It is easy

to complain.  To whine about the crummy parts of the day.  To moan that our back hurts, or the dog peed on the floor, or the dishes aren't done.  It is easy to complain, I know this all too well.

What can be hard is to be thankful, happy, blessed and comfortable with what you have right now.  To be in that moment, to look at what is yours and be so glad to have it, even if the TV is 10 years old and the rug is a bit dingy.

The terrible tornadoes that destroyed so many lives yesterday helped put it in perspective.  Today we took time as a family, in the midst of a busy day out for a kid event over an hour from home to explain what happened. Today we talked about how lucky we are and about what so many families are dealing with.  We explained that people lost their lives.  We showed them pictures of towns that were gone.  Gone.  What a grounding concept.  We talked about how kids just like ours had nothing left- no toys, beds, homes, clothes, books.  How their schools are gone.  Their grocery store.  Their church.  Their friend's houses.  Their cars.  Their world, gone.  Then we talked about how thankful they probably were to simple be alive. and that it would be a long road back to normalcy.  We talked about how lucky we are, that we have so much, that we are safe, that we still have our "stuff" and our home and our comforts.

Then we made a decision.  Tomorrow we are cleaning the house and I am moving children's rooms around.  I have a tremendous amount of clothing that we were planning to sell at a yard sale this summer.  Nice clothes, some even brand new.  They will be packed tomorrow and sent to someone we now who lives near Maryville, IN and is collecting for the families there.  We will also send books.  We will send toys.  We will send shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors.  We will send stuffed animals, and crafts for children in shelters and we will send money to the Red Cross.  We will help our fellow man with real action because even though I am tired from our busy day, and my ankle is sore, and my house is a mess, I am lucky to have a house, my children, my life.