When my family returned home from a mission trip in Honduras, we were very thankful for many things we hadn’t thought much about before such as clean drinking water. It can become all too easy to take many things for granted and in the process, maybe we forget to be as thankful as we should. Try this experiment: Live for 1 week (or 1 day) as if you were living in another country such as Honduras. What would your life be like? For the day (or for one week), turn off the air conditioning and all lights and electronics. Only drink water from bottles. Brush your teeth with bottled water, no tap water because it could make you sick. Take a cold shower and be careful that no tap water enters your mouth. Walk or ride a bicycle everywhere you need to go. Don’t flush any toilet paper down the toilet because the sewer systems can’t handle it. Eat tortillas with egg and refried beans for breakfast – every day. Don’t eat any salads or raw vegetables because they could make you sick. Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, then split it in half and share it with another member of your family since food is scarce. Hand wash your clothes and hang them on a line to dry. Sleep in a hammock or pallets on the floor or ground. After a day or week of living like this, write down and share your thoughts about how it affected you. Are you more aware of things to be thankful for? “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” ~I Thessalonians 5:18