Need a little reminder how blessed you are?

Look around your closet.

If you have shirts, shorts, pants, socks and more than one pair of shoes do you realize how much you truly have?

If you don't have to take a shower with a five galloon bucket or brush your teeth with bottled water, do you realize how much you have?

Ask yourself what you are constantly wanting. Are you wanting this and wanting that? Orrrr are you even worse....are you saying you need this and need that.

What do you really need?

This is a tough question especially while living in America. In the US it is expected to always have the AC on in the summer and always have the heat on in the winter. In America we can go to the bathroom and flush the toilet. In the US we now can shut our garage doors and turn off lights by an app on our phone when we are away from home.

What do you take for granted? When was the last time you sat in peace thanking God for all the blessings he has given you?

What are things that lay around your house, apartment, or dorm room that take up space? What clothes do you never wear that are still in your closet? How many pairs of shoes do you really need.

I'm preaching to myself here as I recognize how spoiled I truly am. Most people have too much but never take it into perspective. The true issue is many people have so much stuff that they have two closets and an attic full. People need to learn to be content with a few nice things instead of 1,000 kind of nice things.

Pastor Craig of Life.Church said in a recent sermon that "less is better". When was the last time you said "I'm content"? You probably have 100 Christmas ornaments in your attic, a cabinet full of coffee mugs, multiple pairs of shoes, hats that you never wear, close that are too big or too small, and plates that you never eat on. It's time to stop letting it take up valuable space.

Pastor Craig explained is his sermon that if you travel around the world you'll realize that people who are most happy are people who have the least. He used an example of children playing outside without shoes on. This image stuck because shoes are one thing we take for granted.

Think about going a whole day...a whole week without wearing shoes or socks.

The question "what do I really need" has floated around my head for 24 hours now. The answer is surprising as I look around my dorm room.

Ask yourself what you can give up this week to help someone else. Good will, salvation army, or the local thrift store will gladly take it off your hands.