We take so many things for granted, particularly in the United States. With our move to Kona, we moved into a "home" that is less than 1/5th of the size of our home in Arkansas. That means, since we have a five-member family, we now live in less space together than we each individually had before. This sounds drastic, but we still have more than we need, and it is more a comment on how excessive our place in Arkansas is.

In the aftermath of recovering emotionally from the earthquake Sunday, we suddenly realized how thankful we were that we didn't have TVs, china, glass frames on the walls, glassware, etc., because all that fell to the ground was unbreakable and of little value.

Our 600 square feet still has running water, beds (one for each of us!), sheets, a roof that doesn't leak, electricity, a bathroom (with a tub and shower! some of the places don't have tubs), a refrigerator, a microwave, and the love of God and of a family.

I say all this to laugh at the fact that we were inconvenienced last night and this morning. The rooms beneath us had a plumbing issue. As a result, we had to discontinue use of our bathroom. Understand, all this means is that we have to walk across a courtyard to some public restrooms (public to the U of N) no more than probably 100 feet at the most. But, at the same time, when you wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning needing to go to the bathroom, this means taking the time to put on some semblance of respectable clothing in the event someone else is in that public place at that time and making that short walk. You might even glance at your now longer hair, which has likely had a party overnight, grab a hat, shake out the mental cobwebs, etc. In the big picture it is nothing, and, the public bathrooms are still clean, with running water and electricity.

It reminded me, though, of how we take things for granted. How spoiled we are. An hour south of here, on the island, there is a community called Ocean View. The community has about 500 Marshallese living there. They live in huts/homes they have built from scrap and they do not have running water. Yes, this is in the U.S. But, they were displaced from their native Island and live in third world conditions here. It is a vivid reminder of how much we have and how much we can give as well. The base recently took a team there and are building water tanks for the people there so that they can have their own source of water, rather than trying to pay the $150 it takes to get a few thousand gallons of water shipped in.

God really is amazing and so gracious to us.