What are You Especially Thankful for Today?
What are You Especially Thankful for Today?
September 23, 2024
The other day I awakened and pondered how thankful we can be for toilet paper. That may be a weird thought to wake up with, but really, what a luxury toilet paper is, for some people.
I know, that’s not a polite topic, but we all deal with it, and can be very happy we live (many of us) where toilet paper is not an issue. Remember the Covid-sparked rushes in 2020 which cleaned out (no pun intended) the toilet paper supplies in many big box or grocery stores? Gradually those necessities returned to the shelves and we didn’t have to hoard them.
In the old old days, (I’m dating myself), I do remember visiting friends who only had an outdoor johnny house. I remember using newspaper or pages from old catalogs in order to clean up. I was pretty young. This also may have happened when camping.
If some of these things make you say or think ewww, that’s the way it was for some homes even in the good old USA.
From the rest of the world, these are shocking numbers:
- In 2022, over 1.5 billion people still do not have basic sanitation services, such as private toilets or latrines, according to the World Health Organization (www.who.int).
- Of these, 419 million have to defecate in the open: in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water. http://www.who.int.
How very very sad.
This stat is interesting though: 57% of the global population (4.6 billion people) use a safely managed sanitation service. Fortunate indeed. Remind you and your family to be grateful.
As fall arrives, we have so much to be thankful for. And we can turn “the good luck of where we were born” into opportunities to help others who aren’t as fortunate. Many many “Relief sales” (as some are called, particularly among Mennonite groups) are held to raise money and goods for people all over the world. Through many organizations, people are blessed with the gift of toilet paper, bottled water, bags of rice or flour, canned meat, clothing donated and shipped around the world by freight.
But that’s not everywhere, lest we forget.
Food banks abound here in many parts of North America. Good citizens join hands to see that families where parents can barely manage to pay their rent, receive a free weekly food bag from a school-centered food bank. Lion and Rotary type clubs and others raise money to help feed hungry people. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Heifer International, Women for Women International, UNICEF, Dave Thomas Foundation, hundreds and oodles of other organizations I cannot name here, do their best to help others. For instance, I love that many grocery stores solicit us to donate $2.50 on our grocery bill to help families receive free tasty apples in this fall season.
I know that many readers do this and more, to help others. May God bless you every one!
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What are you especially thankful for today?
What charities do you choose? (We get many many solicitations but focus on just several to be able to offer more.)
Did you know those statistics about the millions and even 1.5 billion lacking basic sanitation?
How many toilets did your house have growing up?
findingharmonyblog 
As you may know, I have a gratitude book in which I record what I’m thankful for, including toilet paper. Yes, I remember the run on tissue during the pandemic, and I also remember tucking dozens of toilet paper rolls between sticks on chalk we shipped to Ukraine when we ministered there (2011).
Growing up, we had indoor plumbing but both my Grandma’s house and ours had outdoor facilities outfitted with newspapers or Sears & Roebuck catalogs. Our out house had a mulberry bush close by and Grandma’s, fragrant lilac bushes. 😀
Thanks for the reminder of your helpful gratitude book.
Was the chalk for Cliff’s art presentation? I bet your memories are keen these days on the opportunities and ministering you were able to do while in Ukraine. Bless you.
We attended a family reunion earlier in Sept. and I think some of us loved going back in time and using that well-cared-for johnny house still on the property where one of the uncles and grandpas once lived. 🙂
Yes, the chalk was for Cliff’s art presentation. Kathy, her staff, and all the people in Ukraine have to put up with constant bombings and shortages. Yet her ministry continues. 😀
I think being thankful for what we consider everyday items is wonderful. As you pointed out, not everyone has access to all these things. So, I will go with another everyday item and say toothbrush and toothpaste.
Great point, Carla, and happy to hear from you! Thanks for commenting and adding this thought.