Blessings

Earlier this week, I put a Facebook post on my timeline that extolled the wondrous blessing of automatic heat in the house via a furnace and natural gas.  That got me to thinking about other incredible blessings we have that we take for granted.  Here are just a few.

I turn a knob in the bathroom and a just-right mix of hot and cold, safe water comes out of the shower head, washes me off, and goes down the hole in the tub where pipes carry it to a treatment plant somewhere.  I don’t have to pump water from a well, carry it from a river, or heat it in a tub to get an incredible shower experience.

I move a lever and water flushes away human waste into those same pipes, carrying it away to be treated.  I don’t have to do anything else to handle the waste I make.  It’s all done for me in a safe and sanitary way.

I open a door in the kitchen, and take out a carton of milk that has been kept at a near-constant 37 degrees, keeping it and other food from spoiling.  I don’t have to bring in a block of ice to cool it, hurry and use the milk all at once, or worry that it will spoil before I can use it.

I lift a lid in the basement and put in clothing, some detergent, and maybe some color-safe bleach, and 45 minutes later the clothes are clean and fresh.  I don’t have to take them to a river or pond, beat them on a rock, or make my own soap.

I open another lid and put the damp clothes in.  About 30 minutes later, they are dry and ready to hang or fold.  I don’t have to traipse outside to hang them on a line, freeze-dry them in winter months, or iron them with an iron I heated on the wood-burning stove.

Today, when I get home, I’ll push a button in my pickup and a large door will open at the house.  I’ll pull in, turn off the engine, and push the button again.  I’m inside a spacious garage that keeps our vehicles frost-free in winter, makes it easy to get in and out of, and keeps them from being vandalized on the street.  And the garage is attached to the house, so I don’t have to go back outside to get into the house.  It is also lit constantly with a LED bulb in the ceiling that provides enough light to do what we need to do most times.

I could go on and on.  Furniture, mattresses, television and entertainment, streets, roads, air conditioning, parks, microwave ovens, dishwashers, recliners, C-PAP machines, lawn mowers, kitchen appliances…you name it and it is probably a relatively recent blessing that only a small portion of the world’s population knows about or uses.

And these are indeed incredible blessings, just like the blessing of the furnace.  Blessings that ultimately come, not from technology or science, but from the God of heaven and earth.  Blessings that are ours to enjoy, and ours to use wisely in service to Him.