Last evening as Nugget and I made our last walk of the evening I turned back towards our house as it sat in the darkness bathed in the light of the new lights and thought again how grateful I am for this place, for our health and for our dear family.

I have never expected life to be easy. I’ve watched too many other families and had our own experiences with illness, heartbreak, and struggles. Life is not easy, but that was the consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. There was a better way, but they were determined to go their own way.

Genesis 3 “She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷ At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.”

The consequence of their action:  

“All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
¹⁸ It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground from which you were made.
For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

And so we struggle – in lots of ways, not just in making our way through the world, but with all the consequences of living in a fallen world. A lack of justice, the suffering of the most vulnerable, the brevity of life, and the deep sense of lostness so many people feel. All this comes from living in a fallen world.

So what has that got to do with our lovely home and our health? Well, I suppose it flows from a gratitude to God for how I feel He has not only provided for us, but has also brought us to the right place at the right time. It comes from a sense that He has rewarded our faithfulness and willingness to follow His lead in our lives. Maybe you feel like that, too.