by Monica Palmer

I’m making my dirty laundry public today.

Last week, our dryer decided it was overworked, so it went on a strike of sorts. As bad luck would have it, the part we needed to fix the dryer wasn’t in stock at the local appliance store. That is how I ended up at the Laundromat this morning.

I haven’t been in one of these establishments since my college days and had forgotten what an inconvenience it is to not have the ability to take care of this particular chore on my time in my space. It’s even worse now that I’m lugging in a week’s worth of dirty clothes for a family of four.

I take a moment to consider what a hassle it would be to have to make this laundry sojourn on a weekly basis, and I look around and realize that many of my fellow launderers do just that, and they have it a lot worse than I do.

To my left, there’s a man trying to carefully crush his folded laundry into a duffel bag. Later, I would see him sitting at the bus stop just up from the Laundromat. To my right, an exhausted looking mother is doing her best to multitask taking care of two very young children while she folds.

I’ll be honest. When I loaded up the van with clothes this morning, I was feeling pretty put out. I was grumbling and indulging in a bit of self-pity. Now, however, I can see through a new lens how truly blessed I am.  We don’t often realize how much something affects our quality of life until we don’t have it. It could be a dryer, a vehicle, or even childcare. The absence of these makes everyday tasks so much more difficult to accomplish.

The families who visit food pantries and kitchens served by Missouri’s food banks go without a lot of things that you and I take for granted. A life without conveniences is very hard. It’s harder still if you lack access to food, the basic fuel required to function.

You may look at your wallet and think, “I have nothing to give,” but if you look at your life through the eyes of someone in poverty, you will see how very blessed you are. Perhaps you may even see a way to bless someone else’s life too.

Three ideas to bless others and make you appreciate your many blessings…

1.) Instead of taking your family to the movies, donate the popcorn and ticket money and volunteer the two hours to your local food bank or pantry.

2.) Use public transportation for one week, and donate your gas savings to the food bank.

3.) Take the SNAP challenge, and donate the remainder of your normal weekly food budget to the food bank.