Appreciating the Little Things

For the past two weeks I’ve lived in a house with no hot water. I didn’t come expecting it—most people here don’t have it. So while it was an adjustment getting used to taking a bath by ladling cool water over myself out of a bucket, I really didn’t mind. In fact, I had found it to be a fun part of the culture. As the rainy season began and the mornings began to start out much cooler though, the hair on the back of my neck began to dread that one ladle full down the back.
Yesterday, however someone arrived to install the hotwater heaters that had apparently been ordered before we got here. So this morning I had a hot shower for the first time since the day I left home. November is the month of Thanksgiving back home, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be any more thankful on that day than I was this morning! I came out of the bathroom with a huge smile on my face—so big that my roommate just looked at me with a confused expression on his face and said “what?” With the utmost sincerity and appreciation all I could say was “EVEN MY FEET FEEL CLEAN!”
What does it take to make us thankful? Does it take getting something new, something shiny? Or does it just take looking at what we have had all along (or at least what we have now) from a different perspective? There are some things and people I tend to always appreciate, but I’m realizing that there are unfortunately other things and people that I only appreciate when they’re missing. It’s those things and people that I am especially mindful of and thankful for today…and hopefully every day to come.