Redefining Joy

I recently read a book entitled "Redefining Joy in the Last Days". It's a tiny book--a very easy read. It was great book for me, my very spoiled self, to read. It helped remind me of my tremendous blessings, why I'm here and that we've all got trials. I wanted to share with you a story he tells in the first chapter. He was in the Air Force and had been away from home for a number of weeks. He was anxious to get back home to his family but he was having problems with his plane so he landed in the Philippines to have it fixed. Because of the short notice there was no room for them on the base so he stayed downtown in a hotel. He'd been up all day and was very tired and in a foul mood. The rest is an exerpt from the book:

"I was frustrated that we had spent so much time messing with a broken aircraft, frustrated that I was thirsty but afraid to drink the water, frustrated that I had to spend another night away from home. The bed looked lumpy. The room had bugs, of course--everything in the Philippines had bugs. I knew the only American shows I'd be able to watch on the television would be old reruns of The Brady Bunch. I was out of gum. I had a broken lace in my boot. My head was starting to pound.

My list of reasons for being in a bad mood was long and full.

Hoping for a quick nap, I went to the window to pull the curtains closed. My window happened to be at the back of the hotel on the second floor. Looking down, I saw the reason for the fence, for there behind the hotel was an open aqueduct with several terraced levels upon which hundreds of people had built a shanty camp. Families were living all along the sides of the canal--some in cardboard houses, some in tents, many in the open. For a long time I stood by the window in my air-conditioned room, tired but not hungry, with a headache but otherwise healthy, and very happy that I was going home. Home to the United States, land of Freedom and plenty. Home to a wife and family who were fortunate enough not to live in a ditch and who had never once in their lives gone hungry. Home to more blessings that I could even count.

Standing by the window, I watched a young mother as she washed her daughter's face and hair with the filthy water that was fushing from a pipe feeding into the canal. The scene touched me deeply. I can remember it very clearly, even through the years.

And as I watched this young family, hungry, dirty, homeless, and certainly nearly hopeless, I suddenly felt so ashamed of my selfishness.

I leaned a lesson that day about feeling sorry for myself.

I think of that experience from time to time, especially when, once again, I find myself feeling a little down. Sometimes I have to wonder if I learned the lesson well enough. Do I appreciate the blessings I've been given? Or do I forget sometimes--I guess we all do--the attitude and persprectives it takes to live a happy and joyful life?"

The book goes on to talk about why we came to earth, and gifts we've been given, and trials we face and how trials can be blessings. He talks a lot of perspective. I really enjoyed it and hope to take his words to heart. I am extremely blessed and sometimes feel like I must have some huge trial coming because of the easiness of my life. But at the same time I certainly find plenty to complain about. There are certain lessons to be learned in having as well as needing. I hope I can more readily see my blessings and the service I might render because of them. And I hope I can see the lessons the Lord has to teach me through my trials as well as my blessings.