Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: First World Problem (04/17/14)
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TITLE: The Kentucky Experience | Previous Challenge Entry
By Shanta Richard
04/22/14 -
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One summer myself and my two friends decided to go on a short term mission project to Eastern Kentucky. We sent in the necessary papers and the fees and registered as volunteers. Since it was vacation time we were allotted lodgings in a school building.
We lived in upstate New York and we planned to drive all day, spend the night in a motel and reach our destination the next day. Accordingly we started our journey on a sunny summer day in June. Our drive was pleasant. We stopped enroute for breakfast and lunch at fast food places. By 6pm we reached our motel. It was a quaint country cottage. The rooms were spacious and airy, the beds were soft and the linen smelled of sunshine and fresh air. A gentle breeze wafted in bearing the fragrance of the night blossoms as they opened their petals.
After a refreshing shower we went to a nearby eatery called "Martha' s Kitchen" and had a delicious home cooked supper. We returned to our rooms and slept fitfully. We woke up to the birds singing. Refreshed with a pot of hot fragrant coffee and a delightful breakfast we were ready to hit the road and complete our journey. We made our last trips to the rest rooms before leaving and then it happened - the toilet would not flush!!
We got upset and annoyed and called for the maintenance. We had to wait till the plumber came and fixed it. Within that short period we got so frustrated that all the comforts we had enjoyed so far seemed to fade away. It was only a minor mishap, yet it had the potential to destroy all our enthusiasm and joy of our mission trip.
We arrived at our destination and later that day went out to survey our work area. The place had been devastated by the hurricanes and even as it was trying to recover had been damaged by the thunder storms. People were struggling to eek out a livelihood without running water, electricity and plumbing.
The houses were a sorrowful spectacle - roofs sagging, walls caving in, porches hanging precariously, floors wet and damp. Everywhere the smell of dampness, mold and rot prevailed. Heroic women were gallantly trying to cook a meal over smoldering and smoking wood fires. And here we were complaining about a toilet that wouldn't flush!
It is amazing but true that the spirit of satisfaction has been lacking in this world since the beginning of time and is one of the world's first problems.
Eve wasn't satisfied with all the blessings that surrounded her - she had to taste the forbidden fruit.
The rich and wealthy King Ahab craved Nathan's small vineyard .
King David, who had so many wives and hundreds of concubines still desired Bathsheba, another man' s wife.
And so the list goes on until it comes to me because I too am one of them. I could have a wardrobe full of lovely clothes and still have nothing to wear for my friend's wedding and have a fridge full of good food and still hunger for a piece of chocolate.
I pray that God will grant me wisdom to realize that all my wants and needs are met Him. As long as 'The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.' Psalm 23:1 KJV.
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God bless~