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Vol. 2007 Issue 11 ~ November

I am writing from my new spot…my new morning spot, overlooking the pond that is in the forest preserve attached to our new property. I’m in awe of this place, of the beauty, of this gift. What a blessing I don’t deserve.

I recently read of people in Nairobi who stake their claims at the tops of garbage heaps at the local dump, and LIVE THEIR LIVES THERE so no one takes their precious and coveted spot. And yet somehow…somehow…this beautiful, opposite-of-a-garbage-heap is my spot. Those people eat out of that heap, finding their sustenance there. They are punctured by tossed-away hospital AIDS-infected hypodermic needles on that heap. They guard that heap. They die on that heap. Real people do this. Real people, just like you and me, who have no other choice.

I will, more than likely, never go hungry, never get AIDS, never catch something from drinking contaminated water, not die hopelessly, purposelessly, lonely, hungry, desperately ill, or on a heap of anything, let alone garbage. I will live and die with more than I could ever need or want – a life of undeserved abundance

To much is given, much is expected. Much. I’ve been given much, no doubt about it. Much is therefore expected of me. Am I, as an individual, thanking God with my life? Am I living richly towards others? Am I giving much, giving sacrificially, doing all that is expected of me and then some, praying ferociously, looking for God in the eyes of every person that comes my way?

At my new home, I have seventy-one trees in my yard (my “addition whiz” son counted for us the other day). Seventy-one. Some have a garbage heap to call their own, if they’re counted among the lucky ones to get there first. And I have been given seventy-one trees just for my pleasure.

What am I doing with my life, Jesus? Am I grateful? Do You feel thanked? Am I doing the “much” that is expected of me? Keep chipping away at my selfish heart. I want to thank You with my life.

Ó Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2007

Elisabeth Corcoran is the author of In Search of Calm: Renewal for a Mother’s Heart (2005) and Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom’s Weary Soul (2001).  She is wife to Kevin, and mom to Sara, 11, and Jack, 9&1/2.  Her passion is encouraging women and the Church, which she fulfills through serving in leadership on staff part-time at Christ Community Church – Blackberry Creek Campus in Aurora, Illinois, and writing and speaking as much as she can.  You can learn more about Elisabeth and her ministry at www.elisabethcorcoran.com. 

Submitted on : 19-Nov-2007