This photo. This smile. I could get lost in this photo for hours. Every time we visit the dump in Honduras, this shy little sweetheart follows us around, but she never gets too close. On this particular day, I happened to have an apple saved in my backpack. An apple. A real treat in Honduras, but also an item of food that was clean and not rotten for her. It was an item that I took for granted and had forgotten about in the bottom of my bag. But to her, it was so much more. To her it was food, an answer to a prayer, a gift from God, and a reason to smile.
At my home, I have an apple tree in my back yard. I can pick apples in the Fall any day I want. But I take it for granted. How many times do I walk through life, taking things for granted? The simple things like an apple. The things that others are praying for or wish they had. So many times I take for granted the things I just always think are going to be there tomorrow, or the next day. Never fully realizing what it feels like to go without. Looking at this picture, God needed to remind me today not to take the little things in life for granted. And my dear friends, I pray you pause today too and are reminded of God’s never ending blessings.
Sending love out into the world- Jenni Patnode