Our Kind of People Had a Bed for the Night

I recently came across a song called "Mama Said."  Although the version I first heard was sung by two girls named Maddie Wilson & Ashlund Jade, a little bit of research informed me that the original is by Lukas Graham.

The first half of the chorus goes, "When mama said that it was okay, Mama said that it was quite alright, our kind of people had a bed for the night, and it was okay."  The first verse talks about the family never traveling places during the summer, never going out to buy new clothes, people bringing them donations, and getting "new shoes once a year and then out to play ball so we could ruin them."

It is not a Christian song, and yet it got me thinking about how many things I take for granted.  Especially here in America, where the majority of people have never lacked, it's incredibly easy to overlook the things that we've always had.  Things such as simply having a bed to sleep in.

A search for "give thanks" in a Bible program showed the phrase in 62 verses in the ESV.  "Thanksgiving" showed 34 more.  Narrowing it down to just "thanks" gave 98 times.  "Content" was found in 10 verses.  As Christians, we are called to be a thankful people.  The Bible says to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and that "if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content" (1 Timothy 6:8).

In the past couple days since I first heard this song, I've been trying to make a point to thank God for the "little things."  The things that He gives me even though I usually take them for granted.

Did you have a bed to sleep in last night?  Did you eat three meals yesterday?  Are you planning to do the same today?  Do you have a refrigerator to keep that food fresh?  Do you have clothes on your back?  Are you thankful that God created the world with color?  Are you grateful that you even have the ability to read this?  Not everyone can read.  Not everyone has more than one pair of clothes, and not everyone has more than one meal per day.  Some people can't see color.  Some people can't see at all.

So today, I'm thankful that I have a bed for the night and a cat to share it with.  What about you?

(If you'd like to hear the entire song, the official version can be found on YouTube here.  As a side note, I know nothing about the artist.)