I was on vacation last week, and on the road to the town, there was a sign posted that said... "Rotary club thought of the month", this month's thought...HUMILITY.
I passed this sign several times on my trip last week, and had a few occasions in which to put it into practice.
The first came fairly early on during my week long vacation, when my entire wallet including my drivers license, debit card and any and all spending money I had with me was lost ( possibly stolen) my very first night!!!!!
Devastated would be putting it mildly. As you can already tell from reading this blog, I pinch pennies whenever and wherever I can, so to have all of my "fun" money gone, was a tough pill to swallow. After crying to my brother back home and feeling bad for myself for a few hours, I prayed about it and tried to find the lesson in this situation I was meant to learn, and what I realized was this...
Once again...worrying about and putting value on money is futile, it truly means NOTHING. Don't get me wrong, it's a necessity, but placing undue value on it, is what traps people into feeling they never have enough.
Now, sometimes God sends you a message in a whisper and sometimes....he slams you into a brick wall, my experience with this theory occurred the following day at the police station, when I went to file a police report for my wallet.
Vacationing in the carribean is amazing, but trust me..their police department and judicial system leaves ALOT to be desired. I was directed to a bench with several other people already waiting, and was given a number to get in touch with a detective to file my report, after several phone calls and approx. 40 minutes, I began to get very impatient...after all I'm from the states!!!( I mean, the nerve..LOL...don't I get preferential treatment??)
I was becoming increasingly agitated and I guess it was becoming noticeable, because shortly thereafter an officer asked each one of us what we were waiting for...there was me, a gentleman with a warrant, a lady waiting for her boss upstairs and a lady with her daughter, who, when asked what she was there for stated" I'm the grandmother and this is the mother( pointing to her daughter who could not have been a day over 20) of the baby that died last night"
HUMBLED.
In an instant.
I realized no amount of sadness or anger I was experiencing could possibly compare to what that family would endure in the coming days, weeks, years..... I was ashamed, ashamed I had given such importance to such a trivial matter. I was on vacation and my beautiful, healthy 6 year old was asleep on my lap...what could there POSSIBLY be to complain about???
I walked out of the station with my report and a determination to enjoy my trip.
The best things in life truly are FREE.
Later that day when we returned to our room and pool, I decided I had done my share of crying and boo-hooing and was going to take in all the beauty that surrounded me.
My son and I went down to watch the sunset on the beach that evening and I truly believe it was a spiritual experience. I watched with a full heart as my son splashed in the carribean sea looking for shells and admiring rocks, and as the sun went down we built a sandcastle..and I cried.
Why? I couldn't really say, but I can tell you that there is truly something angelic, magical and wondrous in the laughter of a child, coupled with a beautiful sunset and crashing ocean waves, palm trees swaying, the smell of summer..well, you can see why it's sensory overload.
The next day we went to an open air market and I was again reminded that the simplest treats are truly life's treasures, my son found the older gentleman who makes sno-cones...chose the cherry flavoring and grinned from ear to ear as he not only saw his ice being made, but had a cool treat on a hot morning that seemed to be made just for him and him alone. A simple cup of crushed ice was the day's joy. Simple abundance. Blessings all around.Humbled.
Dreaming of sandcastles and sno-cones...until next time, Lauri :)
