A Roof Over Our Heads

Twenty hours ago, I wrote an email to friends sharing frustrations over discovering moldy walls, mice, and an empty house with one carpet for décor and comfort.
But since that time, God has used my Kenyan friends to change my perspective entirely.
I hired a taxi to pick up my things a friend had been keeping for me while I was in the U.S. As we were driving back to our house we talked about how white people are perceived in Kenya as having lots of money and the means to make the suffering of the poor go away.  I told him that if we had money we would be living in white people's neighborhoods and not in Jamhuri Park. But in his perspective Jamhuri Park was where the rich people lived!
He added with a chuckle, "If you were poor, you would be living in kwawangari” the second largest slum in Nairobi, where people live in mud shacks.
Then tonight we had a friend over for dinner at our friend Connie’s house (we are house-sitting for her while she is in Canada).  We took her over and showed her our new place.  We kept apologizing for the lack of furniture and made a few comments about how small it was.
As a silly gesture, we invited our friend to sit on our carpet, our first piece of furniture and the only one we could afford.
As we sat close together in a circle she said,
"You don't need to worry about having things to make guests happy. All you need is a roof over your head.  That is the most important thing.  All the other things will come slowly.  It may take 6 months or even a year, but just be patient and then you will have a home."

This made me realize that my perspective of comfort was according to American standards, which was the need to have couches, beds, curtains, beautiful walls, etc.  But here in Kenya, with most people living on $7.00 a day, having a roof over your head was the most essential thing in obtaining comfort.  In other words, you’re not unsafe and on the streets so count your blessings!
Thanks to my cab driver and to my friend for pointing out to me the incredible blessing God has given Jody and I to now have our own place.  Comfort has now simply become a roof over our heads!