It's Veteran's Day. Needless to say, I am extremely grateful for our veterans and for those who are currently serving in our armed forces. It's something I can never imagine doing, so I have the utmost respect for those who risk their lives to defend our freedoms. I can't help but think of the families - the wives and children, moms and dads, siblings - who watch their loved ones walk away, not knowing when or if they will return.
I just can't imagine.
Making up for yesterday, I also want to say how grateful I am for many of life's basics, like clean water and electricity. When I was at a craft show yesterday, I bought a Ugandan bracelet from a wonderful man. He and his wife buy these bracelets from women in Uganda, thus providing them with an income. Then, they sell the bracelets and use the money to adopt children from Uganda. (They have already adopted three!) When I visited their family website, his wife wrote about how their two most recently adopted children were living in awful conditions. She described them digging through garbage for food and roaming in streams of raw sewage. Prior to being selected for adoption, these children did not know of electricity or plumbing.
Say what?! Yeah. Here in America, we often feel like our lifestyle is the norm. We don't think of ourselves as being so incredibly wealthy compared to the rest of the world. Imagine your life without running water and electricity - yikes! So today, as silly as it may sound, I am thankful to have a toilet that flushes, a hot shower each day, clean water to drink, light for my home, heat, and all of the other "basics" that aren't so basic for much of the world.
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