Perspective

I find myself not blogging much these days. Day to day life just isn't all that exciting. I don't take a lot of pictures and when I don't take pictures, I forget to blog. However, today I found myself going through a series of emotions that are blog-worthy. I'm calling it "PERSPECTIVE".
My recent trip to the US made me realize that life here in Spain lacks variety. I was reminded of this when I heard the same 3 or 4 songs in the car today that I had heard yesterday and the day before.
That is what I enjoyed most about America...the variety of everything. You can listen to all different types of music on all different stations. If you want to hear Beyonce, there are several stations to choose from. If it is Country you're after, again, plenty of stations to choose from. If you're looking to put some Jesus in your drive, there is always at least ONE Christian station. You are not forced to hear the same 5 songs by Madonna, MJ, Shania, or Beyonce over and over and over until you want to die.
And then there's the variety in food. Oh my stars. You can narrow your restaurant choices down by ethnicity, but you still have choices even after doing that! You can have America for breakfast (because, let's face it, no one does breakfast like America!) and then Italian for lunch and Mexican for dinner. And tomorrow you can have Thai, Chinese, Greek, etc etc etc. If you want a burger, there are a gazillion places to get one other than McDonald's. Not here. A burger comes from McDonald's or Burger King and no where else. Everything else pretty much tastes like garlic and olive oil. I like those flavors. Don't get me wrong. But it just gets old. There is no variety.
I could seriously go on for days with this list of sadness....this mundane life that I lead here in Seville. But then, as I was making this list in my head earlier I thought about what I would have done had a read such a list while I was living in Uganda. I would have laughed and then probably cried. Remember when I went back to America how MAD I was about the variety? Why do we need so many options in food? There are people starving in the world. Remember how overwhelmed I was that there were CHOICES in the ketchup aisle? And the radio??? Forget ever hearing music in English. That hardly ever happened.
My how things change. At church Sunday there was a woman complaining about the lack of a/c. I have to admit that I had sweat running down my back too and kind of wanted to complain. But the answer she got from my friend, Gloria, was, "It is a matter of priorities. We could not support missionaries if we had a/c." That stopped the woman dead in her tracks.
And it stops me too. What are my priorities? Do I actually think I'm DEPRIVED because I don't have more choices of music or food? Am I really that spoiled? Is serving Christ in Spain really any kind of SACRIFICE??? Oh my stars, NO! It is a privilege and I take it for granted.
So, to all my M friends out there reading this from places with far less than I have, you have my sincerest apology. Please don't hunt me down and beat some perspective into me. I found it today. Big Macs to you!