Restored.

It's 10:15pm, and the cold air is flowing once more. A total of 37 hours of sweating it out, and now it is time for a bit of reflection.

I can't lie -- yesterday and today were tough. With the heat and humidity (early for this time of year) at the level they were, it was hard to constantly keep a good attitude (I didn't). The hot, sticky air seemed to suck the life out of me (and the dogs), and it turned everyone cranky by this evening. None of us (including the four-legged members) slept well last night, and today was not good for napping either. By the time sunset started rolling around tonight, I was even starting to feel a bit nauseous from the heat. And now that I am sitting in the cool air once again? I'm looking back and the guilt is starting to creep in. Not even a full two days, and I was a wimp. There are millions of people throughout the world, not only in other countries, but even here in America, that don't have the luxuries that I do. They don't have A/C. They don't have electricity. They may not have running water. They may not have access to basic healthcare or toiletries. And many of them work from sunup to sundown with who knows how many kids to take care of and mouths to feed.

37 hours of no A/C not only made me a pretty cranky gal, but also pretty non-productive. Pathetic. All this mere hours after sitting in church on Sunday morning, listening to a doctor give his account of a recent mission trip to Guatemala. He recounted some horrible scenarios he witnessed, extreme poverty like you wouldn't believe. Some of which I had also caught a brief glance of on a taxi ride through the same city a couple of years ago. And even in such extreme circumstances, many of those people still have a smile on their face.

And then there is me. Pathetic girl who thinks she is going to wilt away without A/C for less than two days. I'm just laying it out there, the bare ugly truth of my selfishness, hoping that this will serve as both a good reminder and a wake-up call to myself that the world does not revolve around little ole' me, that there is so much more out there, things that I need to keep my eyes and my heart open to, things that maybe I need to start focusing more on and seeing how I can be a part of the bigger picture in making a difference in someone's life other than myself.

Isn't it interesting the lessons God can teach us in so many unexpected ways? I pray I will be able to keep my heart open and my eyes searching for these valuable truths and reminders.