Dentures

I have a confession to make.

I was quite angry today. I don't like it when I get angry.

See, my great grandmother lost her dentures... If you are the average person, you're reading this and thinking, "What's the big deal? Just go down to her room and look for them."

You don't understand. The only way you could be sharing my misery is that you also have a great grandma or grandpa living with you, and you also have to find dentures. And if I do not find the dentures, my grandmother will not be able to eat normal 'tough' food.

Dentures do not get lost every once in a while. Dentures get lost every other day. The fact that my grandma has dementia does not help. At all.

To make it even better, my dad had just gotten home from the hospital. He had surgery done and after four days, they let him come home. Obviously he was not feeling his greatest, but he went downstairs to look for the dentures away. I went down to help. Long story short, we spent about an hour going through trash and clothes, and letters, and who knows what else to find these dentures. But they've truly disappeared.

Now the me-getting-angry-part.

I was so fed up with looking for dentures that I started to get really, really mad. My dad was right there, and I could tell he was stressed out too, so I didn't say anything. I just continued to get angrier. About thirty minutes into the search, a voice popped into my head, "Would you have the same attitude looking for a different elder person's dentures in... Say... Guatemala?"

Ouch. Like, big time ouch.

I was a complete idiot! How could I have the guts to serve at church, or at a women shelter, or in Guatemala... If I can't even do it in my own home?

Doing big things starts small. You have to have a training ground. You have to have a starting point. It's the little things that make the greatest change. And if you don't get that, then your chances of changing the world are slim to none. I have to swallow my own pride and learn that -- even relearn it -- every single day.

Do everything in love.
1 Corinthians 16:14