Our plane landed in St. Louis late last night. My wife picked me up from the airport, and I thanked God for a reliable vehicle that could transport us a hundred miles without much worry of the vehicle dying.
I got home late last night (or early this morning, depending on how you look at it). One of the first things I did was make sure the air conditioner was turned on and set to a temperature that I would find comfortable. I thanked God for this modern convenience.
I took a shower, and thanked God for good water pressure and warm water. I got in bed, and thanked God for how clean my sheets felt, and how my pillow and mattress were both soft yet firm, just the way I like them.
I woke up and hugged each of my kids. I thanked God that I did not have to worry too much about them last night or even last week for that matter. I had taken it for granted that they would be safe and well-fed.
I didn’t do much during the day. I felt pretty sore from last week. Most of the day, I sat on my comfortable couch, beneath the ceiling fan which blew a cool breeze down on me. It felt great. I checked the temperature in the house at one point and it said that it was 81 degrees. I hadn’t even noticed that it was that warm. I made sure to adjust the thermostat cooler so that the others in my home would be comfortable.
I haven’t fully processed everything from last week yet. Some normal everyday things feel different. Some parts of my daily routine feel empty. And other parts seem more meaningful. I know that I still need to think through how God wants me to live based on what I experienced last week in Haiti.
But today I just didn’t have the strength to do that. I simply had to rest, and thank God.