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Thursday night, before midnight, my wife, two daughters and myself were rudely
awakened when our apartment complex started shaking. I’m no stranger to earthquakes since I have lived many years in earthquake prone California and Southern Mexico. I told my wife that we were having an earthquake. We have small ones every month or two an it has never been a big deal. This one was a big deal! It kept getting stronger and rocking our house more and more. My daughters, Sally and Kelly, were afraid, especially Sally who sleeps on the top bunk. She made it out of her bed and we all huddled in what I thought was the safest part of the house while tea cups rattled and my wife’s art work tumbled from a shelf onto the floor. Finally, after about a minute it was over. The house stopped shaking, but we were all shaking from the shock of what turned out to be an 8.4 earthquake.
Our house is an apartment that is part of a complex located in Oaxaca, Mexico, where 
dozens of people died as a result of the earthquake. After the temblor I walked around our building to look for damage. There was none. We live at a mission that cares for needy children and are grateful to God that nobody was hurt and there was no damage to the buildings to speak of. Unfortunately, other parts of Mexico suffered much damage as the photos show.
I am the gardener here at the FFHM mission. It is a rather large property and I am constantly battling weeds. I use two lawnmowers, a weed-whacker and a lawn tractor in my struggle against unwanted plants. There are tons of thorns here that puncture tires, especially the lawn tractor tires. Fortunately there is a product that I spray into the tires that seals the punctures. The directions say that the can must be shaken thoroughly for the product to work properly.
Sometimes I think that I need to be shaken thoroughly for me to function properly. The
earthquake did a good job of that. The Bible talks about the importance of being thankful:
Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7
In life we tend to get complacent, apathetic and take a lot of things for granted. Sometimes God has to shake us up in one way or another to remind us of all the good things we have, and to express our thanks to Him and to others who bless our lives. We can always find things to complain about or dream about how much better things could be. God wants our vision focused on Him. He wants us think about how much He loves us and wants us to be happy, and all the good things He has given us toward that end.
Instead of complaining about what I don’t have, I am full of gratitude for what I do have – citizenship in God’s Happy Kingdom, a loving wife and two super daughters, and fabulous parents who are always there for us. I try to have an attitude of gratitude, but sometimes I need to get all shook up to really appreciate what I have.
The weather today in Oaxaca, Mexico, is perfect. It is a gorgeous day. Lots of blue sky and sunshine. I love it. It hasn’t
been like this for about three weeks. It has been cloudy and rainy. This morning I was talking to God about this beautiful day, or rather He was talking to me about it. He asked me if I liked the weather today. He asked me if I was happy. He asked me if the sunshine and blue sky made me happier than normal. I answered in the affirmative each time. He asked me if I had been taking the nice weather that we had been having in March, April and May for granted. I had to admit it. While most of the U.S. had been suffering unusually cold weather and lots of snow, we here in Oaxaca were enjoying temps in the 80’s and 90’s most everyday.
The point that God was making is that we have a tendency to take too many good things, too many blessings, too many gifts from the generous hand of our benevolent God, for granted. We don’t always acknowledge and thank God for simple things that make us so happy, like good health, delicious food, pure water, clean air and the ability to breath it. When, for some reason, God withholds these basic goodies, we are likely to complain and grumble. The apostle Paul admonishes believers over and over to give thanks to God, not just when we are fat and happy, but even in the lean times, for God is good all the time, and he always loves us and wants us to be happy.
I’m convinced that many times God withholds some blessings from us so that when they return to us we are happier than we were before. Take for example sickness. I hate being down with a cold or the flu. We all do. How thankful and full of joy we are when the sickness passes and we are feeling fine once again. Sometimes we even feel worse when a loved one is ill. My daughter’s, Sally and Kelly, had fevers and were coughing a lot last week and had to miss a few days of school. No parent likes to see their children suffer in any way, especially with an illness. After a visit to the doctor and taking some medicine they were feeling fine, and so was I. I wasn’t taking their good health and health care professionals for granted. I was thanking God for both, and was (and am) Happy for both.
My wife, Anita, has explained to our daughter’s about the importance of thanking God for all the food we have and eating everything on their plate, be cause there are a lot of poor children in the world who search through garbage dumps for something to eat. Our youngest daughter Kelly has taken this to heart and almost always asks to pray before meals. In her simple, four year old way of praying, she thanks God for our meal and also that she does not have to eat trash.
So right now I am basking in the sunshine with a heart full of joy, praising our heavenly Father for the sunshine, and also for the eternal Sonshine that floods my soul. I also need to ask forgiveness for all the times that I take for granted the incredible goodness that is always flowing from the hand of God. I ask God to remind me, that in those times when I feel something is lacking, that He is my Good Shepherd, and that in reality, I am never in need.
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To Enjoy God 