Bringing It All Into Focus

I was looking at pictures at lunch of the flooding in Mississippi and Louisiana. It's so sad to see so much destruction and I'm sure the pictures don't do the scene justice. A few years ago we had two 100 year floods in a matter of a couple of weeks. I came home from shopping (imagine that) to find 4-5 feet of water in my basement. Years and years of photographs, some of the kids baby clothes and other items were water logged and ruined.During that same flood, refrigerators floated down the highway that runs through town. Water covered places it had never been before. It was amazing and sad to see the power, destruction and effect of the flood. When we began cleaning up the mess, I told my husband I couldn't imagine having that in your living area, yet that is just a smidgen of what others are experiencing today. In the last couple of years, there have been so many natural disasters that

I've almost become immune to the real impact. Entire towns wiped out by tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, it just goes on and on. I have to stop myself every now and again and remind myself these aren't just picture, or stories, this involves real people, real tragedy. Yesterday I literally backed myself up, felt their pain and prayed for their recovery. Maybe other people don't, but I often become so self centered with what's going on with me, I forget to do that. When I do, the insignificance of whatever little problem I am facing, at any given moment is quickly brought into focus and I realize how blessed I am. It's like wiping the lens of a camera so you really have a clear view of what you're looking at.