The coffee accident

I spilled coffee on my shoe today. It wasn't a simple "oops, I dropped a few drops to the ground and some splattered on my foot." No, I was driving with my panera bread coffee cup on the floor board of the car, directly under the stereo console (trust me, it was a great place). As I was making the final right turn of my journey to work, the centrifugal force propelled the cup directly into the inside of my left foot. Even though I had the lid on, at least 5 oz of coffee injected itself through the mouth hole into my foot. My sock is saturated.

At church yesterday, I came to the Classic service a little late. I came in the very back and intended to sit by myself on the back pew. As I walked in I noticed a homeless man (in his late 40's), whom I knew from previous encounters, sitting on the pew I was heading for. Dressed in a heavy camo jacket he had his backpack on his right (which contained everything he owned), so I sat on his left. "Hey steve (steve will be the generic name I use throughout my stories)" I said. He replied, "Hey man, where've you been?"

We proceeded to casually and quietly carry out small talk and pleasantries. Eventually I said, "hey, where do you sleep when its this cold at night?" He told me about a floor in a bathroom at a local park that he stays at when it gets really cold. I said, "And the other nights?" He told me about a tent that he has and a forest area that he and some guys camp out on "nicer" nights.

My first reaction (which is usually the most primal and irrational) was anger when I injected my shoe with coffee this morning. I keep forgetting how easy my life is. And I suppose the question for most believers is, "How grateful of a life are we going to live?" There is always someone worse off than you. Even for this steve. There is someone worse off than he. We are all, from our own unique perspective, faced with the life-style altering question, "How grateful of a life am I going to live?"