Our Fridge Says It All

My grandmother is in desperate need of a new refrigerator. Every time we visit her in El Salvador, we notice that the food only lasts two days in there and the coolness of the fridge is not very cold at all. On one of our trips to the stores, we showed her some new refrigerators and asked her which one she would like. She pointed at all the small ones and laughed when we showed her a two door fridge and said, "that is for a restaurant or a business, not a house!" I'm sure my grandmother would be surprised if she saw what some Americans call "refrigerators". They are enormous and they fit so much inside. I struggle to make our fridge look full, but I've notice other people with big refrigerators can't seem to find enough space in theirs. It makes me wonder....do they really eat all that food? As I was thinking about this a commercial rolled through my TV screen for Kenmore refrigerators. It showed how big and efficient the fridge is in fitting everything a human can possibly think of. It made me kind of sad, to tell you the truth, b ecause I started wondering how many people actually eat all the food they purchase. How much of that food goes in the trash? How much of that food is a luxury instead of a necessity? Eating is good, I'm not saying it isn't, but taking more than we need leaves other people with less than what they need to survive. How many Americans have over sized refrigerators leading them into obesity while my grandmother struggles with her old fridge and barely manages to feed her family? If you need all the space, then go ahead and take it, but be mindful that the earth has limited resources and we were called to share with one another. The richer on man gets, the poorer another will be.

Flat Tire on the Road

There are many things in life to be happy about. There are endless amounts of blessings coming my way every second. Hope is lingering through thick and thin... But, at the moment, hope has a flat tire. All my life I have been a student. I got good grades, dreamed about college, and then actually went to college and graduated. It was a fairy tale, but, like all fairy tales, it came crashing down in the end burning through all hope and happiness...oh, wait, I'm supposed to say I lived happily ever after, huh? Did Cinderella and Prince Charmin actually live happily ever after? Did Belle and the Beast really manage to build a happy life together in which nothing was ever ugly again? No, I'm sure there is a sequel to every fairy tale with a new villain and a new problem, because as much as we would like to live in bliss, life is a road with speed bump after speed bump. My lovely car of hope has a flat tire right now because like thousands of other Americans, I am unemployed in a terrible economy. Instead of cheering up, things just seem to make me sadder, but this is a speed bump. With every bit of effort I have left, I have to tell myself that this is just a flat tire and I will be able to patch it up or replace it sometime soon, or maybe even sometime not soon, but eventually. I have to tell myself there is still a happy ending for me even if I can't see it. There are many things to be happy about. There are endless amounts of blessings coming my way every second. Hope is lingering through thick and thin... but, how long to sing this song, Lord, how long?