Grateful?

I have to admit I am feeling a bit ashamed of myself. The other day, when I was doing my grocery shopping for the week, I found myself mildly irritated because I could not find the specific tortillas I was looking for. There are the 95% fat free tortillas my husband and son like and also my new favorite tortillas (whole grain, high fiber, high protein, low calorie and with green onions no less!). Nope, couldn't find either variety in the store. I just hoped what I had at home would carry me over until my next shopping trip because, heaven forbid, I loathe making another grocery run mid-week because I have not planned ahead well enough! By the way, there were several other kinds of tortillas I could have purchased... corn, flour, spinach and pesto, sun dried tomatoes, herb, garden vegetable, burrito sized, wrap sized, soft taco sized, low carb, no trans fat, no lard, and so on.

Today, we went shopping out of town to our big super center... two cases of water, big bottle of hand soap, huge package of paper towels, three cans of furniture polish, a few pounds of coffee, three jars of pasta sauce, a nice roast for dinner tomorrow, two big packs of socks for my husband, and 10 pounds of chicken wings to stock the freezer. We filled my car with gas (did not even have to wait in line) and went out for a nice pizza lunch. Went to the book store and the sporting goods store. It's a trip we make pretty much one time monthly.

As we lugged our purchases into the house, I found myself thinking of the folks in Haiti who are desperate for aid which can't seem to get there fast enough. How they would appreciate the bottles of clean water, the socks to wear, the food to eat, the gas for their cars, something as simple as soap. And in contrast, think of the ease and accessibility of it all for us. I recalled my frustration at the grocery store earlier in the week and it made me feel ashamed to think how much I take for granted.

I looked in the fridge and freezer this evening... I have two opened and one unopened package of tortillas in the house. I am doing laundry and dishes now and I am thinking we are fortunate we have running water (hot and cold) to keep us clean and healthy. We have a roof over our heads and a kitchen filled with wholesome fresh ingredients to keep us fed. There is so much we take for granted each and every day.