  Pizza, rotisserie chicken, hummus, a garden full of goodness, jugs of water from the neighbours, and dishes in the bathroom.
I have NOTHING to complain about.  Once again I'm proud of my ability to not complain.
Easy-peasy.

I think it's easy ...
And then last night a commercial pops-up on the TV during a Beth Moore program:
Kids in Africa choosing between contaminated water and dehydration.
The image of a dear child holding a cup of contaminated water brought me to tears.
Our heat.
Our kitchen-less days.
That's nothing.
Absolutely nothing.

I will not complain.
But better yet - will I promise to not forget the homeless on my own streets and the children in Africa?
Will I promise to DO something so that they can survive?
My not complaining is nothing - their surviving is something.

I am so grateful.
I am so very, very grateful.

Isaiah 58

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."