“How are you doing today?”
In a fast-paced world, where people pass so quickly and the time for a conversation is fleeting, this question seems to often escape the lips of one person, without another offering a response. Other times the response is short-a simple “good”, or “okay”. But nothing more. Because there isn’t much time. Have to keep walking, have to get where you’re going.
That’s not the way things work down here.
One of the homeowners, that I’ve had the pleasure of working with, takes time to answer the question-how are you doing? And her answer is always the same.
I’m blessed.
Even when standing in a house with a roof that’s near collapsing-she’s blessed.
When the rain is pouring down making her yard a swamp-she’s blessed.
When the floor is half gone because of rotting wood from a hurricane three years ago-she’s blessed.
That got me thinking. She has so little, so much work that needs to be done and yet she never once suggested a hint of misfortune or bitterness. She, more than any that I have encountered before, appreciated what she had, and recognized it as a gift from God. What if we all adapted that mentality? What if everyone time someone asked us how we were doing, we said “I’m blessed.” That means dozens of times each day we would recognize everything that we have-our health, our family, our friends. That means dozens of times each day we wouldn’t have any excuse to frown, or be bitter, or angry-because at the end of the day if we still have the breath in our lungs and the possibility of tomorrow-we are indeed blessed.
Getting ready to leave tomorrow, I can’t help but feel blessed. I can’t help but think back on the great times we’ve had this week-on the struggles, the sweat, the bug bites, the laughter, and the opportunity. Lives were changed, those who served and those who were served. Each for the better I reckon.
And so, if you were to ask, “Hey, Mitch, how are you doing?”
I would whole-heartedly reply, “I’m blessed.” And I hope that you would consider doing the same too.
-Mitch Zoelzer
Mitch and the rest of the roofing crew hard at work.
