Great at being ungrateful!

Us in our trusted truck circa 2009

You ever feel like you were at a lesson revisited? or maybe i'm just becoming my mom because I totally had a moment that felt like complete deja vu except my children were me (cue the 90's) and I was my mom....I had the same speech and all!

On our way home from church the other night the car was full of complaints! "She's too close to me", "this truck sucks," "there's no room," "we need a new car," blah blah blah blah blah! I fussed and threatened and stayed on repeat the entire 10 minute drive home! The situation was different, but the lesson the same and though I know for a fact that I learned a thing (literally) or two about being ungrateful when I was younger, the reminder on the way home was needed and appreciated.

I'll start with a summarized version of the past first:

When I was in sixth grade my grandmother gave my mother a car that was paid off. I didn't understand the significance of a car without payments then, but I can sure understand and appreciate it now. Although the car was paid for, it had seen far better days and to be real appearance was EVERYTHING to a sixth grader. Nice cars, nice clothe, nice shoes, etc. if anything fell outside of "nice," you were bound to get picked on and since this was pre anti-bullying campaign you just had to deal with it. So on the first day of my mom driving me to school in our new (old) car I had specific instructions for her. "Ma, could you pick me up on the dirt road behind the school this afternoon," I asked. "Sure. Are you embarrassed by the car?" my mom asked. "Yes" was probably the wrong thing to say to the "queen on teaching lessons!"

long story short, the bell rang that day and the first car parked in the bus lane in the very FRONT of the school was mine and to take it a step further my mom blew the horn and called my name....there was absolutely no way to avoid her or the ugly car. As I got my mortified little booty into the car my mom gave me a lecture that i'll always remember. She said, "while you're worried about what the other children will say about your car, where are theirs?" look on those buses at all of those kids. you have a mother who not only works but drops off and pick you up every single day. No matter how unattractive the car is on the outside, it gets us from point A to point B and we own it. When our car broke down, God immediately blessed us with another one. We didn't have to ask for a ride, catch a bus, or walk to where we needed to go! How can God bless you with something better, if you don't appreciate what he has already blessed you with?

Back to the present:

We are currently a car short of what we had last year and at first I also did my share of complaining. We had a baby on the way and It was during the time that I felt like this move was more of a curse than a blessing. I just didn't see how we could manage with the remaining cars, but eventually my heart changed when I realized that what is remaining is ours and although not huge and roomy they are just right for our family! As my children complained and I fussed and threatened the question my mom posed back then came back to me, How can God bless you with something better if you don't appreciate what he has already blessed you with? Hopefully, my children will remember that question like I have over the years! Sometimes our blessings don't look like we want them to, but they're blessings just the same!